Deliberate Calm: How to Lead in a Volatile World

As our world becomes increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), leaders are facing never-before-seen challenges without an established toolkit to rely on. Deliberate calm is about recognizing what an external situation is demanding of you and being intentional about how you respond to it. The author of Deliberate Calm argues that, at its core, achieving this demands a synthesis of four skills: awareness, adaptability, learning agility and emotional self-regulation. He shows that as we face situations from day to day, we oscillate between two very different 'zones': the Familiar Zone and the Adaptive Zone. And what is required to thrive in each zone is markedly different. By adopting 'dual awareness', leaders can perform optimally in difficult circumstances. The dual aspect is about simultaneously being aware of the external situation you are facing and your own internal emotional state as you enter it. In the end, he shows that there are an endless number of situations in our lives where we can more effectively navigate life and work from a state of Deliberate Calm.