Muscle memory for crisis leadership
"In times of crisis, it’s imperative that we turn not to emotions and erratic thought but to reason, principles, values, and training. " Colonel Rob Campbell
Read that quote above one more time and ponder how you or a leader of yours reacted to a previous crisis. I implore you to pause, if only momentarily, when crisis strikes and remind yourself that you’ve “been here before” in a training scenario or a previous crisis or operational disruption. Maybe in that moment of pause, you’ll even remember what I’m about to offer in my coming book, Left and Right of the Boom. I wrote this book for you so it might serve as your personal training for every “boom!” that awaits you. The power of reflection — of coming back to the muscle memory of crisis response — has served me well when things have blown up in my life and career. In countless scenarios played out on training grounds, in classrooms, and on battlefields, I was guided indeed by reason, principles, and my core beliefs, moral code, and values, but mostly by my training. Practice may or may not “make perfect,” but having been there — in body and spirit — allows us to start from a place of experience when crisis strikes.
When I look back at my 27-year career in the U.S. Army and my subsequent career as a leadership consultant and small-business owner, there’s no shortage of examples of me drawing from my past to handle a quagmire in the present. Notably, this happened — for the most part — subconsciously; my memory would bring back concepts, lessons learned, and successes and failures that returned to me at the most appropriate times. I consider myself a successful leader, though I’m not perfect (no leader is). I’m a man of many failures, but I’ve gotten many things right — and I credit, to a great degree, my training. In the military, we develop realistic war-like scenarios to ready us for the real thing. We execute training scenarios of different types and magnitudes. My body and my brain remember it all, like panting heavily after a training scenario where soldiers were killed (fictitiously) and where things went horribly wrong. The lessons of those failures were etched in my brain forever as guide rails or like a coach reminding me of those lessons in times of crisis. Throughout decades of leadership, I have pulled lessons from readings and classroom scenarios that helped me (and help me still, to this day) handle any crisis.
You may be more prepared than you think. Each of us has experienced some form of a crisis in our lives. While your boom may not have taken place on a battlefield, you’ve experienced crisis just the same. How did you react? What did you get right and wrong? What did it teach you? The answer to each of these questions begs some introspection. Let the answers serve as your guide rail. This introspection, this self-learning is left of the boom activity which leaders engage in to prepare themselves for the impending boom – because it is coming. Pre-order my book today and you’ll have what you need to prepare for, lead, then learn from your next crisis. Boom! Are you ready?
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell