One key to effective leadership is to know when to stay calm and when to get excited.
I was reminded of that reading the newspaper today. One journalist advised that investors stay calm during this currently crazily declining market. Getting worked up will most likely cloud your thinking and acting rashly is never a good idea.
Staying calm is more about your inner peace and demeanor. If you’ve prepared, studied the situation thoughtfully and done your work, calm is a natural result. While the outcome isn’t guaranteed, you have the assurance you’ve done all you can.
Staying calm also creates confidence for your team, both in your abilities as well as their own. The ability to be calm means you trust them to meet whatever challenges as successfully as possible. A leader who doesn’t stay calm suggests that their anxiety is due to their team.
It pays to get excited about things that matter. It is difficult to lead if you have a monotone personality. If you bring the same emotion (or lack of it) to everything, nobody ever really knows that is important to you.
Of course, being excited isn’t the same as getting worked up. The latter suggests someone who is upset rather than just passionate (and sure, there are times when we ought to be upset, but they are far fewer than the times we actually are).
Get excited when you want to share positive energy. Get excited when the outcome is critical and everyone on your team needs to focus. Get excited when you appreciate the good job a colleague has done.
Funny how excited some people get about professional sports teams in which they have no direct involvement, but how reluctant they are to get excited about anything else.
Stay calm in challenging times and get excited when it matters. Knowing when to do which is a nuance of good leadership.
