Fight or Flight

September 28, 2017

ISSN# 1545-2646

 

Fight or Flight

This phrase is well understood as to how the brain works at the most fundamental level. When you are put in that uncomfortable position, your brain defaults to the survival mode, and you subconsciously elect to either run, freeze or stay and take a stand to fight.

Although you may not see your business decisions as fight or flight situations, the reality is that throughout your day you move in and out of this place of comfort or discomfort.   Typical business decisions are not life or death type decisions, but your basic brain triggers when confronted by a decision you need to make.  Based on where your journey has taken you, your decision-making process can either be more developed or your confidence in this skill set is questioned in your own mind.  The result is an influence in your decisions; whether you Fight (take action to move a decision forward); Freeze (take no action and idle in place causing many ramifications of just waiting); Flight (the choice to avoid the decision and run from making it).

As part of the journey you have been on, you have gravitated to certain behaviors which are the way you present your decisions to the marketplace.  Behaviors are the visual display of what happens inside of you. Those behaviors caused a reaction to your decision and either confirmed you or pushed back on you.  This, in turn, caused some self-reflection and your next decision might not have been influenced by that particular decision but after multiple compounding of decisions, reactions and results, your behaviors begin to set in place.  Unfortunately, not all of these events confirmed or affirmed you in the best light or even results.

This week it is time to step back and be honest with the behaviors you use to effect a result.  Do those behaviors cause you to put your staff into fight or flight type environments?

Look at a couple of decisions you make this week and then how you communicate those to your staff.  How did your staff react?  Was it the reaction you expected and wanted?  Was the end result a positive outcome or less than desired? Ask your team how they felt when you communicated your decision.  Was their reaction aligned with what you were attempting to accomplish?

Fight or flight is a preprogrammed part of each of us.  In real life or death situations, we are all happy it exists.  In most of our day to day actions, we have to be more conscious of having this program run/rule our business decisions, and how it influences your team.

Wondering what your behaviors or decision making skills are? Call JKL Associates at (313) 527-7945 to discuss tools we can bring to you and your business to take the guesswork out of your understanding.

Questions or comments – email us at partners@jklassociates.com or call our Office at (313) 527-7945
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