As leaders, especially in sales, we often want to be in complete control of everything around us, so that the activities and results are predictable and everything is linear. As we know though through experience, even when you plan for every possible and conceivable possibility and outcome, Murphy’s Law will always be lurking somewhere and present you with a challenge that you did not expect. How you respond to that challenge will determine the level of success you and your team will achieve.

For many leaders, when something happens that is outside of what they expected, they can quickly react to it, and often do this in a heightened emotional state, not giving themselves time or opportunity to consider and analyse what happened – they simply ‘pounce’. The result can often be suboptimal, which can have a domino effect and flow on to other areas. Great leaders on the other hand take some time to analyse what has just happened so that they can consider the best way to respond to the event. The result is a more considered response and often a better outcome.

So what is the different between the 2 leaders? The leader who reacts quickly to the event without considering their approach often does so out of the feeling that they want to remain in control. Their need for control is so strong that they allow themselves to emotionally react to an external event, believing that this will give them control. As we know, their need for control often results in their reaction being out of control. The leader who takes some time before responding may appear to be out of control and the event that just happened may well be out of their control. However, through considering their response first, including the realisation that the event may have been out of their control, what do they achieve? Control. Control of their emotions, control of their attitude and control of their actions. But, they have no need for control – they are more than comfortable in their ability to be able to handle whatever event or challenge is thrown in front of them.

So it sounds counter intuitive, but here’s the thing. In order to maintain control, you need to let go of the need for control. All great leaders have this unique ability and they consistently achieve outstanding results. Here are 5 core areas to consider, embrace and implement: Continue Reading