Harvard Business Publishing

I've never become more than a modestly competent skier - capable of safely negotiating most intermediate slopes, but frankly way over my head when I venture onto anything more difficult. Slopes with deep moguls, ice, or the dreaded diamond are, well, nerve-wracking. When I start down, with the ground dropping away under my feet and nothing in sight but blue sky, every instinct in my body urges me to lean back. Now, those of you who ski know that that would be a disastrously bad move.

The key to skiing is to overcome your natural instinct to lean back, and instead, shift your weight out - into the blue, over the tips of skis that seem to have no ground beneath them.

I've had a similar sensation at times riding horses. Frankly, there is no feeling like being on top of a 2000-pound animal that is running at full speed toward a solid rock wall. Again, there is that moment of human sanity when every shred of common sense - every ounce of preservation - tells you to pull up. Lean back. Shorten the reins. Stop this craziness. Of course, by the time that thought crosses your mind, you are way past the point of no return when that would be plausible. The only thing to do is, as they say, kick on.

We are in nerve-wracking times. Over the past month, I've certainly felt at times that there was little ground under my feet or that I was racing toward a stone wall. Perhaps you have, as well.

My fellow writers on this site have offered some useful things to do during these nerve-wracking times: be tough, be hopeful, be decisive. I've offered my learnings on the importance of continuing to ask great questions, build relationships of trust, and seek disruptive perspectives. These are all things we know are effective.

However, as the experiences of skiing or equestrian jumping have taught me, at the critical movement, during the crux of the nerve-racking event, the key is to actually do the things our minds know need to be done, rather than fall back on our instincts.

When times are tough and every instinct tells you to retreat - to figuratively or literally stay in bed - remember that these are the times when your team needs to hear from you the most. When your strong preference would be to dampen dissent - remember that considering the contrary view can strengthen the eventual choice immeasurably.

As much as we might each want to, these days are not ones in which we should lean back or pull up. Kick on.

MORE FROM TAMMY ERICKSON:

• Dear Gen Y: Here's How to Weather a Recession
• Hard Times Demand Teamwork, Not an MVP

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• A Manager's Guide to Surviving the Downturn