Leading Under Stress

Leadership can be stressful. Not only does it take a lot of energy but the “challenge” is further compounded by the situation: many leaders may find themselves in a crisis and therefore under extraordinary stress. What to do in such a situation? Research led me to an article by Heifetz et al, “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis”, 2009, HBR where the authors point to “fostering adaptation” and “embracing disequilibrium” to engage and motivate followers through the crisis; however further to that they also provide five key guidance points to “take care of yourself” as a leader so that you don’t sacrifice yourself to the crisis by neglecting yourself.

Here’s how to lead under stress followed by further observations (“et alors”):

Leading Under Stress

The authors state that “taking care of yourself both physically and emotionally will be crucial to your success. You can achieve none of your leadership aims if you sacrifice yourself to the cause.” Here are the five things a leader needs to do to take care whilst leading under stress:

Be Both Optimistic and Realistic

Not just one or the other, but create a “healthy tension that keeps optimism from turning into denial and realism from devolving into cynicism.”

Find Sanctuaries

A sanctuary may be a place or an activity that allows you to step away and “recalibrate your internal responses”. In other words, take some quality time to “get away from it all”.

Reach Out to Confidents

Seek feedback from a true confident who cares more about you than the crisis. Usually a third party, this is someone to whom you can “articulate your reasons for taking certain actions.”

Bring More of Your Emotional Self to the Workplace

A leader cannot survive being too reserved. Under stress, an appropriate “display” of emotions can help to increase trust and defuse difficult situations.

Don’t Lose Yourself in Your Role

No matter how important your work is, don’t let “a single endeavor” define you. Besides making you vulnerable to changing circumstances, opportunities may be lost… 

Et alors

At once and at the same time, the leader needs to be able to “step out” and “step into” the situation. This can only be done if the leader is “authentic”, or otherwise put: the leader is the same person both in- and outside work. Stress from a crisis can easily “de-mask” the inauthentic leader and significantly reduce leadership effectiveness. Stepping-in can be getting the balance right between optimism and realism along with bringing more of your emotional self to work (i.e. your real self “behind the mask”); stepping-out can be ensuring that there is a sanctuary, a confident and above all else your own detachment to realize that your current project is just that and only that!