“Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system. I have never known a man who died from overwork, but many who died from doubt.”
– Charles Horace Mayo
Stress is experienced when demands exceed the resources (happens when people feel under threat):
- Frightened by change, uncertainty
- Self-esteem is attacked
- Demands (both internal and external) are beyond control or capability to meet
We are currently in an era where the pace of change and financial uncertainty has created an unprecedented rise in stress. We are beginning to understand the breadth and depth of the consequences. Stress affects our:
- Thoughts: Difficulty in concentration on creativity; worrying about position, depressed self-esteem
- Emotions: Anger and irritability; difficulty in releasing pent-up emotions
- Behaviour: Appear short-tempered and grumpy; locked away in office and unavailable for visitors.
- Physical symptoms: Clenched jaw, grinding teeth, headache, back pain, too much sleep or too little sleep
To combat stress, resilience is the medium.
Importance of Resilience
Why does resilience matter? You may recollect your own experiences. You maintained your stellar track record when the market was on rise, customers had plenty of cash and desire for your product, the team was fresh and full of enthusiasm, and there was plenty of room for growth and development. You are now challenged by a situation dominated by:
- The lag in confidence after a global recession
- A mature market with emerging innovations
- A mature team competing
Alternatively, you have just stalled due to:
- A personal setback
- Illness or injury
- A death or sickness in the family
- Threats to your status
It has been shown that people in higher positions of authority have lower levels of cortisol and lower anxiety. Leadership is thus associated with lower levels of stress. In view of this observation, it is proposed that a key factor in the lower stress levels the greater sense of control, a psychological resource known to have a stress buffering effect.
So the ability to manage stress, in particular, to have the resources to avoid or modulate long lasting stress, seems a most beneficial trait for leadership. Resilience refers to the capacity of preventing or minimizing the adverse impact of negative environment.
Building Resilience
Although there is evidence that the baseline to which we manage stress is largely set in early childhood, it is increasingly accepted that we can develop resilience, improving our responses to stress and thus our ability to manage it.
A number of personal characteristics are conducive to managing responses to stress.
- Openness to new tasks and new people
- A greater tendency towards attachment emotions
- Feeling in control
- Not having high levels of anxiety
- Being secure in one’s status
- Realistic optimism
- The ability to adapt by reframing stressful events and situations
- Close, supportive personal relationships
Other environmental factors also seem to help such as:
- A stable, safe society
- Good quality schools
- Sufficient resources
Being able to regulate emotion is a useful tool for leaders. In addition to reframing (actively seeking to find more positive ways of interpreting stressful events and situations), a few other techniques listed below are very useful.
- Mindfulness meditation – focusing on the present or a single focus (commonly breath) which brings about an incredible and pervasive sense of well-being with regular practice
- Compassionate meditation – opening up the heart and mind towards good will, appreciation and equanimity to others (and yourself)
- Transcendental meditation – Using a sound or mantra which you repeat 15-20 minutes per day as a method of relaxation, stress reduction, and self-development.
- Cognitive bias modification (CBSM) training can help develop a more realistically outlook
Another recommendation is to gradually increase the stress challenge we face so that our sense of efficacy and confidence grow as we learn to deal with stress in a controlled way. Sometimes called stress inoculation, this technique is widely used in training in the military and other front line services.
It used to be said that to be a good leader of a large organization, you needed to have managed a team before the age of 30, giving a lot of time for practice, for learning from mistakes and building confidence as teams get larger and management demands more complex. What we now know about neuroplasticity means you can teach an “older” dog new tricks so fear not if you are closer to 50 or 60 or even 70. Again successful change depends on sustained practice, worth remembering as yet another good lesson for delegation, especially when you are trying to develop resilience in others.
Building stronger supportive and trusting relationships also helps, as we know that warm relationships help release oxytocin, which suppresses the release of cortisol. One way of looking at your relationships is through the creation of a network map, with the thickness of the lines representing the strength of the relationship.
- Have you got the right kind of support around you?
- Do you have a mentor outside the organization you can turn to?
- Are you a key node in your subordinates’ network, helping them become resilient?
- Do you have a handful of good, close friends, family or confidants you can discuss your worst-case scenarios with?
Another known way of improving one’s emotional states or moods is to be altruistic, to think of others and be active in contributing to a community or to count one’s blessings, regularly, perhaps once a day, remember the good things and people in your life that you are grateful for.
Finally, remember the extent to which your body and mind are part of the same system, indeed one system. Standing tall, playing the role, walking the walk of a confidant leader is known to boost testosterone levels and reduce cortisol. Your body language shapes who you are. It emphasizes that two minutes of standing in the power pose boasts confidence (and testosterone).
Actions and Reflections
- Turn to list – make a list of people in your life that you can turn to for help, comfort or reassurance should you need it. Knowing that they have a safe harbour for times of need makes people feel more securely attached to the world.
- Gratitude list – list ten things you are grateful for. Trying to do this every day or most days of the week. This would help you to draw on the necessary resources without feeling totally drained.
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