Make Room for Doubt

The countdown continues!

We are continuing to extract key lessons from what goes on “behind the scenes” as athletes and teams are on their final Olympic approach.? Delivered from the perspective of someone who’s been there.

A leader’s demeanor in big moments can make or break a deal, a team, even a company.

It can be easy to think that it’s always about being strong, decisive, and supremely confident.? Never indecisive and certainly never weak.

?But what about doubt?? The still, small voice that wonders if this plan will really work??

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Newsflash: every leader who has ever done something great has had doubts.?

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In fact, it’s a bigger problem for performance when you drown doubts out or never listen to them.? These are the leaders who live in a bubble and resist pressure-testing their doubts.? The project falters from a lack of a full accounting of all aspects.? But be smart about when and how you do it.

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When You Are Preparing? Answer the Question.? Doubt generally expresses itself early and often as a question that starts with:? what if? ?

In sport? What if I don’t make the team?? The shot?? What if don’t win the heat?

?In business? What if I lose the account?? What if they don’t like the proposal?

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In all cases, answer the question for yourself.? Come up with a solution.? Even if it’s not what you really want...answer the question.

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What if I don’t make the team?? I’ll go back home, get back into training, work on my weaknesses, and give it another crack next year.

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What if I lose the account?? I’ll review what I did, and double my efforts to bring in another one.

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When we don’t answer the question, our minds keep feeding it back to us as a toxic thought-loop, torturing us with fear and un-voiced possibilities.

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When we do answer the question, we remind ourselves that the future beyond doubt isn’t the end of the world.? It’s not preferable...but not death and dismemberment, either.? And when we can face that reality head-on, with some grace, the need to succeed eases...and paradoxically, the probability of success goes up.

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When You’re About to Compete? Make Room for Doubt.? Doubt wants to warn you furiously against any decision or action that is risky (aka uncertain and usually worth doing).? Doubt is primal and not open to Socratic debate. So don’t debate it.? Don’t try to push it out.? Just let it hang out.

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This is crucially important for athletes at the Olympics.? Just like business leaders who think that, to be seen as “leader-y”, they must never appear weak, there can be a mythology about those who win the gold medal.

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First, let’s face it.? If you make it to the Olympic final, you have been through a brutal months-long campaign.? In some countries and sports – think swimming in the USA or AUS, the domestic competition just to make the team is as hard, if not harder than, the Olympics.? Then you travel away from home for a month-long acclimatization camp.? Then...it’s the roller coaster of the Games themselves, including several rounds of competition to narrow down the field to the final few.

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A common doubt at this point?? I’m not 100%!? You have to be 100% to win an Olympic final! No you don't. If you aren’t 100%, chances are that no one else is, either. ??The fact is, every second spent dwelling on what you don’t have erodes what you do have.

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Make room for doubt.? Don’t own or personalize it, but see it as it is, something that comes along for the ride, but doesn’t have any power over your ability to do the job at hand.

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How did I learn this lesson?? I worked with an Olympic rower who had made this very mistake at her first Olympic final.?

She’d fought the amazing fight to be on the starting line...but In the moments before the start bell, the thought, but what if I mess up the start? crept in, and rather than quickly answering the question with a solution, she doubled down on her problem by panicking.?

This is not how Olympic champions think!? I’m supposed to be calm and ready!

?Panic went from mind to body, and sure enough, one of her oars dug too deep at the start, throwing the boat off kilter.? She was able to regain her composure but lost valuable seconds...and her chance at Olympic gold.

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Make room for doubt.? Know that all champions, if they are truly champions, experience and work WITH doubt.

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What’s your relationship with doubt?? Does it own you, do you keep it at arm's length, or are you two working things through amicably?

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How do you help those you lead manage their doubt?

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My business is helping leaders and teams make the most of all their high-performance moments.? If you are interested in ways to do this better, let’s connect!