Choking In A Crisis

Bernie Marcus was a child of the Depression. Growing up poor in New Jersey tenements, Marcus had every reason to fail. Regardless, he found his way into a CEO position with a small chain of home improvement stores known as "Handy Dan," where he worked without a net until being fired by the brainiacs at the handy-man enterprise. Lacking an alternative, Marcus joined with an also-fired Handy Dan employee named Arthur Blank. The two decided to form a store specializing in home improvement products. They called it Home Depot. With minimal capital and a foreboding future, Marcus choreographed what he calls his "running scared strategy."

For most, there's no question of whether we'll encounter a crisis, but instead how we'll meet it. To choke or smoke, that's the question. The topic is revisited daily in all types of settings and situations. Our views are freely offered here:

Recognition: Many people make the mistake of allowing a setback to become a crisis. Is it or isn't it? What is your criteria for "crisis?"

Focus: Perhaps the most overused and under-applied term in life. It sounds nice but means little until we really bear down on its original application. "Focus" does not mean putting extra emphasis on a daily problem. Instead, focus means when in crisis, to the exclusion of almost everything else, magnify vision to a level of unprecedented intensity, as if nothing else is in view.

Adaptability: The very best coaches do this routinely. At a breaking point when all seems lost, they find a way to improvise with a tactic long abandoned or a weapon held in reserve. The more you adapt, the less you'll choke when ambushed by a development or competitor.

Discipline: Not "discipline" in the sense of admonition or punishment, but instead the mental and organizational discipline to establish rules of self-conduct when a crisis threatens. Discipline refers to a state-of-mind for group conduct under fire. Without it you'll experience tactical disassembly and chaos; Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn.

Presence of mind: In Kipling's timeless poem there's a line that says, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs" ... and it plainly states the value of poise under fire. History is rich with leaders such as Churchill who at any given point, had little hope of reversing a bad situation, but nonetheless did exactly that, simply based on their refusal to choke. Alone, Churchill stared down the entire Nazi military machine and defeated Goering's Luftwaffe in 90 days of air combat in the summer of 1940. There was every reason to do otherwise, but Churchill's presence of mind won the hour and the war, say most historians.

Balancing alarm and audacity: Fear is a sign of intelligence. Audacity is the fuel of fortune, and fortune favors the bold. When threatened, it's this critical balance that the best and brightest always bring to a crisis. Fear is contagious but courage even more so.

Some of the greatest business triumphs are accomplished by leaders who possess these traits, and consistently use them when faced with a true crisis. In great organizations, the crowd always follows a charismatic leader who remains consistent under great duress. Who would that be in your building?