"Empowerment is the magic wand that turns a frog into a prince. Never underestimate the power of the people; through true empowerment great leaders are born."
--- Lama S. Bowen

This week's "Something Extra"

Use Neuroscience to Remain Calm Under Pressure
By Geoffrey James

"The ability to keep your wits in a crisis isn't a character trait; it's a skill that you can learn in minutes."

Great leaders always seem to remain calm during situations that make mere mortals fall to pieces. Conventional wisdom says that the ability to remain calm is a character trait that most of us lack.

Neuroscience, however, has recently revealed that remaining calm under pressure is not an inborn trait, but a skill that anybody can learn.

Here's how it's done:

1. Understand the biochemistry.

The opposite of remaining calm is the state of "fight or flight," a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival.

The reaction starts when two segments of your brain called the amygdalae interpret a situation as a threat. This perception causes your brain to secrete hormones that tell your nervous system to prepare your body to take drastic action. Your breath gets short, your body floods your muscles with blood, your peripheral vision goes away, and so forth.

Since neither fight nor flight are appropriate in business situations, your body never gets a release. Instead, your hyped-up body tells your brain "Yes, this is a real threat!" and you end up with your brain and body in a feedback loop. To put it colloquially, you freak out.

In this state, chances are extremely high that you'll either remain frozen in fear like a deer in headlights or, driven to release the pressure, you'll say or do something stupid.

What are the other 3 points?

Continue reading the article:

Have a great day and take care!

Love and blessings,
Marlene