In a recent leadership workshop a participant asked me:
“How can I get staff to think about choices or
decisions and not just react?”
My first thought was of a classic Zig Ziglar story that talks about the big difference one word can make. Zig said (and I’m paraphrasing):
Imagine going to the doctor for medication and returning for a follow-up visit. In one case the doctor says you are reacting to the medication, in the other case the doctor says you are responding to the treatment.
There’s a big difference between responding and reacting.
That difference is the key to answering the question; my participate is looking for a thoughtful response rather than an immediate reaction.
So, my answer comes in two parts: first, how to respond rather than react; then how to support that choice and habit in others.
How to Respond Rather Than React
Think big picture. When you think about how this specific situation fits into your overall goals and objectives it will be easier to respond.
Put the situation in context. Always consider the context – what is happening and how the next step will best serve you, the organization and everyone involved.
Blend logic and emotion. The best decisions are both informed by facts and infused with emotion. The goal isn’t to deny your emotions, but to balance those immediate emotional responses with thoughts and facts to fill in the blanks. This is the essence of responding.
Ask yourself the key reaction question. The key question is: Am I reacting? Simply asking yourself that question can ground you and give you a quick mental break to perhaps choose differently.
Recognize choices. Often reacting comes when you don’t know or think you don’t have any other option. When you realize that you always have choices, you can remember to consider them and the consequences they bring before moving forward.
Create 20/20 vision. You know hindsight is 20/20. Your goal in the moment is to mentally move yourself into the future and look back with imagined 20/20 vision to determine your best response to the current situation.
How To Help Others Respond
Once you understand the differences, the best way to help others is to follow this three step formula:
Expect. The first step always is to make your expectations clear and help people understand when and where you expect response rather than immediate reaction.
Model. It is hard to encourage or inspire others to respond if you aren’t modeling it yourself.
Coach. Once you are responding rather than reacting, you are in a better position to coach others based on your experience, citing examples and more.
Some Final Thoughts
While responding seems like the prudent choice, you may be wondering how speed plays into this equation. Clearly in a crisis or emergency situation it may seem that you would logically need to react or operate in a split-second decision mode.
The reality is the best crisis managers (ER doctors, emergency management officials, firefighters as some examples) actually are trained and practice a variety of scenarios precisely so they can respond rather than react.
The difference is in preparation and thought.
In other words, response (versus reaction) doesn’t mean you will be slow, just thoughtful.
Zig is right – there is a big difference – you and your team will reach better decisions and make better choices when you respond rather than react.
Everyday is new. Yes sir sometimes we forgot the big picture.
Marisi Tambunan
I just listened to the audio book of “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer http://amzn.to/at1yRw
Amazing book with some incredible stories about people responding instead of reacting, and saving lives in the process. Like the story of the airline pilot who completely lost hydraulic pressure (no steering) mid-flight. Because he chose counter to his ‘gut’, he still managed to ‘steer’ the plane with differential thrust.
Sometimes responding vs. reacting can be a matter of life or death – you have a good viewpoint here.
It sounds like those employees don’t have a lot of skin in the game and just want to get something done and go home. That seems to be the case when people react instead of responding. Engaged employees generally put a little more thought in. Maybe there’s a more fundamental question that manager could be asking.
That certainly could be true – and is a worthy question for any of us to ask.
K 🙂
Thank u sir….it will help me sure.
Thanks for the comment Rajesh. YES – many of these ideas can be applied to sales of any kind.
very true responding is always better than reacting.