| On October 5, 2025 I came across a striking post on LinkedIn. The photo speaks volumes: see below. It is a text from the Honorable Fayadh Alenezi, PhD who wrote the following powerful words: “Sometimes the best thing we can do is pause before we speak, before we judge and before we decide. Because calm doesn’t mean we don’t care, it means we care enough to step off autopilot. It means choosing thoughtful response over instant reaction. A calm mind isn’t empty. It’s clear enough to see what actually matters and steady enough to act on it.” And that is a great truth. | In this contribution I write my own opinion not that of any organization |
Author: Manu Steens
This short text got me thinking
I have always heard in my immediate environment, both at home and at work, that people (almost) do not change after adolescence. (Personally, I believe that humans continue to evolve, but less and less as their lives progress.) That in combination with the wisdom from the image above gives food for thought.
After all, there are people who say ‘I am like this’ and ‘I can’t change anymore’ when you ask them to behave differently.
The question then is whether this statement, which can be seen as advice, can also prove its usefulness as advice.
Different characters
Some remain (partly) calm
Some people already remain calm and thoughtful under stress. They almost naturally meet the conditions to implement this wisdom in their lives. Both privately and at work. (By staying calm I don’t mean ‘freeze’ here.)
In addition, there are people who do not always remain calm under stress, but remain fully aware of their behavior. In my opinion, they have a great chance of implementing this wisdom if they are also aware of the effect of their behavior on the situation in which they exhibit that behavior. If they have or can be taught that awareness, you have another group of people who can implement this wisdom in their behavior.
Some do not stay calm
Then there are people who do not stay calm, but only as long as they have to cool down. With or without a good view of themselves and their immediate environment. After that, they become open to reason and can calmly survey the situation. They too can, with some precautions, take the right decisions that reduce the seriousness of the situation, and then take measures to prevent this situation in the future.
Finally, there are people who do not remain calm under stress, nor do they have a thorough awareness of the influence of their behavior on the situation. You can call them to account for it, and continue to do so. I currently suspect that this will have little or no effect, especially if they, as they sometimes say themselves, ‘can’t change’.
The risk
And that is where the biggest risk lies. Both at work and in their private life. If a situation goes in the wrong direction, there is a risk that they will only make things worse.
That is why it is important that when choosing formal leaders, we look at those character traits that allow them to remain calm and think in a solution-oriented way, regardless of the situation. As far as informal leaders are concerned, it is a strong advantage if they have similar character traits. This allows them to assist the formal leader in his task of dealing with the situation. Together they form the hard core of the team that can steer the situation in the right direction. It is important that these characteristics are known before a real crisis occurs.
Culture
But up to here it was fairly straightforward. Because I have written the above things from a uniform culture point of view. A working environment in which everyone accepts and has the same culture. However, the world looks different. We live in a multi-cultural society. At least in Western Europe this is very much the case. And all those people from all those cultures have not yet merged into a new singular culture in today’s society. That is not possible, and it is not necessary, but it does entail preconditions. Even in normal work in projects, people from other cultures react differently. So you can expect this to be magnified under stressful situations.
A Problem for the formal leader
If you are the formal leader of a multicultural team, you must therefore do everything possible to ensure that people know each other. The ‘us knows us’ principle becomes all the more important. You have to know even better what you can rely on from each other. And so staying calm and being able to think in difficult situations is not only useful. It is a cornerstone of the characteristics of a team, especially a crisis team.
It is a very important quality for not only dealing with a situation, it is important for the resilience of the crisis team and of the organization as a whole. In order to indicate whether this cornerstone of the crisis team, or any other team, has been met the team leader must know his employees. But every employee must also know the others. Because a lot depends not only on this character trait. A lot also depends on the breaking point of each of them. Because once past that, it becomes unclear when you can rely on them again.
Final thoughts
- When selecting a team leader, it is best to choose someone who remains calm and can continue to think clearly.
- When selecting team members, it is best to make sure that the characters fit together.
- When getting to know each other in a crisis team, it is best to take enough initiatives to let the team members really get to know each other.
- Friendship and interpersonal safety are important in such a team.
- As a team leader, you have to know each of your people through and through. Especially when there are multiple cultures present in a team. Because when the ‘s*!t h!ts the fan’ it is too late to do that. You need to know how they react under stress. Knowledge of the Eneagram can be useful in addition to a good cultural quotient.
- When selecting team members of a crisis team, avoid major risks. Mistakes can happen and people can break. But choose people who have in addition to the interest a good psychological profile.
- Every member of the team has an interest in being trained in techniques for communicating under stress. Self-knowledge is important in this.
The original quote from Fayadh Alenezi, PhD can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7380550862760341505