course, change is nothing new. In reality, change is the only constant in life. The difference is the pace of change. The pace of change has accelerated dramatically in recent times, fuelled, at least in part, by the digital age, shifting away from industrialisation towards an economy based on information shared digitally via computers. Access to and the control of information are key elements of business success. Indeed, for many companies, such as Google, the ownership and control of information is their business.
Humans hate uncertainty and are predisposed to feel uncomfortable in new situations. Mindful leaders recognise their inbuilt fear and resistance to change and how it manifests within them. They recognise their own patterns of avoidance and fear when confronted by unexpected change and have mastered techniques to stop them from sliding into negativity, fear and procrastination. You find more about the human negativity bias in Chapter 3.
Identifying Sources of Pressure
The ability to work under pressure is an important leadership attribute. Although you can’t micromanage the curve balls that life throws at you, you can manage how you deal with them.
The following sections differentiate pressure from stress, help you identify how excess pressure can lead to stress and explore specific aspects of leadership stress.
Pressure, up to a certain point, can have a positive impact on your performance. It provides the motivation to get out of bed in the morning. It can make you more alert, motivated and engaged, encouraging you to become the best you can and to reach a level of work that constitutes your peak performance. For those in leadership positions, levels of pressure experienced can be great. When holding a position of responsibility, everything that you say and do has the potential to influence the lives of others. Each decision you make affects not only your organisation but the people around you.
When pressure becomes excessive or unmanageable, it leads to stress. Stress can damage your health, performance, and even your business. Arguably, stress has been the cause of more poor business decisions than poor judgment or inexperience.
Stress can affect all staff at all levels. In the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Executive reported that in 2014, stress, anxiety and depression accounted for 39 per cent of workplace absence. In the United States, the current cost of workplace stress is estimated at $300 billion a year, 73 per cent experience the psychological symptoms of stress, with around 33 per cent living with extreme stress.
Knowledge is power. If you want to reduce your stress, start by identifying possible causes of excess pressure at work. In the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identify a number of factors, which, if not managed correctly, can lead to workplace stress.
Consider whether any of the following may be potential sources of workplace stress for you:
❯❯ Demands: A feeling of inability to cope with the demands placed on you by your job
❯❯ Control: A feeling of lack of control in the way you do your work
❯❯ Support: A feeling that you’re not receiving adequate information and support from your colleagues and superiors
❯❯ Relationships: A feeling that you’re being subjected to unacceptable behaviours from those you work with
❯❯ Role: A feeling that you don’t adequately understand your role and responsibilities
❯❯ Change: A feeling that you’re unable to contribute to or shape organisational changes that impact you
A recent research study suggests that leaders experience less stress than their subordinates because they tend to have more control over situations, however, leadership can have its own unique stresses. One leader confided in Juliet that he only ever experienced stress at two points in any given 24 hours: night and day!
Leadership involves increased responsibility, working with ambiguities, pressure to achieve results by influencing others, and loneliness, each of which can take its toll. As a result, leaders may experience power stress, a term coined by Boyatzis and McKee. Power stress can result from the exercise of influence and sense of responsibility experienced in many leadership positions. If it isn’t identified and addressed adequately, it can lead to physical and emotional exhaustion.
The chronic stress that can accompany leadership has been connected to a wide range of diseases and dysfunctions. It can also lead to a state of dissonance, which can drain your enthusiasm and energy. Power stress experienced as a result of being in a leadership position isn’t really the problem; a lack of a sense of completion when you complete tasks and projects and insufficient recovery time are.
Mindful Ways to Improve Your Leadership
The following sections discuss various ways you can improve your leadership mindfully.
How do you become a more mindful leader, you ask? You may have already formed a mental image of how mindful people conduct themselves. Maybe thinking about this is conjuring up an image for you? Perhaps you think a mindful leader is a person with real presence, a person who is at ease with himself or herself, is open, wise, insightful, patient, kind and benevolent and has the strength of character to make ethical choices.
A mindful leader can of course be all these things, but this almost saintlike combination may feel unattainable or may foster a sense of inadequacy – neither of which is particularly helpful. The simple tips and techniques contained in this book will help you to develop metacognition (awareness of thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations), and maintaining an optimum state of mind, which are core components of mindfulness.
We encourage you to throw away any preconceived stereotypes of how a good leader should or shouldn’t be. Be authentic to yourself and your values. Strive to be the best you can in your own unique way. Good leaders come in many different guises – one size does not fit all.
Although
