Sometimes the best response to a fast-moving situation is to stand still. But doing that when you're the focus of the public eye can be difficult.
by Mike Prokopeak
April 16, 2009
Sometimes the best response to a fast-moving situation is to stand still. But doing that when you’re the focus of the public eye can be difficult.
In a study of how soccer goalkeepers respond to penalty kicks, a team of Israeli scientists found that the best way to stop a penalty kick is to do nothing. Simply standing in the center of the goal gives a goalkeeper his best chance of stopping the opponent’s shot.
In a paper published in the Journal of Economic Psychology titled “Action Bias Among Elite Soccer Goalkeepers,” researchers analyzed 286 penalty kicks and found that 94 percent of the time goalies decided to dive either left or right, despite the fact that their odds for stopping the shot were highest when they stayed in the center.
Researchers theorized that goalies dive to one side because they’re afraid to look indecisive — as if they’re doing nothing at all — in a high-pressure situation. This behavior actually runs counter to what researchers call “norm theory,” which indicates that people more often choose inaction, rather than action, when faced with a tough problem.
While the arena is different, business executives face a similar situation as they formulate their organizations’ responses to the economic downturn and resulting volatile business environment. Faced with enormous external and internal pressures, business leaders often try to develop new solutions or change strategies when standing pat might be the best choice.
Soccer goalkeepers are taking irrational and irresponsible risks rather than rational and calculated ones, said Graham Jones, sports psychologist and co-founder of performance consultancy Lane4. Like goalkeepers, CEOs may be falling victim to the pressure to “just do something already.”
“CEOs need to stay calm and composed and do what they know is right,” Jones said. “These are not times for flamboyance and hoping that you get it right. This is a time for calmness, composure and knowing what works.”
In his work with world-champion athletes and Olympic medalists, as well as CEOs and corporate executives, Jones has identified the mindset needed to thrive in high-pressure, high-stakes situations.
“Leaders have a choice how they respond to pressure,” he said. “They can use it to help them sharpen their focus and desire, or they can be fearful of it and assume a victim mentality.
“The world’s best athletes are able to thrive on pressure because they have chosen to put themselves in those types of situations and have a very positive mindset towards it. Senior executives who are debilitated by pressure never come to terms that it’s part of the territory of leadership and that they have a choice around using it or being abused by it.”
Learning and development practitioners can help executives thrive under pressure by creating a leadership development environment that challenges, but also supports them.
“CLOs can help create the environment and conditions in which leaders can thrive,” he said. “Too often, the support is missing and you have an environment characterized by high challenge, where people sink or swim. Performance might be high, but the risk of burnout means that it is unlikely to be sustainable.”
The economic recession forces leaders to make a choice between “safe” leadership — characterized by lack of innovation, risk aversion and overemphasis on the short term — and “real” leadership, driven by the opportunity to be visible and make a difference.
“Sure, they have to focus on and manage the short-term challenges, but their mind is more on investing for the future,” he said. “Real leaders view the current difficulties as being a time when development is most needed: This is the time to nurture and retain talent in order to gain competitive advantage in the longer term.”