What kind of question have I asked above? Aren’t all executive leaders walking around anxiously, overworked, with their stress hormones raging, leaving them with the devastated shells of their former self? Well, maybe not, which is a good thing if you aspire to leadership.
Research results in recent years suggest that people in leadership positions may, in fact, experience less stress than their subordinates. In a study of leaders and non-leaders conducted by a multi-university research group (Sherman, Lee, Cuddy, Renshon, Oveis, Grosse, & Lerner, 2012; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), stress levels were measured by saliva. cortisol, a stress hormone. Participants answered questions about their anxiety in leadership situations. In both measured cortisol levels and anxiety questionnaires, leaders had significantly lower levels than non-leaders, indicating that they were less stressed. The authors noted that the leaders also exercised more, smoked less, woke up earlier, slept less, and drank more coffee than non-leaders.
How do we make sense of these findings? As the authors suggested, and I have also observed in years of working with people in stressful circumstances, the more control people have over their situations, the less stressed they are.
But what can you do to be less stressed as a leader or in your life in general? How to counteract the potentially negative effects of stress? In addition to the topic of control, in some of my other writing, I have discussed the roles of changing mindsets and limiting beliefs, diet and exercise, social support, self-reflection, progressive muscle relaxation training, and spirituality, among others. others. In studies of interviews with executive leaders conducted by James Bailey (Harvard Business Review, 2014), four categories of activities emerge that serve to reduce stress:
1. Health: This category involves exercise, as well as adequate rest, sleep, and diet. Are you getting enough of these activities?
2. Amusements: Activities in this category take you away from your stressors. These can include movies, concerts, TV, massages, family time, etc. Do you find time for these activities?
3. Intellectual activities: puzzles, games, reading, study of a subject, sometimes called a hobby.
4. Introspection: This includes progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, prayer, breathing, self-reflection.
While we spend a lot of time concentrating on the potential ravages of stress, we spend less time developing and recommending strategies and activities to reduce stress. I’ve worked with too many executive leaders whose vision of stress management is to “stick it out.” However, as you can see from above, you can be a leader and experience much less stress, both psychological and physical, than you might have thought.
If you are a leader who is already doing some of the above, consider encouraging your subordinates to implement stress reduction strategies. The reward is an improved quality of life, as well as reduced lost productivity often estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars each year in American business.
What can you lose? As I always say, stress in life is inevitable. Your response is a choice that is within your control. We are back where we started. More control leads to less stress. Good luck on your trip.