Flying Without a Net

CHAPTER NINE

Worry

I Know There Is a Crisis Waiting for Me

JANA WAS A SUCCESSFUL, EXPERIENCED MANAGER who had run a multimillion-dollar business. She projected the image of being able to do it all. She was COO of an Internet consulting firm and had previously run a major piece of a large consulting firm. Decisive, energetic, smart, driven, and with a wonderful family, she seemingly had it made. Her managerial style, however, did not suggest someone who had everything going for her. Instead, it revealed a high-need-for-achievement professional who had fallen into the worrying trap—constant, counterproductive fretting about how a given decision or event would turn out.

Jana’s anxiety-ridden managerial style made others nervous. In good times and ...