Are You Steady or Nimble? Watch-outs When the Unexpected Happens
By Karin Stawarky
When life throws you a curveball, are you steady? Or, are you nimble?
We each tend to have a default propensity towards one of two responses when unexpected things happen that disrupt the world around us. If we tend to be steady, we may deliberately not change our course at all, staying true to both the plan and the destination despite the changing context. If there are any shifts, they would be minor. On the other hand, if we tend to be nimble, we respond very quickly to the stimulus by rapidly adjusting in response to it. This may be creating a different plan to get to where we want to go or potentially defining a whole new direction all together.
Neither one is good or bad, right or wrong. Either can be just exactly the right response in the circumstance given the context and other factors. (It’s worth noting that we have the capacity for either response, but just like a dominant muscle, when our mind is in autopilot we show a preference for one.)
The challenge comes in high stakes situations where there is a significant amount of uncertainty. Both of those propensities can go from helpful where that propensity is working for you to the shadow side where the propensity is harmful to you, where that response pattern no longer serves you and can work against you. Are you steady, or are you stuck? Are you nimble, or are you reactive?
When you’re in the stuck shadow, it causes you to hold back. Often it is because you’re in resistance to something. There is a resistance to movement, and what underlies this resistance is a belief or assumption about what you think will or will not happen. For those in the reactive shadow, it often indicates that you’re running away from something. At its root, there is a belief or assumption which triggers fear that then prompts the movement.
For leaders in organizations, the ripple effects of these default propensities can be significant, particularly when the behavior shifts from helpful into harmful. When a leader who has a propensity to be steady becomes ‘stuck’, it can freeze a team or organization from moving forward, effectively staying super-glued to a course that may have become obsolete. Similarly, when a leader who has a propensity to be nimble becomes reactive, they can make what look like erratic or irrational adjustments. This at best causes confusion in an organizational system and at worst can produce material waste in work and time. At the extremes of either scenario, you risk employee disengagement and an eroding trust in leadership. Further, when there are two dominant leaders who firmly anchored in ‘opposing camps’, a polarizing tug-of-war is created which can wreak havoc in an organization, let alone on the quality of the leaders’ relationship to each other.
So, what can you do?
Recognize your default propensity. Reflect over the recent past, let’s say the past year or two. Think about times in your professional and personal life when you suddenly faced unexpected events or ‘curveballs’. Visualize yourself back in that moment. How did you react?
Did you think carefully through the situation and generally keep true to your original course of action, thinking about why the approach should not change?
Or, did you flex into a new course of action quickly, fueled by the reasons why the original plan should change?
Make a note of how many times you were in the steady versus the nimble camp. What pattern do you notice?
Appreciate how it has served you. Now think back on those situations. In what ways did a propensity serve you? What benefits did it produce? What did you learn from those experiences?
Sharpen your pattern recognition. Reflect on those times when your default propensity worked against you. What common themes or characteristics do you notice about those situations?
Dig a little deeper. Unearth insights on what cause you to shift into the shadow side during trigger situations.
As you reflect on those moments of stuck-ness, ask yourself: what am I resistant to in this moment? Trust the first thing that comes to the surface of your mind. What is the belief or assumption that jumps out as to what you believe would have happened if you did the opposite?
As you reflect on those moments of reactivity, ask yourself: what am I running away from in this moment? What is the belief or assumption that jumps out as to what you believe would have happened if you did the opposite?
In completing this reflection thoughtfully, you amp up your capability to respond more effectively in situations moving forward. Awareness of your propensity enables you to intentionally act in ways that best serve you and your organization in the future.
What’s required to activate this awareness you have developed? It’s the power of the pause between the trigger event and your behavioral response. Pausing creates space for you to assess how your propensity works for you or against you in the situation. I think about this as “Take 3” when you sense the warning lights flashing given your heightened awareness of trigger situations:
Am I operating from my shadow? What is really motivating me in the moment?
What would the opposite course of action from my default (steady or nimble) look like? What are the benefits of that?
Who can I check in with to test my thinking on the best course of action?
By pausing, you enable your propensity – be it steady or nimble – to be the asset it can be to you and your organization.