By Leslie S. Pratch
If you’d like to improve your active coping, some of the most important things to keep in mind are:
- Know what you want;
- Recognize sources of threats or frustration;
- Possess the psychological freedom to act—take the action that is in your own best interest, not the action that feels easiest;
- Be ready to deal with resistance and overcome threats; and
- Pursue what you want in a way that is consistent with your values and ideals.
Leslie S. Pratch is the founder and CEO of Pratch & Company. A clinical psychologist and MBA, she advises private equity investors and management committees and Boards of Directors of public and privately held companies whether the executives being considered to lead companies possess the psychological resources and personality strengths needed to succeed. In her recently published book, Looks Good on Paper? (Columbia University Press, 2014), she shares insights from more than twenty years of executive evaluations and offers an empirically based approach to identify executives who will be effective within organizations—and to flag those who will ultimately very likely fail—by evaluating aspects of personality and character that are hidden beneath the surface.
