3 Key Mindset Shifts to Thrive Under Pressure in 2024

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that change and uncertainty are the only constants. As business leaders, we’ve had to navigate unprecedented upheaval and volatility across the economic, political, social, and technological landscape.?

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Yet the show must go on. Customers still need serving, products still need shipping, and performance is still scrutinized. There’s no resting on our laurels or relying on predictable stability to carry us through – we need to show up and deliver results day in and out, regardless of external variables beyond our control.?

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The question then is: how do we continue leading, managing, and executing effectively amidst the pressure cooker environment? How do we not just survive but actually thrive under stress in 2024 and beyond?

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I had the privilege of serving alongside elite teams of Navy SEALs for over 27 years. I’ve since taken those battlefield and training lessons around performing under acute pressure and translated them into frameworks tailored for business leaders and teams.

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Based on this experience, here are 3 critical mindset shifts to embrace in order to withstand turbulence and achieve repeat success in the year ahead.

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#1 Challenge = Opportunity Mindset

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A foundational building block to thriving under pressure is to reframe how we perceive challenges and setbacks. Our instinctive reaction is often to get frustrated, anxious or discouraged when faced with obstacles that thwart our progress or desired outcomes. We cast events in a negative light as deterministically ‘bad’ for us.

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A superior mindset is adopting what I call a “challenge = opportunity” standpoint. This entails consciously working to view obstacles, failures, roadblocks or unexpected variables as containing inherent opportunities rather than judging them as inherently detrimental.

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This applies an ancient Stoic philosophical principle around focusing only on what we can control versus getting emotionally entangled by external events or wild cards. More simply put – stuff happens that we don’t like or didn’t foresee, but rather than rail against forces outside our influence, we can save our energy for responding in the best possible way given the cards we’ve been dealt. Save your energy and focus for what you can affect-what you can control.

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Famed financial investor John Calamos credits exactly this challenge = opportunity mindset philosophy with much of his success spanning military service and building his firm into an investment industry titan for 50+ years. During the Vietnam War, he flew perilous combat missions directing mission critical close-air support as an Air Force Forward Air Controller pilot. In the business world he’s had to continually adapt strategies to evolving market risks and cycles.

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Across contexts he says “Investing, just like flying, is about preparation and doing your homework in order to successfully manage risk...It’s exactly the same, I would say. You do your homework before you take off, not after.”

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The upshot here is that when we interpret difficulties as inherent chances for growth, it fuels motivation, agility and resilience. If you’ve established a steady preparation regime combined with mental framing that uncertainty brings possibilities, you’re primed to capitalize on whatever scenario manifests. Pressure won’t knock you off balance because you expected the need to fluidly evolve your flightpath all along.?

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#2 Focus On Performance Not Just on Outcome

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In extremely chaotic, high-consequence environments like warfare, the margin between victory and defeat – sometimes life or death – largely boils down to quality of execution and performance effectiveness. When participating in a combat operation or training exercise, a Navy SEAL team’s entire reality funnels to perfecting performance within their control.

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They meticulously govern all contributing components they can directly control:

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?????????? Thorough preparation mastering basic skills & rehearsing repeatedly

?????????? Moment-to-moment situational awareness during execution

?????????? Tuning out distractions that don’t serve the mission

?????????? Skillful & decisive response if original plan goes awry

?????????? Team communication & coordination

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Achieving the desired operational end state is paramount but the actual outcome in terms of ‘winning’ is de-emphasized because it hinges substantially on adversary actions also at play. Outcome is separated from the quality & precision of execution procedures carried out when ‘on target’.

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SEAL teams conduct extensive After-Action Reviews assessing a myriad of granular lessons around exactly how well they prepared, adjusted, communicated, responded under fire etc. Outcomes influence the next learning cycle but performance is king.

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This same separation between quality implementation and semi-uncontrollable result is vital in business. Rather than obsessing over metrics or KPIs mostly outside your span of control, master the performance factors within your jurisdiction.

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A sales professional can crush a prospect pitch yet not close the deal because the buyer is saddled with an unrelated business emergency the next day. Was preparation subpar or conviction lacking during the meeting? No. Control what you can control and evaluate execution.?

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Similarly, in volatile times, financials or margins may miss targets due to macroeconomic tremors or supply chain clogs. But what matters are your operational blocking & tackling proficiencies when running the business day-to-day. Mastering performance sets you up for optimal outcomes when luck reverts to your favor.

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#3 Growth Mindset Into Action

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When encountering difficulty, our instincts often persuade us to narrow our aperture because uncertainty feels emotionally intolerable. Business as usual no longer applies so it seems safer to constrain options, invest minimally until certainty returns, not rock the boat or make any radical changes.

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This minimization approach runs counter to thriving under the pressure endemic to 2024’s landscape which necessitates leaning into uncertainty and even chaos. We must adopt learning-oriented growth mindsets that proactively explore fresh directions rather than shutting down.

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My own speaking business was just gaining momentum when the COVID pandemic cratered in-person events overnight wiping my calendar clean. Emotionally this was discouraging and my initial reaction was sheer frustration that years of work building expertise felt paused through no fault of mine.

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However, deeper reflection revealed that while live events were on hold, my passion for sharing high-stakes performance wisdom was undimmed and people needed this content as much as ever during a distressing period.

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I consciously reframed the situation as an opportunity to evolve my delivery channels, learn new virtual presentation skills and produce written content that could serve more people. By widening my aperture to embrace uncertainty as a teacher rather than barricading myself against it, my message now has the ability to reach millions instead of thousands.

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Pressure tests our agility but viewed through a growth lens, we understand there are always paths forward if we creatively explore rather than shut down mentally. Luck always favors action and saying yes over naysaying.

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As a leader, this means providing air cover for team members so they feel psychologically safe taking smart risks into the unknown. Extended timelines, bursting silos and forgiving mistakes opens up experimentation with fresh approaches. Perhaps legacy norms must evolve or new partnerships can unlock value. Groups that lean into the learning curve side-by-side have tremendous advantage over guarded ones and luck has no choice but to swing their direction.

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In today’s Darwinian business landscape, one seldom gets it all right straightaway. But those able to fluidly self-correct have the edge as 2024 unfolds. Setting ego aside while adopting flexible team growth mindsets will spell the difference between those who sink against the competitive current versus those surfing the wave.

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Four shifts separate teams who merely survive ambiguity versus genuinely thrive on the front foot:

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Mindsets → Learning not certainty?

Timelines → Adjusted not traditional?

Silos → Bursted not constricted

Mistakes → Expected not failure?

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Where progression feels foggy, maintain movement through relentless small experiments until the future comes into focus. Progress compounds when channeled in concert year upon year.

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Stick to what works while continually piloting the new and 2024 may prove epic regardless of what global shocks loom ahead.

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The Bottom Line

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Fundamentally, operating smoothly amidst unpredictability mandates upgrading our human operating systems to thrive on perpetual change rather than craving stability. Mental habits enabling fluidity ensure physical maneuverability when pressure ramps intensity.? Our daily mindset is geared towards the expectation of curve balls and challenge but we feel more secure when we operate from a solid foundation of the basics and preparation practices.

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By reprogramming our inner environment first, outer chaos becomes fuel for forward momentum rather than an obstacle. The emerging business landscape demands leadership able to smoothly adapt on the fly rather than snap under strain.

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Embracing a challenge = opportunity standpoint sets you on front foot to capitalize on uncertainty. Separating performance from outcome builds confidence to deliver regardless of conditions. And enacting team growth mindsets opens exploration into fresh solutions rather than recoiling defensively.

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Combined, these 3 mindset shifts represent mental armor rendering you anti-fragile against external storms. Building organizational cultures rooted in these principles inaugurates a higher-order resilient DNA able to withstand and leverage volatility when traditional constructs no longer suffice.

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Agility has become the quintessential leadership capability not just for 2024 but the decade ahead as a whole. With sound preparation and some key mental model upgrades, pressure becomes a tailwind for transcendent performance rather than a barrier.

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The choice is yours - just survive or truly thrive?