Performance Under Pressure. Ceri Evans

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СКАЧАТЬ – APE – create the ESC-APE model. There are some moments that carry too much pressure for us to bear because of the level of ESC, and this level of discomfort causes us to go APE. Rather than thinking clearly, we act impulsively out of emotional tension. We avoid the discomfort through aggressive or passive behaviours, or by escaping from the situation altogether.

      Try applying the ESC-APE model to your personal performance history. If you’re honest, looking back, which behaviours are you least proud of? Which behaviours have damaged your reputation the most? Can you recognise how expectations, scrutiny and consequences created pressure that affected your behaviour? Perhaps you stepped out onto a bigger ‘performance stage’ than normal, with a larger audience watching to see whether you could cope. But instead of performing at your best, you got loud, boisterous, and belligerent; or you cried off and said you were unwell when you really could have turned up; or you performed, but you were quiet and restrained and just never got going.

      IMP-ACT

      Newton’s first law states that an object will remain in its current state of motion unless an external force acts on it to change its momentum. We humans are the same: we only move because of pressure. It’s all about inertia, a resistance to change.

      Most people need external pressure to move them. But there’s a smaller group driven by pressure from within – and they’re the ones who inevitably go further.

      If externally driven people respond to pressure, it’s because they’re moved by expectations, scrutiny and consequences (ESC) from their employers and others. But what if we’re internally driven?

      Instead of someone else’s expectations, we’re driven by our own intention. Instead of being affected by someone else’s scrutiny, we have a clear sense of where we are right now, in this moment. And instead of someone else’s consequences, we are focused on our current priority. The mental recipe for internally driven people is intention, moment, priority, or IMP.

      Start with the context: think of a current situation that’s challenging you. First, in that situation, what is your intention? Look into the future and decide what outcome you want and the way you want to operate. How it will look and feel to close observers? Second, what is the reality in this moment? What is currently working well and what isn’t? There’s probably a gap between your intent and your current reality. Third, what is your priority for closing this gap and making progress towards the desired outcome? Be specific: what will your first step be?

      If we are internally driven, we are far less affected by external pressure, because the drive from within is stronger. We are not immune to it, but it is less disturbing.

      Performers who are externally driven also tend to identify external factors that are limiting their ability. This is more comfortable because it makes it not their fault. Internally driven performers tend to look at internal obstacles and see their primary opponent as themselves.

      Being internally driven also feels different. Instead of feeling the weight of expectation coming down on us from the outside, we feel power flowing up from within. External pressure breaks us down, makes us shrink, and burdens us; internal drive builds us up, makes us grow, and energises us.

      IMP sets us up to be far more resilient mentally in the face of external pressure. When we need external ESC pressure to move, we are vulnerable to RED aggressive, passive, escape (APE) reactions. The two go hand in hand, forming the unhelpful ESC-APE pathway that leads us to disengage under pressure. In contrast, the internal IMP factors tend to drive the BLUE aware, clear, task (ACT) responses, forming the constructive IMP-ACT structure, which keeps us engaged under pressure.

      Instead of feeling or deciding that the moment is too big for us, which causes us to ESC-APE, we stand our ground and have IMP-ACT. Moderate performers are pushed along by others and tend to escape when the pressure comes on, while elite performers are pulled forward by their own ambitions.

      But the acronyms ESC-APE and IMP-ACT represent more than words, because when we follow them, they lead to different biological responses. ESC-APE behaviours follow threat, setting off our RED mind. IMP-ACT is linked to challenge, which strongly activates our BLUE mind, especially our left pre-frontal cortex, a part of the brain stimulated by goal-setting and new learning.

      Sophie and her teenage daughter Emily are exploring the capital city of a foreign country. Sophie, an experienced traveller, deliberately takes a back seat when it’s time to head home from a day visiting various landmarks so that Emily has to work out how to get them there.

      It’s getting late and they are tired, so Sophie suggests to Emily that she can lead the way back to their hotel despite the different language (expectation), that Sophie will be watching her as she works out the way on public transport (scrutiny), and that they can’t rest or stop for food until they get home (consequences).

      It would be easy for Emily to go RED – become aggressive or passive, or escape (in a taxi) as quickly as possible. But she checks herself and decides to go down the BLUE IMP-ACT pathway.

      First, she reminds herself of her intention, which is to demonstrate that she can be trusted to travel independently. Second, she focuses on the moment, and sees that she has no idea where they are or the quickest route home, and has only a smattering of the local vocabulary to get them out of the situation. Third, she works out her priority, which she quickly sees is to get to the nearest underground metro station and find a transport map to work out a good route home.

      Following these three steps allows Emily to move towards BLUE behaviours, remaining aware of her emotional tone, clear about what she needs to do, and ready to get on with her task. She takes the IMP-ACT pathway and comes across as composed, clear and collaborative.

      In the same high-pressure moment, we have two alternatives: to ESC-APE the tension, or to have IMP-ACT despite the tension. That first step – refusing to step over the RED line into ESC-APE territory – is critical. Sometimes there is no coming back.

      When we stand near the RED ESC-APE line we are at an emotional crossroads. If we decide to be drawn over the line, we need to be clear that we have allowed that to happen, not blame others and justify it with excuses – the ESC-APE artist’s signatures.

      If we make it our decision to step over it or not, rather than relinquishing the decision to the forces of pressure, we will be stronger mentally. We might not immediately get on top of the situation, but stepping over the line into BLUE IMP-ACT territory is a good start, because it ends our internal debate about whether to give in to the pressure. We have enough on our plate in this moment. It’s not a time to overthink the situation, it’s a time to take emotional control.

      Riaz, a surgeon, is moving smoothly through an operation, but the cosmetic result at the end does not look neat. He feels disappointed, angry and tense as he imagines explaining it to the patient later, and in that moment he notices a junior assistant laughing with the anaesthetist. He feels on the verge of an aggressive outburst, but sees the RED ESC-APE line in his mind, takes back the control, and decides to have IMP-ACT. He takes a deep breath and closes up the final wound again with extra care.

      Ari, СКАЧАТЬ