Reading time: 7 minutes
Over the past few years, articles and reports claiming the benefits of military methods applied to business have flourished. During the first covid crisis, military personnel were interviewed at the drop of a hat for information on how to better manage times of crisis and uncertainty. As if the key to stress management and performance was to be found in this population under constant stress. But is this really true? Can we really apply the mental preparation of the military to the general population? And what are we really talking about when we talk about the methods we should be drawing inspiration from?
TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS WITH ONE CRUCIAL THING IN COMMON
Military strategy VS corporate strategy, command VS management, targets VS customers: can the day-to-day life of a soldier really be compared, even to a lesser extent, with that of an employee? Of course, the elements that make up the military environment are not entirely transposable to the corporate world. However, there are some key elements that can be found in both environments. Firstly, there’s the need to analyze given situations and define objectives to guarantee success. Then there’s the need to federate everyone’s energies to create support and trust within teams. And of course, always having to navigate in an uncertain context, without knowing what tomorrow will bring or what lies ahead.
Of course, we’re not dealing with the same level of uncertainty or the same need to unite a team. And the stakes aren’t as high for a company as they are for an army, where it’s a matter of life and death. However, whatever the stakes behind it, in a situation of stress, uncertainty or challenge, the body of a soldier as well as the body of an employee or any other human being reacts in the same way. Here’s how.
Inside the body, the autonomic nervous system automatically manages vital functions: heartbeat, breathing, digestion… It comprises two branches with opposite functions. The parasympathetic nervous system is dedicated to energy recovery, rest and digestion. Its opposite, the sympathetic system, accelerates heart and breathing rhythms. It’s this system that comes into play in stressful situations. In response to a stressor, this machinery springs into action to enable us to cope. The heart speeds up, breathing becomes more jerky and the pupils dilate. Although this system has enabled mankind to survive, the adrenalin rush that is so useful when encountering a bear in the forest may not always be appropriate in an office environment for employees, or in an operational situation for the military, where mastery of one’s full powers of discernment is essential.
The good news is that it’s possible to regain control over these reflex reactions, and thus take full control of your abilities and mobilize your resources. And to do that, we need to know and understand how our body reacts.
DISCOVER TOP®️ APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE WORLD
The key element that can be transposed from the military to the corporate world is the need to know oneself: one’s body, one’s strengths, one’s resources… And to learn this, Dr. Edith Perreaut-Pierre, then Chief Medical Officer of the French Air Force, created a method of mental preparation: Potential Optimization Techniques. These techniques cover a wide range of topics, from a healthy lifestyle to manage energy, strengthen technical skills and accelerate learning, and reinforce interpersonal skills (self-confidence, crisis management).
Imagine an unpleasant day at work. You get up with an appointment with your N+2 in mind, without knowing why he/she has summoned you. In your head, the various worry-tinged scenarios run their course as you eat breakfast. You get into your car to go to the office, someone cuts you off and calls you names. The sympathetic nervous system, the famous one that activates your body, starts to rise. You arrive at the office already a little on edge, and then there are the urgent e-mails that slow down the organization of your day, and the solicitations from your colleagues… In short, the pressure mounts throughout the day, and you go home with a thousand things on your mind, dreaming of just one thing: recharging your batteries for the vacations that will arrive in 2 weeks… ah no, 2 months. Does it ring a bell?
So don’t get your hopes up just yet: TOP®️ won’t make hit-and-run drivers disappear, nor will it ensure that urgent e-mails arrive in your inbox only when you have the time to deal with them calmly. On the other hand, TOP®️ will give you back control over what you can control: your perception of the situation, and your mental and physical reactions.
MANAGE THE UNEXPECTED BY INVESTING YOUR STRENGTHS AND LETTING GO
It has been shown that the way in which we perceive an effort can modify our performance. This was demonstrated in particular with groups of children who had to complete a test: one group was given the indication that the test was difficult and that they would certainly fail, while the other group was given no indication at all. The group that was given no indication performed better than the group that was told the test was difficult, even though the test was the same. This example shows that the way we perceive situations has an impact on our actions and our motivation.
There’s no doubt that if you run one disaster scenario after another when it comes to meeting your N+2, you risk losing your nerve when the time comes. In situations of uncertainty, military personnel use this time for reflection to project themselves towards a successful outcome. The key is to integrate the unexpected into this projection, and above all to imagine how you will overcome this situation. The key to effective mental preparation is to realize that you can’t control everything. BUT you can capitalize on your strengths, so that they emerge more easily in a situation. You’ve been through unexpected situations before, and you’ve managed to get through them, relying on your interpersonal skills and your values. Your past experiences are a fundamental asset that you can draw on to face future situations. Investing a few minutes a week to identify and strengthen your resources will enable you to tackle any situation, unforeseen or otherwise, more serenely (public speaking, confinement, loss of motivation…).
BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT
Back to our rude driver: your body has rightly perceived a dangerous situation and has become highly activated. However, you need to regain your composure and concentrate on the road ahead. The idea is to reduce the latency between the reflex reaction to stress and regaining control. Seconds saved can be vital in an operational situation. The first step is to recognize the sensations that stress provokes in your body. Then, breathe deeply. Breathing, as natural and automatic as it is little-known, is a simple way of calming your emotional reactions in a matter of seconds. Physiologically, controlled breathing acts on the autonomic nervous system: slow breathing allows you to relax, fast breathing activates you. If you’re faced with a colleague who’s irritating you, your body’s activation may be ill-adapted, and calming through breathing may be necessary. But if you have to parachute, being a little over-activated may be relevant.
A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
TOPs®️ are also, and above all, designed to last. You wouldn’t think of sleeping for 3 days in a row and then staying awake all week, would you? Well, what applies to your sleep also applies to your emotions and motivation. By regulating your energy, motivation and emotions throughout the day, you can recuperate on a daily basis. With moments of relaxation, breathing, short phases of sleep (yes, taking a nap is a real art, and the military have understood this) and a suitable diet, you won’t have to wait for the vacations to recover from an exhausting year.
The body has a tremendous capacity to adapt. In the military, this need for adaptation is taken to extremes. The TOP®️ s have enabled us to support the military in knowing how to use their resources as efficiently as possible. In the corporate world, this notion of efficiency is vital, but it also implies employee well-being. These methods give you back control over a number of aspects that may seem immutable to us, such as regulating our emotions, managing stress… to better let go of the rest (the very appearance of emotions, and the situation). Just listen to yourself!
Authors: Floriane Gouabault, Anaïs Roux
Sources
- Understanding and practicing Potential Optimization Techniques, Edith Perreaut-Pierre
- Learned helplessness, Martin Seligman
