4-30-10 Fight or Flight

We had a good old fashioned Midwestern thunderstorm last night. And sometime between, oh, about 2:30am and 4am, my dogs demonstrated the fight or flight concept perfectly.

The oldest of our dogs gave a perfect example of flight. She has always been afraid of the thunder. And, in the best case, will hide in the pantry until the storm sounds pass by. However, she doesn’t have access to the pantry during the middle of the night, so it was more than a bit stressful for her.

The baby, on the other hand, gave us a perfect example of fight. With each clap of thunder, she was up on her feet and barking at the “intruder”. No shrinking flower there. Although having a dog barking in your ear at 2:30 in the morning isn’t the most pleasant of experiences.

So what? You ask. Well, perhaps it is caused by lack of sleep, but it got me to thinking about facing that fight or flight impulse in the work place. I’m sure that there are many scientific studies from over the years that determine the effects of triggering the fight or flight response in humans. So I’m not headed down that angle. Instead, I’m more interested in how an executive handles the impulse.

As an executive, you will walk a very fine line between fight and flight many times in your career. You will feel threatened and you will have to decide, often in a flash, whether you fight or flee. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate either. What I advocate is a measured response.

For example, you are pitching a new product for your company and you encounter some significant, and even derisive, resistance -- in public. And so your fight or flight instinct kicks in. You know the feeling. Your heart starts pounding, your face might get a little red, your mouth gets dry, or you start to sweat.

If you are like many executives (let’s face it, most of us are type A, aggressive personalities), your immediate impulse will be to fight the detractors. But is that wise? Maybe. And maybe not. Sometimes you have to stand up and fight for what you truly believe in. And sometimes you have to subside and walk away from the situation.

The point is, you need plan for this eventuality. It will happen, sooner or later. You should learn to recognize when the instinct kicks in. And once it kicks in, you have to take a breath or a step back and analyze the situation. And THEN pick the appropriate response.

So the next time you hear the music of a thunderstorm, it might be wise to ponder a few things. What triggers your fight or flight instinct? What are the symptoms that you feel when it kicks in? And how will you respond? And most importantly, how can you turn the instinct to your advantage as an executive?

Enjoy the thunder!

Cheers.