What do you do if you're faced with high-pressure situations that demand quick decision-making?

In high pressure situations it's important to focus on attacking the problem - not the people. Take a breath. You'll need to acknowledge your emotions without letting them take charge of you. This takes practice. Once you can recognize the emotions, you'll be better able to bring your logical brain to work on solving the problem instead of yelling at others.

If possible, get to a quiet place and write down your thoughts. Get it all out on paper, because writing it down can calm your nervous system by taking action. It can break fight, flight, or freeze. What’s really going on? What happened? Who said what? What patterns are emerging? What known triggers that will upset people can you avoid? What resources can you use? Once you have enough information, start brainstorming solutions - quickly. Create IF-THEN statements, like IF I do x, THEN y is likely to happen. You can do this as many times as necessary to think through scenarios, but don’t overthink it - once you have your best answer, stop writing. If possible, sleep on it and make sure your response still makes sense in the morning.

Intuition & gut-instinct can be very powerful allies, but they can also lead you in the wrong direction or bring you to the wrong conclusion, with potentially devastating consequences for you, your colleagues & your company. If you do not the requisite emotional self-awareness, or (using the MSCEIT model), if you have not (yet) gained sufficient experiential EQ to be able to quickly identify what emotion you are feeling, and understand how it could impact your decision-making. Mark Twain said, "Good decisions come from experience, but experience comes from making bad decisions". Yes, you have to be willing to trust your instinct, but it is critical that you learn how far and how much to trust it!

High pressure situations can bring out the worst in people. It’s easy to focus on solving the problem, and forget there are other people in the room. When things are calm, it’s a good time to think about how to phrase things you can say later so people will react well to you in an emergency. Phrases like, “You are important to me, and I don’t have time to explain everything right now, but I’m considering how it will affect you” can go a long way when quick decisions need to be made. Forcing yourself to remember to have good manners, like saying “please” and “thank you” to people who are helping you will be remembered long after the pressure is off. If you forget this crucial social glue, that will be remembered, also.

There are lots of factors at play here. It's common sense that collaboration & getting other peoples' perspective & input is usually a smart move. I have a bit of an issue with it saying EI is about recognising you don't know everything. Just I (as in Intelligence) will usually help you to realise that you don't know something. The last part can be very cultural. In many countries & cultures, the last thing people will do is admit they aren't smart enough, because in their culture it is seen as a weakness. I'm not suggesting that whoever wrote no. 5 is wrong, but there is a lot more to it than suggested.

During my years in healthcare, I have witnessed some of the coolest heads prevail in the most stressful situations. Some of the key takeaways in those situations were first and foremost, to stay calm. Second was to take decisive action. This could only be achieved by trusting their knowledge, skills, and training. In life outside of healthcare, I believe these lessons ring true. Although, in a code or emergent medical situation, seeking input was not always appropriate or helpful. I do think it can be useful outside of that setting. I say that with the caveat that you do not want to ask the input of too many others. Having a trusted confidant or peer can be incredibly helpful to bounce ideas off of. Lastly, act decisively.

First, I take a deep breath to center myself and maintain a clear head. Then, I assess the situation swiftly, considering both short-term and long-term implications. I rely on my instincts and experience, trusting my gut while also weighing the facts. Humor becomes my secret weapon, injecting a bit of levity to keep the tension from overwhelming me. Finally, I make a decision confidently, knowing that even superheroes have their moments of doubt—but they always rise to the occasion!

Confidence in your proposed solution to the situation with pros/cons. Ideally incorporating other stakeholder needs. Also if time permits prepare pros/cons of alternative approaches.