How easily do you get thrown “off center” by events around you?

Our reader poll today asks: How easily do you get thrown “off center” by events around you?

• Not at all. I’m pretty unflappable 28.58%
• Somewhat. Major disruptions can knock me off center 60.72%
• Very. It doesn’t take much to knock me off center 9.37%
• Extremely. The littlest things can send me for a loop 1.33%

Staying grounded. Disruptive events happen every day. What matters as a leader is how you react to them. If you let yourself get thrown off, your team notices and they get even more concerned. They think “if my leader is freaking out, I should really be freaking out!” When disruption arrives, the most important thing is perspective. Get out of the short loop created by your amygdala – this is your body’s fight or flight response. Breathe. Pause. Step back and assess the situation. Perspective helps you approach the issue rationally rather than emotionally. You’ll often find your initial emotional reaction was actually an overreaction and the issue isn’t as big as you originally thought. Pausing and breathing is the key to handling those issues gracefully and in a way that keeps your team grounded.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.