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30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure
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TECH (/TECHNOLOGY) 5/14/2014 @ 12:09PM 68,856 view s
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/)
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30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure
http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/05/14/sniper-mentality-leader/ 2/5
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.
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30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure
http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2014/05/14/sniper-mentality-leader/ 3/5
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.
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30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure
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30/6/2014 The Sniper Mentality: 4 Ways To Think Better Under Pressure
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