Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" begins with the line, "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you" and ends with, "you'll be a Man, my son!" Kipling clearly recognized the importance of not losing your composure, a critical attribute of leaders.

Leaders have always been measured against the standard of maintaining a cool head. Publius Tacitus said, "Reason and calm judgment: the qualities especially belonging to a leader."

And yet, many leaders fail this test. I've seen leaders wilt under pressure, fail to maintain a calm, reasoned demeanor, and thus decide badly, or not at all. Why?

James had grown up in the business, steadily advancing until the time when the charismatic and entrepreneurial founder decided to retire. As the hand-picked successor, he was considered by the Board the most logical choice to keep the ship on course. Then things changed.

The recession, coupled with rapidly developing new technologies introduced by recent entries into the industry, led to a dramatic loss of market share, plummeting revenues, and loss of key clients. James was unprepared and unable to address these challenges effectively, preferring to rely on time-tested strategies that, unfortunately, no longer worked. His departure was only a matter of time when it was clear that his only response to the crisis was to keep on keeping on.

James was unable to think clearly and make sound decisions, being overwhelmed and befuddled by the crisis at hand.

Margaret was driven by the fear of making a mistake, leading to an all-consuming effort to do everything she could to ensure that nothing was ever overlooked and no stone left unturned. Her zealous passion for attending to every detail and making sure that every possible factor was identified, evaluated, and addressed had let to her many promotions in the firm. It also led to her downfall.

The higher up she advanced, the more complex the challenges became and the less familiarity she had with them. She worked even longer hours, fruitlessly trying to obtain the detailed level of understanding that had worked for her in the past. Her Waterloo arrived when it was clear that she had become paralyzed by indecision.

Margaret was unable to make a decision because she never had all the data she thought she needed.

Ramon had grown up in a large family, used to a lot of swirl and activity, and comfortable having to fight for air time. His out-going personality, comfort with change, and willingness to tackle the unknown all contributed to his sales successes as he moved from one business to another, growing the markets wherever he went with surprising ease and speed.

When he was asked to become the COO of his company, he hit a roadblock that he couldn't overcome with his typical approach. His energy, enthusiasm, optimism, and upbeat attitude were not up to the task of thinking through the comprehensive operational procedures, methodologies, and technologies needed by the company. His reliance on his ability to persuade, motivate, and energize others led to a level of frustration for everyone around him. Ramon left to take a sales position elsewhere.

Ramon's downfall came from his continuing to use the one tool at his disposal to solve the problem. He found that not all problems are nails, able to be pounded by the hammer he had used before.

In each of these cases, the leaders failed to keep their heads and make sound decisions. Their failure resulted, in part, because they did not recognize the personal preferences, habits, skills, and attitudes that got in their way and contributed to their poor decision-making.

What can you do to avoid the mistakes they made? What can you do to understand yourself well enough so that you don't let your reliance on what worked in the past undermine your ability to "keep your head about you when all about you are losing theirs?"

Warren Buffett recently criticized his former second-in-command, David L. Sokol, who resigned after it was found he violated the firm's insider trading rules. He said, "Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless."

How ruthless are you and your organization when it comes to ethics and integrity? How can you make sure that you and others don't violate your ethics guidelines?

A recent NY Times column identified the importance of "passionate curiosity" as a critical lesson for leaders whose "greatest contribution to their organizations may be asking the right questions."

How passionately curious are you about knowing how and why things happen and wondering why there aren't better ways to do things? How often do you ask penetrating, thought-provoking questions? How can you ask better questions in order to make a greater contribution to your work?

Email archie@archietinelli.com