I blogged last time about the role of adrenaline in performance and the negative effects of too much adrenaline as evidenced by the Broncos shaky game during the Super Bowl.  The follow up question is, of course, why couldn’t the Broncos get their groove back after a weak start?  Were they too thrown off by the opening 12 seconds of the game?

One of the acid tests of a star performer – or indeed anyone who has to speak in public, or act, or attempt heroics on a sports field – is the ability to get back in the game when things go wrong.  Because things will go wrong.  You will drop the ball, forget your line, make a badly timed entrance, or forget an important part of your speech.

What happens then?  Do you proceed to flame out, collapse in tears, or give up?  Or do you meet the challenge of getting back in the game as quickly and efficiently as possible?

In an effort to help you think about facing and overcoming disaster in a useful way, here are a few tips for managing through the pain.

1. Stay in the moment – don’t mourn or celebrate prematurely.

When you’re in the middle of the play, the game, or the speech, you need to be right there as completely and thoroughly as possible.  Don’t write your own obituary before it’s over, and don’t start celebrating early either.  Never comment on what’s going on as it’s happening.  Stay in the moment!  That’s where a great performance comes from.

2.  When things go wrong, let go. 

It’s incredibly difficult and incredibly important not to dwell on mistakes as they happen.  As soon as you do that, it’s game over.  You need to keep in the flow of the action by looking forward, not back.  Of course you need to analyze what’s going on, react, and change direction when warranted, but only as it affects the remaining time.  No instant replays – leave those to the spectators.

3.    Prepare for the worst. 

No deer-in-the-headlights look – if something goes wrong, you should already have a plan for what to do next.  If the technology fails, give the speech without the tech.  Because you planned for it, you can do it.  If the other team is reading your audibles, change your strategy.  You’ve got to be able to handle the worst possible scenarios.

4.  Throw the plan away if it isn’t working.

If nothing you planned on is working, then you have to be capable of jettisoning the plan and going with your gut in the moment.  You should only think of this option as the last possible one – don’t mistake a little adrenaline for a sign that your plan won’t work.  Your bias should be to execute what you rehearsed, but if it’s abundantly clear that it’s not working – try something else.

5.  Play out the game. 

If you watched the body language of the Broncos early in the second half, their shoulders were slumped, their heads were down, and their energy was low.  They had already lost in their minds, with most of two quarters still left to play.  You can’t afford to do that.  You’ve got to stay in the moment until they turn off the lights.  Then you can go home; not before.

Here’s hoping that victory is always yours; but if it isn’t, be ready to show what you’ve got.

(picture credit: wikipedia)