Crisis Management Experts

I mentioned, in my last post, that it is helpful for managers to reach a comfort level with themselves, to successfully negotiate complicated work relationships and fare well under stress.

A good measure of self-knowledge goes far in helping people to reach that comfort level and improve functioning under stress, whether related to everyday life events, or the extraordinary ones, that are experienced during a critical incident. The more we know about our reactions, the less likely we are to be caught off guard, and the more opportunity we have to increase our tolerance to varying situations and conditions. Of course, people can learn a lot about themselves through stress and crisis itself, but prior awareness of the ways in which one is impacted and responds to events certainly helps people to flow through difficult periods more easily.

One way to get to know oneself better is through systematic observation over time. This approach usually provides more accurate information about the ways we function than the quick impressionistic survey that we often make. For example, I might have the impression that I am comfortable with confrontation; but when I note specific instances over time, I find I withdraw when confronted and avoid the issue.

My recommendation is to begin a log that tracks your reactions under different conditions over time. The more descriptive and detailed your entries, the more helpful it will be for identifying patterns and trends later.

To continue with the example above, if you are interested in knowing more about the ways that you react when others confront you, you could chronicle who said it and when, exactly what was said (quoted), what you felt, how your body reacted, what you said or did. After you collect information from several instances, you could then review the log for trends in both the nature of the confrontations and the ways you responded to them. You can then decide how you will use the information: to be more aware of ways that a particular type of confrontation affects you, so that you to get through them more calmly and comfortably, or to reach a new level of tolerance by modifying your emotional, cognitive or physical responses.

A log can track reactions with specific people or events. You could also use it to track your reactions across events and situations, by logging, for example, all of your angry or anxious moments, the times your overeat, etc.

If you decide to use the information that your gathered in your work with a psychotherapist or counselor, additional observations and areas of exploration might result, leading to even more self-awareness…and growth.