The pressure of disruptions happening in all corners of the business world can be overwhelming and often hard to manage.  There’s a constant need to be innovative. The first or the most advanced. The most versatile or even easy to use. The most productive and of course most cost effective. And then there’s the pressure of being the most preferred. Let’s not forget the ongoing pressures of meeting deadlines, dealing with difficult people, the endless meetings and ever so demanding customers. All of this is part of the challenge of today’s business when disruptive technologies are everywhere.

The outcome of all this pressure? Mental stress, fatigue and burn out. Often you’re forced to make rash and unplanned decisions which lead to negative outcomes. That of course leads to reduced employee morale, reduced efficiency and productivity, disgruntled customers and a declining bottom-line. Wow! The pressures are immense. And the job of an exponential leader doesn’t get any easier when faced with disruptive technologies.

What all this pressure does is that it gives rise to the need to be agile. Even more than ever before, leaders, companies and employees must be agile to take on the challenges that disruptive technologies are hitting them with. There’s a continuously growing need to have an open and ever evolving mindset that can help you build the resilience to manage all these pressures and come out successful. How do you do this? Here are 4 ways you can be agile when faced with disruptive technologies.

1. Perceive Challenges as Opportunities

When faced with new challenges our first instinct is to curl up, fret and perceive them as catastrophe. Our reaction to new challenges is often defeat, lack of confidence to have the skills to manage it, or simply the inability to deliver. All that makes the situation that more daunting and less achievable.

Instead if you were to perceive new challenges as opportunities, you’re altering your mindset and viewing situations with possibilities rather than with a defeatist or pessimistic approach. Tell yourself, you’ve done it before so you can overcome this as well. You’re in a leadership position for a reason. And that reason is your ability to overcome challenges and succeed. Believe in yourself and ease every opportunity that comes your way.

2. Avoid Perfection

Leaders often trap themselves with a desire and need to be perfect. Honestly, it’s unrealistic. If perfection could be achieved, the need to strive for more would die, i.e. it would be the death of innovation. Your push towards perfection will not only drive you towards insanity, but your team and company as well. For some, it’s also spelled the end of their leadership legacy.

You’re a leader, not a superhuman. You’re allowed to make mistakes and learn from them to handle future situations better. Perfection isn’t the goal. Learning along your leadership journey is what you’re aiming for and focusing on. From these learnings build agility and resilience to withstand challenges and give it your best, everytime.

Related Article: Should A Leader Be Seen As A Superhuman?

3. Downplay Importance

You’ll often tell yourself that this project is the most important of your career. Or that achieving a particular goal is the ultimate achievement of your leadership. Sure you’re giving importance to specific projects, situations and achievements, however, because of these inflated importance you’re also adding on plenty of pressure for yourself. The result? Half-thought solutions, errors, blurry vision and needless stress.

By downplaying the importance of situations you’re making them realistic, achievable and less pressuring. This particular project may be important, however, it’s not the only important project you’ll ever work on. So give it your best and be mentally aware that there will be others. It’s as important to achieve as any other project. Don’t sweat over just this.

4. Rely on Your Experience

Experience is one of your most important allies in times when disruptive technologies are out to change everything you know. Experience is what you know. And what you know is that you’re a competent, successful, capable and skilled leader. Nothing can change that or take that away from you. You’re past has been written and it can’t be altered or unwritten.

Use your past experiences and successes to remind yourself of who you are, what you’ve achieved and where you’ve landed. Fuel your passion and desire from your experience. Remind yourself that you’ve done it before and you sure can do it again. By doing this you’ll reaffirm your confidence and ability to overcome challenges successfully.

Using these 4 techniques can empower you with the ability to overcome several leadership challenges you’ll face in times of exponential growth and disruptive technologies. Believe in yourself and your abilities and take challenges in strides to avoid overwhelming your leadership.

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.