The Sniper Mentality

30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure

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The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways ToThink Better Under Pressure

David Amerland (http://blogs.forbes.com/people/davidamerland/) , NetApp (http://blogs.forbes.com/people/davidamerland/)

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In an ideal world, we want our business leaders to be

a little bit superhuman.

We want our leaders to exhibit the icy calmness of a

sniper when under pressure: Decisive, with a clear

sense of purpose, a complete understanding of what

needs to be done, and the willingness to do it.

Here are four ways to be that sniper-like,

superhuman leader

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/)

NetAppVoice (http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/)

Go Further, Faster



Continuing on the theme of new research that shows that leaders can indeed

be made (http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/01/09/are-leaders-born-

or-made/) rather than only born, research

(http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121024-from-battlefield-to-

boardroom) carried out on behalf of DARPA by Advanced Brain Monitoring

(http://advancedbrainmonitoring.com/) shows that successful snipers achieve

an optimal mental state just before taking their shot.

That mental state can be monitored, analyzed and recreatednot just in

snipers, but in anyone involved in critical decision-making.

Good Leaders Are Made

The subtext here is that the same mental skills that

can turn an emotion-prone army recruit into a

highly trained, focused killing machine can be used

to transform business leaders from error-prone

individuals into business leaders who make the best

decisions possible.

What is of interest here for an enterprise is the fact

that the sniper mentalityas it reaches a state of

equilibriumis also applicable to todays business.

The list itself is made up of four distinct elements

that every leader should have in mind:

1. Its Personal

Just like sniping, business decisions have now become personal.

The choices that leaders make, the way they handle pressure and criticism

reflect upon their charactersleaving their own psychological marks. The way

theyre perceivedand the way they perceive those their decisions affectwill

only increase the pressures they face during the decision-making process.

2. It Requires Empathy

Empathy is critical. Snipers typically have a closer connection with their targets

than, say, a drone pilot or a tank gunner.

This creates a much closer human connection than in any other part of the

armed services. Being able to understand what their targets doand whyis a

uniquely humanizing experience, leading to better kill-or-dont-kill choices.

Like business leaders, snipers are under intense scrutiny. Every kill shot is

examined for justification. They can potentially end up in jail for making the

wrong call.

Empathy has proven to be a critical ingredient in the

decision-making process, helping improve the

quality of the decisions.

3. Calculate Everything

So, for a sniper, every decision to shoot or not goes

through a long mental checklist that represents the

justification for that action.

The rationale, Because I can, isnt enough.

Similarly, leaders have their every action scrutinized

by the board of directors, the shareholders, the

people they lead, the press, and the public.



If their rationale is flawed, their decisions are likely to damage the reputation

and value of their organization.

4. Carry Out A Situation Assessment

There are a great many variables that need to be taken into account before a

sniper squeezes the trigger.

They range from wind speed and air temperature to angle of elevation and the

always-fluid situation on the ground. Business leaders are frequently called

upon to exercise a snap judgment, particularly during moments when

enterprise is being tested.

The ability to correctly evaluate each variable and accurately calculate its

impact is critical in the quality of their decisions.

But Leaders Are Not Snipers

On the face of it, it seems ludicrous to compare a business leader to a sniper.

But both use their brain to reach a decision, quickly,

when in the balance hangs the fate of their

colleagues and even of themselves. The neural

mechanism that controls the decision-making

process is the same for snipers and leaders.

There are studies that show that some leaders lack

empathy

(http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/20/study-1-

in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/) and

other personality traits that allow them to humanize

their decisions. In a social-media environment,

where everything enterprise does is open to

interpretation, the wrong type of leadership can be catastrophic.

The DARPA study showed that snipers who were taught to recreate the

optimum mental frame of mind dramatically improved their own performance.

This suggests that business decision-making can be improved

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/01/09/are-leaders-born-or-

made/), by training leaders to think better under pressure.

The Bottom Line

The enterprise is facing challenges from every direction. Internally, its

workforce is becoming untethered

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/02/25/byod-lust-and-trust/)

from the hardware it uses to do its work and empowered

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2013/10/14/tiny-disruptive-change/)

by social media. Externally, its customer base is changing

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2012/12/10/social-business/) and its

competitors are growing

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2013/12/23/size-doesnt-matter/).

The link to all this? The quality of its leaders.

A growing body of evidence suggests that leaving leadership to blind chance

will only cause more issues

(http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/02/20/video-should-ceo-blog/).

Leading a company today is becoming a highly specialized, skillful job.

Stepping into it requires more than the right background and the ability to

form alliances within the board.



Shoot from the hip: Weigh in with a comment below, and follow David

Amerland (https://plus.google.com/115620878851836664537?rel=author)

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