Don't wait for an emergency to triage

We all have things that we witness that just strike a chord, or evoke a reaction in us. One of those things, for me, is when cars move aside to let ambulances through. Before anyone wisely suggests this is due to the requirement in the highway code, I would suggest it is not. I think it is one of the few times we all get our mental 'triage' process spot on, instinctively. We don't have any problem assessing the situation and making the call, 'someone is in trouble, get out of the way, gosh I hope they're ok, somebody's day has just gone horribly wrong, I am grateful to be ok and wish the same for them'.

So - this natural reaction - how do we tune ourselves in to ensure that correct response, without blue lights and a medical emergency being involved?

I truly believe the ability to effectively triage is at the heart of management of people and self-management. Becoming aware of the needs of those around you, and the needs of yourself - and making the right call at the right time is a skill and one that is not easy to master!

You may think what I'm talking about is prioritising tasks - it's not. This isn't a task based thing. It's more introspective than that and is what needs to happen long before you even consider what you're looking to achieve in your day, month, year. It's identifying the factors you need to physically and mentally function best.

Throughout my career I've got my triage process horribly wrong at times. Whether assessing (or failing to assess) the needs of my team and, more often, completely failing to assess my own needs, resulting in burnout, frustration, overwhelm, lost confidence and stress.

In order to perform optimally humans need different things - do you even know what you need? Let alone what your team need?

It took many years for me to recognise that I work best in sprints. Figuring this out has been transformational for me. This is possibly due to my years working offshore - or perhaps it's my natural disposition, which led me to work on rotation.

Upon returning to onshore working, I didn't recognise what this thing was - and worked in sprints, but without the natural downtime created by my previous rotations. In effect, I was constantly sprinting. It was unhealthy, unsustainable and didn't actually allow me to perform optimally. And thanks to this 'constant sprint' mentality, I created an insatiable need in myself to work harder, longer, better, addicted to the adrenalin - and became afraid of anything other than that style of work constituting slacking. This workaholic persona I was creating for myself may have had some benefits as to certain leaders it set me apart and I'm sure contributed to me getting ahead in highly competitive environments. But I'm quite sure it also created a difficult environment for my teams - being led by someone working in such an unhealthy way can only create anxiety and feelings of expectation to follow suit. Thus perpetuating the nonsense.

Over recent years I feel I've got better at this triage process - but I still have a long way to go. I've at least figured out what basics I need personally to work effectively - sprints, thinking time in the swimming pool, sunlight, high hydration levels, other humans with similar energy levels to collaborate with, professional 'friends' to challenge me and that I can challenge, stretch assignments, regular feedback, a strong strategic framework to work within, autonomy, more than one desk / work space and comfortable shoes. For me, setting myself up for success is, in the main, as straightforward as pulling over for that ambulance. But it's taken many years to figure it out!

Developing relationships with those around you to understand what THEY need from you, from their role and their environment generally takes a bit longer. But it's such a critical part of leadership and management. Perhaps encouraging our teams to become more aware of their needs is a good place to start. Asking them to really look into themselves - perhaps encouraging them to speak to those closest to them (in and out of work )to ask 'from your perspective, when do I seem most content, satisfied, engaged in what I'm doing?'

If we could all work on this a bit harder, then find our voice to share what we need with those around us I suspect life could get a lot easier. I wonder how many hours a week we all lose by just missing the point, failing to meet our own basic needs or unintentionally misunderstanding the needs of others?

I hope this resonates with some of you and encourages you to really listen to yourself and to those around you, in a deeper and more constructive way. You might find it really useful.

I'll leave the final word to Dr Ralph Nichols..