I used to work in the medical device sector, before I began to grow my taxi service into the VIP service machine that the Summit is today! You might not think that medical devices can bring chaos into your life, but you’d be surprised.
I was becoming a firefighter, surrounded by other firefighters who seemed to thrive on chaos and actually need it in their lives to feel essential and successful at their job. I learned however, that it doesn’t have to be that way – I could be the one who sees the chaos coming and be prepared for it…
Firefighter bosses drain your energy
I learned that the leadership and communication style of a boss who thrives in chaos is one of rapid reaction and quick-fire direction. This can take a toll on your energy when you have to be responsive to immediate change. This style of communication can even have longer lasting psychological effects and change your own natural demeanour into something it isn’t and arguably shouldn’t be. You become exhausted, stifled and stop developing strategic growth and creative thinking.
Burnout is just around the corner…
A study by the American Psychological Association found that a chaotic crisis-driven environment leads to:
- Chronic stress and exhaustion from being in a constant state of urgency
- Decision fatigue due to constant shifts in priorities
- Disengagement and high staff turnover, as employees become disillusioned
- Loss of strategic focus, with teams focusing on short-term fires rather than long-term growth.
And who gets the credit for putting out the fires? You guessed it, the boss, and not the team who could’ve prepared for the fire ahead of time and put it out before it blazed…
How to succeed under a boss that thrives on chaos
Rather than always trying to keep up with the chaos and training for sprints and quick turns, think of the workplace as a marathon, where sustainability is what you need to train for.
Focus on your boss and what they need to hear and be made to feel to achieve success – recognition mainly…
Celebrate the small wins loudly
The wins that didn’t come through emergency response. Make sure your boss feels they were intrinsic in the success, and they’ll eventually associate praise with no-pressure wins. You’re trying to prove there’s value in crisis prevention instead of crisis management.
Don’t meet chaos with chaos
The more the team meets the boss’ energy with the same, the more the boss will feel validated in their firefighting leadership style. It’s tough to do, but if you can remain calm, set boundaries and resist the intensity of the situation you can reframe it in a way that prioritises logical thinking rather than reactive thinking.
Firefighters recognise speed in fixing – not prevention
Can you find a way to present proactive efforts to prevent chaos as a series of fast measurable wins? Firefighter bosses don’t often notice a problem that never occurred, so bring that problem back a few steps and turn the preventative measure into the tactic that requires quick action.
You have to be resilient if you want to be the change that your workplace and colleagues need. You need to be a leader in yourself and pull together the rest of the team so they can work on the same tactics, and you need to make sure you have a team of people you can rely on supporting your efforts.
Remember, we all have emergencies from time to time – that’s not the problem. The problem occurs if the same emergency keeps happening – that’s poor planning, and you CAN fix that!
Master of my own style of chaos…
Once, I was the one redirecting energy in my team. Now, as owner of The Summit Chauffeurs, I no longer have to fight the chaos. I can plan every journey, adapt to last minute changes to plans, and be trusted to meet any last minute emergency with calmness.
I hope you don’t have to out these tactics into practise, but if I can be of any help, especially when it comes to planning events and corporate travel, you know where to find me. Rehan.