Monday, June 22, 2009

Keeping Your Cool

Entrepreneurs are an interesting breed of people. They have passion. This passion is often accompanied with a fiery disposition and intensity that can be an enormous competitive advantage – or a significant liability. I have seen entrepreneurs escalate situations when a more measured approach would have produced more benefit than the frontal assault of the entrepreneur.

The following is an example of how potentially flammable situations can be defused.

“The 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry is equipped to deploy anywhere in the world within 36 hours to capture or destroy enemy fighters. The men and women of the 2-327th represent some of the fiercest warriors in the United States military. In spite of its reputation for power and ferocity, the 2-327th Infantry produced a hero notable for bringing about peace through his poise and presence of mind early on in America's involvement in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Chris Hughes was leading 130 soldiers on a mission in Najaf to secure the crucial support of Shi'a cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Hussein Sistani when an angry mob congregated. Suspicious that the American troops intended to harm the ayatollah, the agitated Iraqis showered the soldiers with a barrage of rocks. In a matter of minutes the infuriated crowd had swollen in size to several hundred civilians.

Sensing the delicate nature of the situation, Hughes rushed through the ranks of soldiers, ordering them to drop to one knee, point their guns at the ground, and smile. By adopting the least hostile pose possible, the soldiers befuddled the mob. Although the furor did not subside, its intensity lessened. Then, Lt. Col. Hughes calmly instructed his men to retreat 100 yards, after which they again knelt, kept their guns down, and grinned at the Iraqis. Next, Hughes requested that all combat vehicles slowly retreat from the area. Finally, he bowed to the Iraqis before coolly leading his soldiers in a march away from the mob.

If not for the poise of Lt. Col. Hughes the situation easily could have turned ugly. Angry protestors and armed soldiers can be a deadly mix (see the Boston Massacre or the tragedy at Kent State University in 1970).” 1

This is a good example of not creating a confrontational situation. Lt. Col. Hughes handled the situation with skill and ended up saving the day.

All too often I see entrepreneurs do just the opposite. They almost cannot help themselves. It is just who they are. Their success is based on their ability to take charge and get things done, often running over things and people in the process.

Often franchisees show their passion inappropriately. Never let your interaction with customers, vendors or business associates escalate to a point where dead bodies result from the confrontation. I have seen franchisees shut down an annoying client or business associate by making assumptions on facts that later proved to be wrong; however the damage to the relationship was already done.

Passion properly channeled is a powerful force. However, when it is displayed by an in-your-face attitude, it usually results in unintended casualties.

1. From Leadership Wired, John Maxewell

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