Taking a Nap

Edwin Freidman said that one of the most important aspects of leadership during crisis is a "non-anxious presence." The louder and more chaotic a situation gets, the calmer and more resolute and direct the true leader must get. (Remember the General Walking on the Beach during a mortar attack in "Apocalypse Now" ("I love the smell of napalm in the morning")

I think Friedman was right. Only I call that "Non-Anxious Presence" a NAP.

What a leader really needs during times of crisis is a... NAP!

Comments

[Sarah Dylan Breuer]

I agree with you completely -- and sometimes I think the "NAP" should be literal. Leaders who are completely exhausted can't be a non-anxious presence, and personally, I find that my subconscious is far more creative and less restrained than my conscious mind. When there's a knotty problem or difficult situation that needs a creative approach, sometimes the most productive thing I can do is to take a half-hour 'power nap,' and I usually wake up with one or more new ways of thinking about it.