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Where Eagles Dare

Written by: Karla Robertson

Article Overview: As Rahm Emanuel said, “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste”. It forces our brains to think in ways, good times just don’t compel it to do. How do you respond in a crisis? What do swirling clouds of uncertainty and volatile markets spark in your thinking? What does pressure trigger in the way you process what is going on and what your options are? How will you handle the current storm and make the best of what is?

Where Eagles Dare

Much has been said about the eagle. When you think about this magnificent creature what comes to mind? Regardless of what the eagle signifies to you there is something important you should know about this multifaceted bird and the way it responds to an oncoming storm.

Most folks don’t know this but when a storm is in its early approach the eagle’s senses, like those of many animals, are alerted. It hits their internal radar and they begin to respond before the storm is barely evident. What they do is go to the highest point they can find, usually on a mountain. They perch there and observe various aspects of the storm, e.g. what direction it’s coming from, its speed, etc. And then an amazing phenomenon happens: The eagle adjusts its feathers so as to use the storm’s wind gusts to allow it to fly despite the force of the storm. Think about that. The eagle uses the power that the storm brings to manage itself through it instead of just getting blown around and being at the mercy of the storm and its whims, force and duration. The eagle readies itself, observing, making adjustments, even minor ones, so that he can make the best of what he cannot stop from happening.

We more often than not, have no control over the circumstances that blow in and out of our lives. Some people just shrug their shoulders and wait for the inevitable believing that there is nothing they can do about it. The reality is, decisions are made without our input, events happen with little warning. Yet we do have control over the most important aspect of circumstances: How we choose to respond. We must deal with the storms that rage against all that we’ve worked for, the goals we seek to achieve, the values that define us. We must deal with what gets in our way. That’s life. Always has been. Always will be. The question becomes, how will you choose to handle it?

As a leader, do you think about how you could use the components of what untimely or unpleasant events bring to your advantage? Perhaps the first place you need to look is how you are thinking about it. What kind of internal chatter goes off in your brain when you get the first hint of an approaching storm? Do you operate from a place of fear and swoop down to the ground, get the troops fired up and try to “batten down the hatches” protecting against losses as soon as possible? Do you hunker down and hope it passes over you with the least amount of damage? Or do you go to the mountaintop so to speak. Do you seek out higher ground to take a look at the entire landscape, considering the big picture and all its options? Do you first try to get a sense of what’s going on to get on top of it and ride the most favorable currents? Do you do both? When? Do you adjust your leadership “feathers” in a way that inspires and shows the way or do they just get ruffled? What do storms look like in your world and how do you currently respond to them? How is that working for you, your team and your organization?

When “bad weather” is approaching, here are just some questions you may wish to consider:

• “Do I have clarity about the reality of this situation?”
• “How can I make the best of what’s coming this way?”
• “Is there another way to think about this situation that I/we haven’t considered?”
• “Where is the opportunity here?”
• “Should I be the one to lead us through this?”
• “If I am going to lead, how can I best prepare myself to lead the way?”
• “What will success look like after the storm has passed?”
• “How can I help my team/my organization in their thinking about this situation?”

Next time you get wind of an approaching storm, how will you prepare to harness the best of what that event has to offer?

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Article Tags: animals, circumstances, decisions, duration, feathers, fly, input events, magnificent creature, oncoming storm, phenomenon, radar, rage against, senses, shoulders, storms, unpleasant events, whims, wind gusts



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