For leaders to avoid letting panic take over in difficult or uncertain situations, they need to look past traditional coping methods and instead focus on mastering our mental and emotional capabilities, according to a new study from ESSEC Business School.
The study highlighted three elements that business leaders can learn from extreme sportspeople and adapt to their own experiences.
Panic is perhaps the biggest enemy for good decision-making. Years of training and experience-building can enable leaders to make balanced, visionary and relevant decisions, yet in the face of a situation that makes them panic, even the most experienced leaders see their experience and reason evaporate, with often terrible decision-making as a result. The researchers wanted to know how leaders can avoid such situations.
The research from Professors Stefan Gröschl and Jan Lepoutre at ESSEC Business School used a case study of extreme rock climber Alexander Honnold to learn more about how an extreme sportsman, for whom panic may have lethal consequences, prepares and avoids such reactions. From their study, they derive lessons about how business leaders can adapt to keep their panic controlled during times of crisis and pressure.
The researchers learned that Honnold mentally prepares for climbing for some time before his ascent. They discovered that the key to avoiding panic is to use one’s imagination and mentally prepare for times of uncertainty by letting it play out in your head. Honnold emphasized the importance of avoiding doubt, which can be done through mental preparation. Honnold set himself goals that were learning and process oriented in order to achieve stronger confidence.
There are three elements that can be taken from Honnold’s preparations and experiences: holistic preparation, practice, and mastery. These elements can then be applied to business leaders. They each mean:
Holistic preparation: ensures that leaders are ready on all fronts — physically, mentally, and emotionally — to face crises, using simulated crises and mental preparation.
Mastery and humility: build specific confidence that allows leaders to remain grounded and capable in the face of uncertainty. This is done by encouraging them to stay open-minded and ready to keep learning.
Mindfulness and pre-crisis training: creates the mental resilience needed to stay calm and make effective decisions during crises. It is completed by mental practice and preparation for the unexpected.
Our framework shows that avoiding panic through mastering different states and building confidence is an individual learning process. While decision-makers and company leaders cannot know about all unknowns, they can learn to react to these unknowns without panic.
Professor Stefan Gröschl
This study was published in The Journal of Management Inquiry.
