The Best Business Advice I Ever Got: Don't Panic!

There was a recent major national publication that discussed how stress, if channeled correctly, can be a very positive and productive force OR be destructive.

I am a small business expert and I fix companies.

The theme struck a chord for me as that adrenalin surge can sometimes be just as addictive as any other controlled substance.  Think fireman running into a burning building, swooning damsels, squalling babes, etc.  Situations with an element of risk yield reward, fame and more opportunities - if that risk is handled correctly.

Panic and stress can't be disabling; if they are, the waves will wash over your head and it's game over.  Practically speaking, the way to tackle that wave of nausea, that puckering of certain body parts, that fill-in-the-blank-feeling that accompanies crises is straightforward:

1. Put a name on the problem(s);
2. Figure out which one goes first;
3. Attack!

As mind-numbingly simple as this sounds, it's this inability to focus and execute that gets people all the time.  Countless times, I have encountered such basic things like "This person no longer fits in the organization - what do I do?" or "We keep hiring the wrong people; what do we do?" or "We need more sales!".  Each of those (and many other) similar seemingly insurmountable situations are not monolithic - they all tend to be big balls of intermingled issues that need to be (patiently!) unraveled.

Follow the best business advice I ever got, take a deep breath...and start.