- Practice composure. Maintaining your composure under pressure is a practice, just like so much of what you are learning in the CCO. Being clear about the vision you have for yourself and using it to guide and energize you during tough interactions is how you practice bringing your vision to life and making it part of your overall professional presence.
- Choose measures of success that draw your greatest gifts forward as opposed to those that keep you small. Composure under pressure has a lot to do with what bar you hold yourself to and how you measure your performance. This isn’t about letting go of excellence; rather, it’s about pursuing excellence differently. If you measure your success by unreasonable or unattainable measures — like total, utter perfection — then you increase the chances that you will lose your composure. Instead, measure yourself by the things that are within your control, and hold yourself accountable to performing your absolute best within that standard. When you know you are working in a way that aligns with the vision you hold for yourself, maintaining your composure — even under pressure — becomes more readily attainable.
- Why not shine? There are numerous opportunities in everyday life to make yourself visible. Leverage the informal opportunities that come your way. If you shine in the little interactions, you will be invited to the more significant ones.
- Review your vision regularly to ensure it stays current with you. Refresh your vision periodically to ensure it stays current with you and with your ever-changing aspirations. Having a vision for yourself and stewarding it is less about what happens on the outside, like marketing and promoting yourself, than it is about the internal effects. Let your vision inspire you, drive you to be your absolute best, and catalyze your forward movement toward your highest potential.