Blog of Julien Tromenschlager, Dipl. Ing., MSc, Cert. Career Consultant

  September 13, 2020, Uster, Swiss canton of Zürich. We are just a few minutes from the start of the international triathlon Olympic distance, which is planned to start at 8:25am. We are more than 300 male athletes waiting in line for the start of the 1.5km swim in the Greifensee lake. The water temperature is 22°C and there’s a slight fog over the water and the surrounding fields, which makes our natural playground much less welcoming than it was a few days ago when I came to scan the tracks under a beautiful sun.  I’ve prepared for the last three months for this triathlon and while standing on the start line, for some unknown reason, my mind starts to freak out and think of all that could possibly go wrong during the race. My breathing rate increases and a stream of negative scenarios come to my mind. Fortunately for me, I know this little nasty voice, the one from my ego who tries to preserve me by all means against any risk or failure. Then I step back mentally, acknowledg...

"Resilient managers move quickly from analysis to a plan of action (and reaction). After the onset of adversity, they shift from cause-oriented thinking to response-oriented thinking, and their focus is strictly forward." This quote comes from the article "How to Bounce Back from Adversity", written by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz for Harvard Business Review. In this article from 2010, authors dissect the way of how great business leaders think and act in view of turning a negative experience into a productive one. Even more interestingly, I think, is that authors provide a method that each of us can use when facing an adverse event, in order to avoid victimizing about it and to bounce back from it. This method in two steps consists firstly of asking oneself 12 questions aiming to shift from reflexive, cause-oriented thinking to active, response-oriented thinking. Those 12 questions are categorized in four segments through which any manager can...