Don’t Let The Pressure Get To You
Good people sometimes do really dumb things, and nothing brings out more stupidity than stress. The reason behind the stress almost doesn’t matter. Whether it’s a tight deadline, a personal crisis, the global economic situation, or a seven-game NBA series, stress causes issues, and has a tendency to bring out the worst in people.
As an example, check out the comments made by Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, after the Magic blew a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter of their game with the Boston Celtics.
Embedded video from NBA Video I happen to like Dwight, but he was wrong. You can’t call out your coach like that. Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Chris Webber hit the nail on the head – especially Kenny. There are ways to address that problem, and the media is NOT one of them.
But this issue is not confined to sports. You can see it manifested in a number of other areas, particularly in the corporate arena. Projects slip, deadlines loom, and people start to lose their minds. My personal philosophy is that you have to remember yourself, and remember who your friends are.
Don’t let any temporary stressful situations cause you to “forget yourself”. A momentary slip can have lasting impact, as people who have been hurt will not easily forget or ignore the situation.
People that keep their composure in times of crisis, and teams that keep their composure in moments of stress, are those who will ultimately triumph. You have to manage stress lest it manage to destroy you.
Dwight is a young fella (so I’ll give him a *little* slack), and hopefully someone will pull him aside and say, “Son, that’s not how you go about dealing with things.” Hopefully, it will be the coach, and they’ll get that situation squared away pretty quickly. If not, it is likely to undermine the team dynamics, and result in failure.
Likewise, a failure to properly address stressful situations at work and relieve them, will undermine cohesion in the team, department or division, and success will be virtually impossible. Sadly, many learn this lesson far too late, if at all.
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew S. Baker is a business-savvy, hands-on IT leader with expertise in mentoring people, mitigating risk, and integrating technology to drive innovation and maximize business results. He creates competitive advantage for organizations through effective IT leadership: implementation of processes and controls, and architecture of robust business solutions.
Mr. Baker has successfully led a number of high-performance technology teams in designing, deploying and maintaining secure, cost-effective computing environments for well-known companies, including Warner Music Group, The Princeton Review, Bear Stearns, About.com, and Lewco Securities.
For over a decade, Andrew has exhibited thought leadership on technology and business topics via mailing lists, technical forums, blogs, and professional networking groups, along with contributions to podcasts, webinars, and over 20 technical/business magazine articles. He also serves on several boards and committees for non-profit organizations, and within the Seventh-day Adventist church.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading, Strategy/Role Playing games, and Professional Networking...
A summary of Andrew's current résumé is available here, and he can be reached on a variety of social and professional networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.