Rehearsing plans and scenarios and practising future actions give a foretaste of your thoughts, emotions, and behavior as well as those of competitors, clients, and other stakeholders.

These techniques give you greater presence of mind once you go into action. They help you develop a baseline against which to compare your eventual performance. You can rehearse mentally or through simulated interactions with others. High-level athletes do such “visioning” to get into the right mindset before performing.

In the military, rehearsals are built into planning and battle preparation procedures at all levels. There are various approaches, such as war games, “chalk talks,” “walk throughs,” tabletop exercises, and many others.

Here is what you can do:

• Imagine at least three different scenarios and their potential consequences.
• Picture the events or interactions, their surroundings, actors, possible action-reaction-counteraction sequences, decisions, obstacles, and outcomes.
• Develop “what if” contingency plans to deal with these.
• Practise the words you will use and your behavior; try to predict the emotions that will arise when you are in the situation.
• Consider how you will react in each step of the scenario.
• You can do this alone, with one other person, or with your entire team.

I’m never too busy to discuss your needs or those of anyone else you feel may benefit from meeting or talking to me. So feel free to contact me at any time!

Richard Martin is The Force Multiplier. He brings his military and business leadership and management experience to bear for executives and organizations seeking to radically improve performance, grow, and thrive in the face of rapid change, harsh competition, and increasing uncertainty.

© 2015 Richard Martin. Reproduction and quotes are permitted with proper attribution.

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