You know that momentary pang of panic when you look in your rearview mirror and there is a police officer behind you? Even if you are just moving along with the flow of traffic, it can be a bit nerve wracking. That was the case yesterday. After several stop lights and he was still behind me, it was time to move over. Traffic finally started flowing as the congested area was ending. Then it happened. The red jeep that was behind the UPS truck jumped out in front of the motorcycle officer, cutting him off. How could he not see him? No signal to move over, no clearance in front of the motorcycle. Yikes! Not good. The red jeep kept going with the officer on his bumper. Then to make matters worse, the red jeep tried to get back over, pushing the UPS truck onto the shoulder. The lights came on indicating the inevitable.
It seemed that the jeep driver hadn’t realized what happened until looking in the rearview mirror to see the cop. Panic set in and that was when the near accident happened. The driver must have known the UPS truck was there as he was following it and was now beside it. But that panic in the gut caused focus to go elsewhere, nearly causing the accident.
That feeling of panic can cause devastating results in business as well, and it can have many causes. The key is to recognize when the panic hits and then not lose focus on running the business. Being calm and keeping the objectives in mind can help. So can having thought through various scenarios and how to handle them. How are you ensuring you stay focused on your objectives and are not focusing on distractions that cause panic and lead to disastrous results?