Do Business Well

• At the meeting last week, you blew up when colleagues couldn’t see that your long-range plan was better than a co-worker’s proposed alternative.
• Yesterday, the person filling in for your vacationing secretary collated documents incorrectly and was stuffing them in envelopes to be mailed when you caught the error and then exploded.
• When the president asked someone else to show him the details of an ad campaign for one of your division’s products this morning, it was all you could do to keep yourself from telling him off.

Sound familiar? You may be the “short-fused” executive. You are likely to have a set of personality characteristics that can propel you to the very top—if you don’t sabotage yourself first.

The “short-fuse” syndrome doesn’t have an easy solution, psychologists emphasize. It’s not like dressing for success. Still, there are both short- and long-term steps you can take to change.

Recognition, the first step, can be a hurdle. “It’s like being an alcoholic,” says Dr. Kenneth Blaker, a psychologist who teaches at Santa Clara University in California. “You struggle with denial, perhaps saying: ‘I realize I’ve been a little volatile, but it hasn’t interfered with my life.’ Maybe later, people important to you become so alienated that you take action.”

If you’re a “short-fuser,” you’re also probably hard-driving and ambitious. You need to succeed not only in business, but on vacation as well.

You feel pressure from superiors, subordinates, family and peers. But the biggest pressure is likely to be internal. “Deep down, the person feels: ‘I have to be better and better,’ ” explains Dr. Robert L. Reynes, a San Antonio, TX, therapist and clinical assistant professor of psychology at the Texas Health Science Center. “The issue of ‘why’ is never dealt with. Short-fused executives typically overreact when they feel they haven’t measured up to their own standards.”

You can increase your understanding and learn to anticipate trouble by keeping a log of each event that causes a blow-up. After a month or two, depending on the frequency of incidents, analyze them. What do the situations have in common? One element may be feeling a loss of control—something short-fusers dread more than most people.

If the trigger was a discussion of strategic planning, ask yourself these questions: Why do I have to be right all the time? What does it really mean if I compromise?

Many situations aren’t upsetting only to short-fusers. “A boss encroaching on your turf encroaches on your self-esteem, and that troubles anyone,” notes Dr. Reynes. “But while some executives will see the moment as one more illustration that we live in a world of people whose needs and wishes don’t necessarily correspond to our own, the short- fuser experiences it as a permanent personal indictment. Deep down, the person may be feeling it’s an ultimate confirmation of his or her own worthlessness.”

Don’t forget to check your log for basics. Are you becoming angry in situations where it might have been appropriate for you to give more detailed instructions at the beginning?

The next time you feel yourself about to blow up:

• Remind yourself that you haven’t yet lost control.

• Remember that the old cliché about counting slowly to ten really works. It will give you a chance to think through whether or not your first reaction is the one you want to verbalize.

• Practice deep breathing. Dispelling rage into the atmosphere, rather than into your arteries, is likely to have positive physical and emotional effects. So will a long walk, a jog, or a game of squash.

• Talk to a trusted colleague. Go home and tell your spouse about the frustration you feel, not in a sense of shame, but in a sense ofirony. Life is not always fair and you can complain about bad breaks to a friend.

Finally, if a manager working for you is a short-fuser who disrupts the department, avoid putting the person on the defensive and making the problem worse. Dr. Blaker advises: “Don’t start with: ‘Productivity is down because you’re responsible for hurting a lot of people’s feelings.’ Instead, try: ‘We’ve got this problem. How do you think we can remedy it?’ “

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