What the extreme survivors can teach us about business

It’s important to manage your emotions and have an achievable goal.

 

We're all used to picking up work – even life – tips from the business greats. But what about other exceptional groups? As business and lifestyle blogger Eric Barker recently pointed out, there is much  we can learn from extreme survivors – people who have suffered terrible circumstances, but who have somehow managed to pull through. Here are three business lessons from those who have come out the other side.

 

First, in times of adversity, it’s vital that you manage your emotions. Being driven by fear can lead to disastrous consequences. Barker cites incidents where drowned deep sea divers are found with oxygen still in their tanks. In a moment of sheer panic, they’ve pulled out their regulator to satisfy the instinct to get air, ignoring reality. Obviously the pressures of every day life pale into insignificance in comparison, but Barker suggests using it as a reminder to take a step back when you do feel panic setting in. 

 

It may be difficult to apply this to everyday life, however. Don Shirley, the deep sea diver who lost his close friend Dave Shaw in a dangerous mission to retrieve another colleague’s body, describes finding Shaw on the bottom of an underwater cave. “At that stage, no emotions kick in. You are in survival mode. It’s as blunt as that.”

 

In his book The Survivor Personality, Al Siebert says that extreme survivors “spend almost no time, especially in emergencies, getting upset over what has been lost.” It’s important to know when to draw a line. You might not have your whole plan figured out, but giving up on certain parts of it isn’t always a negative thing. Yet while grit is important, so is perceptiveness. In Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why, pilot Laurence Gonzales explains that not being able to distinguish between a good idea and a bad one, or not knowing when to turn your back, can be deadly in the wild and in catastrophes – but also in every day life. 

 

Survival in business, particularly if you’re just starting out, can mean taking several huge leaps of faith. But should your mindset go even further? Barker believes that, if you want success, you should actually allow yourself to be delusional. Those with slim life chances often report having felt this way – but they also describe it as having kept them alive. As leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith says: “Successful people fail a lot, but they try a lot too. When things don’t work, they move on until an idea does work. Survivors and great entrepreneurs have this in common.” 

 

But taking this mindset too far can also be damaging. Chemist and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi once explained that coping with the death camp during winter meant focusing on spring. The long-term goal of freedom was so unrealistic – the medium-term goal was much more believable and, therefore, allowed him to hope. Goals should always be manageable. The worst thing you can do is wish for something that you don’t believe is attainable.

 

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