Mind Tools for Managers

Chapter 3Cope with Change and Stress

We live in a fast-changing world. As leaders of other people, we need to keep up to date with new technologies and social trends, but we also have to be prepared to adapt, on the fly, when sudden problems or opportunities arise. Recall the famous quote by Rudyard Kipling: “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…you'll be a Man, my son.”

How you cope with setbacks is one of the defining qualities of being an effective boss. Yet it isn't immediately obvious, when times are good, which individuals have the “right stuff” and which do not. Warren Buffett said that it's only when the tide goes out that you see who is swimming naked. His point was that all fund managers can make money in a bull market, but when the market turns down, you figure out which fund managers actually know what they are doing and which ones don't. And it's the same in the world of management. Most bosses appear competent when the company is doing well, but when a crisis or downturn hits, you get to see which bosses know what they're doing – and which ones are swimming naked.

As with all important attributes, some people seem to have an innate ability to respond in the right way when crisis strikes so that problems are averted and those around them feel reassured. But in reality, coping with change and stress is not something you are intrinsically born with. It is a skill that you develop over time, and it's an area where the ...