Fight, Flight, and a Solid Third Option?

Fight, Flight, and a Solid Third Option?

In a college psychology course, a favorite professor introduced me to "fight or flight." This describes our "automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as stressful or frightening."

In the business world, I learned of a third option to reduce the impact of business stress, competitive challenges, and self-preservation.

We call this physiological response "hiring a consultant."

This article is NOT a disapproval of consultants, coaches, or specialists who help businesses improve their performance. They bring different experiences and knowledge and aren't biased from working within the companies they assist. They can be monumental contributors to our success.

It is, however, a gentle criticism of leaders and managers who are reluctant to create a culture that takes the best of their personal qualities and instill those behaviors within their teams. I call this a "culture of chutzpah."

"Can you give us some examples, Mason?"

(And I thought you'd never ask.)

1)???Seizing opportunities instead of waiting to be told, the business version of "carpe diem."

2)???Handling objections through listening and questioning instead of ignoring other ideas or bullying the person with a contrarian viewpoint.

3)???Understanding that customers want solutions and our products are simply tools. "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!" (Professor Theodore Levitt)

4)???Creative thinking tempered by analytical skills may still fail, but it beats watching the competition pass you while you refuse to modify or innovate. Where is the trailblazer mentality?

5)???Adapting and zigzagging around insurmountable obstacles versus giving up.

6)???Inspiring and leading with purpose instead of posting an ignored new mission statement every three years.

7)???Avoiding the tough decisions and challenging one's natural preference to "not rock the boat," thereby ensuring events aren't within your ability to influence; they just "happen" to you. Ambiguity minimization and decision-making processes are essential.

8)???Recruiting people smarter than yourself instead of, "Yes, great idea, boss," women and men. Our humility is an unexpected differentiator.

Note: These eight examples are the foundation of The Chutzpah Advantage.

"Why Does Your Boss Reject All of Your Good Ideas?"

Above is the title of a recent The Wall Street Journal article by Professor and author Leigh Thompson .

Dr. Thompson shares the story of a creative mid-level manager whose ideas were rejected repeatedly by her bosses. After leaving the company and founding her firm, she was hired as a consultant. Those ideas presented as an employee, ignored and even disparaged, were now accepted and embraced as suggested by the firm's experienced "new" consultant.

Professor Leigh's subsequent research confirmed the problem, which is as common as leaders who manage while looking over their shoulders for approval. (What, you don't know any?)

Self-preservation management is a problem often driven by fear and ego.

Apparently, internally generated ideas create fear from managers who worry they may lose their job and be replaced by those team members with fresh and innovative ideas. However, their role was not perceived to be at risk when presented with the same ideas from outsiders.

The irony is that the same chutzpah foundation a company's founders and leaders needed to create their company is overlooked and dismissed in employees who contribute to continued growth.

Creating a culture of constructive chutzpah, evident in its leaders and valued throughout the organization, is as beneficial as bringing in the outsider, if not more so.

Do your team members operate with confidence regarding their roles?

Can they take calculated risks without fear?

Have you ever seen ego and personality lead to poor judgment and missed opportunity?

Develop your chutzpah. Create a team that shares your values. And stop working so much on weekends. How can I help? I am, after all, The Chutzpah Guy.

?#coaching #growth #employees #chutzpah Growth Institute Scaling Up: A Gazelles Company Vistage Worldwide, Inc. Entrepreneurs' Organization YPO