How Do You React When Something Goes Wrong?
“Well in a perfect world…..” Have you ever said these words or heard them stated? If we lived in a perfect world you would never have to worry about something going wrong as nothing would ever go wrong.
Breaking News – we do not live in a perfect world!
There are different levels of what may go wrong in our lives on a daily basis. In addition, there are different situations we are in when something may go wrong in terms of your audience and who is around you and influenced by how you react. You may be around other people, or your family, children or even a large audience. Things will go wrong in our business no matter how much we plan. Part of life is things just happen. It is how we react when something goes wrong which makes us who we are and in many ways determine the level of success you will achieve.
In each combination how you react says quite a bit about you and what people think about you.
Here are a few situations you may have found yourself in. What was your reaction?
For example – You are driving in your car and then you are cut off by another driver. How do you react? How do you react when this happens and your kids are in the car with you?
I know growing up in New York City, the horn and the bird flip were fairly common practices seen daily on any roadway. Stop at a traffic light after the incident and heads shouting out the window “Hi, how are you” often followed – Not!
Another example – In running your business, how do you react when someone on your team puts out some work on the internet that is riddled with errors? Are you able to handle the situation as a teaching moment and rise up and above?
The incident happened already. Your ability to teach and team build is right here in front of you. Do you take it?
How is the corrective action carried out? These are all moments to use in creating a stronger team for your future business growth.
A Recent Example – Do you speak at events in front of a large audience? What would you do if there were microphone or sound system issues? How would you handle yourself out on the stage in front of several hundred audience members who are mostly fans?
The specific point is if you are an expert and plan to be in front of others representing your business and your brand, you must be able to have the control and the presence to relax and go with the flow. Are you able to relax and maintain your presence?
For methods to gain these attributes immediately schedule your initial business strategy session with Mitch Tublin, Business Strategy Consultant, at www.thementorguy.com today.
©2010 Mitch Tublin All Rights Reserved
Mitch
Very thought-provoking questions and great food-for-thought.
Thanks
Trudy
Thank you Trudy. In running our own business we must keep this at the forefront of our mind and keep our knee jerk emotional reactions off somewhere else. We must think from a strategic point of view.
Thanks Mitch for your thought-provoking article!
As I was reading through I was reminded of a talk I did with an audience of close to 1,000 people and the mics went dead in the middle of my talk, and I didn’t realize the mics went dead until someone in the audience yelled “We can’t hear you!”
I was surprised by how well I handled the situation, i didn’t panic at all and playfully engaged the audience silently until the sound system was fixed and then made a relevant joke that tied in the issue with what I was talking about.
I believe the secret to handling problems well is to stay in the moment with a trusting heart. From that perspective only good things can happen!
Thank you Laura! You are a true professional. The heart and the mind you keep these together so well. I see you as a smart business woman who thinks strategically. Of course a very talented artist as well!
Thanks Mitch for sharing your usual wisdom.
This example – “how do you react when someone on your team puts out some work on the internet that is riddled with errors?” struck a chord with me.
In my former corporate role I was known as the “Red pen Nazi” due to my avid editing of people’s work before it was published. After a while I realised people were trying to avoid my approval as they felt my standards were too high and I made too many changes to their work which they took personally.
I found new ways to share my thoughts and knowledge and empowered others to start up a peer review system so that they felt enabled to check and review their work themselves. Learning to let go of perfection was a big lesson but it certainly improved my business relationships and my staff’s growth.
Rising above is a challenge but worth the effort!
Cheers
Heidi Alexandra Pollard
Thank you Heidi! Excellent share, I love it. Anyone who knows you, how can we imagine you as the ‘red pen nazi’? You are a keen business strategist. Your ability to take control of your own habits in your work and flip them around to another method are super.
Yes, we represent our brand whenever and wherever we are — humor, calm, and presence — all very important in those “moments”!! Thanks for the reminder, Mentor Guy! ♥ Katherine
Katherine thank you! In our own business we are our brand wherever we are and wherever we go. This is all the more reason we need to be crystal clear on our business strategy. If the seas become rough we need to stay on course.