89. Pro-Act, Don’t React

Are you proactive or reactive? Think before you answer. Being proactive is more difficult than you might imagine. Do you have emergency plans in place? Or do you wait for an emergency to move into crisis mode? If so, you will react to the situation in a manner that may not be the best. We tend to think of crisis situations as circumstances that affect many people. Most crises, however, occur on a much smaller scale. At work, a crisis might be something as simple as how to handle the workload when a coworker calls in sick. When you plan proactively, you will have contingency plans in place. You will also look for opportunities to actively change situations before they become emergencies. And, if an emergency occurs for which you have no plan, your proactive state of mind will help you manage the crisis more efficiently.

Performance Prompts

Before a crisis:

• Be on the lookout for things that need to be changed, improved, or eliminated.

• Always have a contingency plan in place for emergency situations.

• Also have an emergency plan for disasters or other unforeseen events, both at work and at home. Make sure everyone involved knows their role before an emergency happens.

• Practice your contingency plans with everyone who might be affected. Remember the fire drills you did in school? There was a good reason for those drills. Make sure you and your coworkers practice your own “fire” drills.

During a crisis:

• Number One Rule: Remain calm. You will not do anyone any good if you lose your composure.

• Take a deep breath. Or a few.

• Figure out how much time you have before you must take action.

• You may not have time to carefully think out your plan of action, so put your critical thinking skills to good use.

• When time permits, ask others for their ideas and help.

• Think of the worst case scenario for the action you are choosing.

• Help others remain calm by modeling calm behavior.

When This Happens ...

Your longtime customer just called to tell you his company will not be renewing their contract with you. They found another vendor with a larger product selection and a faster delivery time. This is a huge account, and the loss of revenue is going to greatly affect your company’s profits.

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Do you have a contingency plan in place for these types of events? In business, nothing is certain, and this is one area in which you should have a plan. Your plan might be to try to win this customer back by offering an incentive. Or it might be to maintain enough accounts so that the loss of any one will not be devastating and create a crisis.

In business, as in life, nothing is certain. Always plan for the unexpected.