Take control of that “out of sorts feeling” and you’ll also help your team to avoid the kind of cortisol an angry customer might bring…. You’ll find consensus faster. Robyn and I recently held an exciting phone conference with a friend and fellow leader… Barry Burrnett and his
Robyn, the senior vice-president at the
Robyn intended to trigger a comment to Barry about how cortisol puts us in panic mode ... and shuts down the brain’s ability to communicate well. I thought Robyn was saying that my tone appeared to be in cortisol … and that I should avoid this. Surprised while at Robyn’s suggestion, I decided to take no chances … and I calmed my voice more as I communicated. We laughed at the communication glitch we hit … in spite of the close working relationships we enjoy.
The key to escape cortisol though… is to change your voice… run from negative people… go for a walk… or find some tangible way to be good to you until cortisol stops surging in your brain and positive tone returns. What do you think?
I think...that as I drove to work yesterday I pondered that if I had been cut off by another driver, and resisted the urge to respond in a tirade of insults and fist shaking, what had I done? Had I controlled my anger or had I suppressed my aggression? If I had controlled my anger, had I actually achieved biological mastery of my physiological response to external stimuli? If I had suppressed my aggression, had I actually hidden my natural response to this external stimulus, and thereby allowed my natural aggressive reaction to grow and fester within me? What now of cortisol? How do we master our natural "fight or flight" response? After a particularly stressful day at work yesterday, I am sure that I had an unusually high secretion of cortisol this morning. Redirecting my intellect to more useful purposes...such as this blog, helps tremendously. That is what I think.
Posted by: Anonymous | June 28, 2006 9:15 AM | Permalink to Comment