If you are a football fan you have obviously heard that Brett Favre is considering returning to football after retiring this past spring. You are also probably aware that for the past 3 years he has struggled mightly with his decision of whether or not to retire or come back to play football. It seems to me that Brett might be suffering from a lack of what is called “impulse control.” Impulse control is a critical competency in emotional intelligence. When a person has impulse control they may feel a certain way but they don’t always act on those feelings. For example; you may be angry with an employee but you don’t react until you have time to think it through. In Favre’s case it has been reported that he is feeling “the itch” to come back. That itch is an emotion or a feeling. Listening to other athletes comment on Favre it is an itch that many athletes have after they retire. However, with strong impulse control you are able to manage that “itch” and think logically through the situation. In Favre’s case he may recognize that it is normal to feel this way and think back to the reasons he retired. People with low impulse control tend to react to every emotion and are not able to think it through. My guess is that this is most likely a tendency that we are born with and that some have this ability more than others. Never the less it can be developed and is a critical competency that a leader must possess. What does low impulse control look like in the business world? Here are a few examples;
1. Losing it in a meeting and yelling at someone.
2. Reacting to every problem as if it were the end of the world
3. Making a major decision without taking time to look at all of the factors and other possibilities.
We are probably all guilty of this to some degree. Learning to manage our impulses and think through an issue is important at work and at home. It can keep you from snapping at the kids, making bad decisions, and being seen as someone who is over reactive. How do you do this? We’ll discuss next time.
