I recently delivered a webinar on the subject of executive presence, which featured a character we all know and love, our inner chimp.

My chimp, Dave, loves to lurk inside my brain, and comes out to play when I feel threatened - usually when I'm feeling like I'm being criticised (even when I'm not).

And sometimes, when my wellbeing is low, when I'm tired or over stimulated, I pay attention and let him stop me in my tracks.

If you've read Steve Peters The Chimp Paradox, you'll understand that this chimp goes crazy when we're in amygdala response mode - when the part of brain that's designed to help us react quickly in a tricky situation is doing just that. So instead of being useful to us when we're out hunting lions on the savanna, it's sabotaging our ability to keep calm and carry on in everyday workplace situations.

And for leaders, the effects of this chimp running rampant in our brain can be devastating.

For some, it causes them to rage against the chimp - raising their voice, shouting over others, for others, it makes them clam up and go silent and for others still, it can cause them to go into people pleasing mode, to try to smooth everything over and get things back on an even keel.

A recent coachee, Ron Swanson, had a huge lightbulb moment when he realised that his chimp was partying hard in his head, every time he was chairing a particular meeting full of 'no-but' people. It led him to rolling over and giving in to the naysayers like a spaniel meeting a doberman, and he came out of these meeting completely at a loss to understand his capitulation. Once he knew about his chimp, Ron was able to make inroads into dealing with it.

And letting your chimp run rampant doesn't only affect your ability to be taken seriously in your organisation - it also moves the needle on your personal brand dial a notch or two lower. If you want to be seen as assertive and in control, letting your chimp have his way with you is going to damage your reputation.

So it's time to get that little baddie under control.

Now I say control, but I know as well as you do that we can't necessarily fully control an amygdala response. After all, these responses were probably embedded in us during childhood or other formative experiences.

But we can have some influence over how we deal with our responses to tricky situations.

The first step is to raise awareness: understand we all suffer from chimpiness and, like Ron Swanson, just knowing that takes us a step further towards being able to take action.

You could try reverse engineering what you're doing differently when your chimp isn't pressing 'go' on your hot buttons. A coachee of mine realised that she was preparing differently for meetings she wasn't chairing and realised that this type of preparation was the key to making her feel much more confident and able to override her chimp in her own meetings.

Or try pre-preparing for chimp sabotage. Another coachee of mine worked out to get herself into a more poised and composed version of herself through altering her physical state before she went into situations where she knew her chimp would want to be front and centre.

What about you? When does your chimp tend to show up? Is it in certain meetings, with particular people, or when you're feeling under pressure in some other way?

Your chimp isn't going anywhere - mine certainly isn't. But knowing when he's likely to make an appearance and having a few tactics up your sleeve can make the difference between being hijacked by him and staying in the driver's seat.

If you want to learn more about how I can help you or people in your organisation get hold of the chimp and move the needle on both the Executive Presence and the Brand & Visibility dial, book a call with me - I'd love to show you how.

See you soon,

Sarah

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