Executive Coaching: Articles

Leadership Power Stress: Part 1, Sources

“Power stress is part of the experience that results from the exercise of influence and sense of responsibility felt in leadership positions.” - (Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, Resonant Leadership, Harvard Business School Press, 2005)

Leadership requires the exercise of influence or power. It requires having an impact on others to make things happen. It involves responsibility for the organization. Leaders are under continual scrutiny and evaluation. All these things increase the feels of pressure and stress.

For people who head organizations, choices are rarely simple and clear. Communications and decision making are incredibly complex. Worse, leaders are often called upon to get results and lead people over whom they have little authority.

There is no doubt that it's lonely at the top. Affiliation with others is known to relieve stress, yet leaders are selected for their high need for power and achievement. Under pressure, a leader will work harder, rather than reach out to others.

Furthermore, the higher one is in position, the less authentic the feedback. Leaders are prone to CEO disease, where the feedback going upwards is distorted or diluted.

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Leadership Power Stress: Part 2, 3 Resources for Renewal

“Power stress is part of the experience that results from the exercise of influence and sense of responsibility felt in leadership positions.” - (Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee, Resonant Leadership, Harvard Business School Press, 2005)

Leadership requires the exercise of influence or power. It involves responsibility for the organization, and it requires the sacrifice of personal needs for those of company.  Leaders are under continual scrutiny and evaluation. All these things increase the pressure and leads to power stress.

Without awareness of power stress, and what is needed to renew oneself, leaders are vulnerable to burnout and dissonance with the people they lead.

The Leadership Paradox

Daniel Goleman, authority on emotional intelligence in organizations, calls this the leadership paradox: “For leaders, the first task in management has nothing to do with leading others; step one poses the challenge of knowing and managing oneself.” (Resonant Leadership, page x.)

This includes:

• Connecting with the deep values that guide us
• Imbuing our actions with meaning
• Aligning our emotions with our goals
• Keeping ourselves motivated
• Keeping ourselves focused and on task

When we act in accord with these inner measures, we feel good about what we do. Such emotions are contagious. When we as a leader feel positive, energized, and enthusiastic about our work, so do those we influence. But we can only maintain high effectiveness when we are able to manage the cycles of sacrifice and renewal. This involves being mindful, and expressing hope and compassion.

The Brain and New Age Rhetoric

Before you dismiss the concepts of mindfulness, hope and compassion as being new-age rhetoric, pay attention to the research.

Recent studies in management science, psychology and neuroscience all point to the importance of the development of mindfulness and the experiences of hope and compassion. These practices are supported by scientific evidence.

It boils down to the brain. The brain processes information and sends signals to the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems. These two systems create bodily reactions of either fight, flight, or relaxation and calm.

Optimal functioning involves both systems, those that lead to action, and those that lead to recuperation. Unfortunately, in organizations little emphasis or encouragement is given to renewal and recovery activities.

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The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life – In 25 Words or Less

What is the meaning of life – and could you sum it up in 25 words? What if someone offered you $10,000 for your best description?

The website www.themeaningoflife.com is running such a contest, and while it may be a marketing ploy, it’s an astute one. Who isn’t intrigued by this question? Who hasn’t struggled to figure out his or her true purpose?

Like Arthur Dent in A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we wish the meaning of life could be reduced to one simple solution: in his case, “42.”

What if there are no meanings to life, except those we choose? As new-age gurus assert, “It’s all made up, anyway!” Or, as religious doctrines proclaim, “Follow God’s will for you. This is the true meaning of life.”

Between “any which way you want” and “His way or the highway (to hell),” many decisions must be made along the way.

Even if we turn over some parts of our lives to leaders, religious or otherwise, other parts and decisions remain. What do you eat? What kind of work do you do? What about play and having fun? Marriage and relationships? How do you manage spending and saving?

What are some of the guidelines for exploring and giving meaning to your life? How can you decide who and what you should be, and which principles will keep you on track?

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Ready to Snap?

Ready to Snap:

Crazy, Busy, and the Lure of Modern Life

Are you too busy? Are you always in a hurry, juggling work and family tasks like balls in the air? Are you ready to snap?

You’re not alone. Millions of successful adults are being swept up by today’s frenetic, globalized, technology-driven lifestyle. We have plunged into a mad rush of activity, aided by high-speed Internet, cell phones, instant messaging, BlackBerries and email 24/7. We work longer hours, with escalating demands at work and home.

We expect our brains to keep track of more than they can handle and then find ourselves losing and forgetting things—impatient, anxious, worried and plagued by short attention spans. Modern life, for all of its timesaving conveniences, is sapping our creativity, humanity, joy and, occasionally, our sense of humor.

The speed of our lives threatens to destroy our most important connections. Unless you deliberately set aside time for what matters most to you, your connection to it will erode. When it does, you’ll find yourself less energetic, less optimistic, less hopeful, less confident and less enthusiastic than before—and you won’t even know why.

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Here’s what the full article covers:

ADD Nation?

Adrenaline Rush

Organizational Deficit Disorder

Human Deficit Disorder

Solutions – 10 Principles to Follow

This article is based on the excellent book CrazyBusy by Dr. Edward Hallowell, Ballentine Books, 2006.

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Information Overload: Taming the Electronic Beasts

This article is based on a great book out about our busy, electronic lives, CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. It covers the following concepts:

ADD Nation?
Adrenaline Rush
Organizational Deficit Disorder
Human Deficit Disorder
What Leaders Can Do

Many smart leaders are being swept up by today’s frenetic, globalized, technology-driven lifestyle.

We have plunged into a mad rush of activity, aided by high-speed Internet, cell phones, instant messaging, BlackBerries and email 24/7. We work longer hours, with escalating demands.

We expect our brains to keep track of more than they can handle, and then find ourselves losing and forgetting things—impatient, anxious, worried and plagued by short attention spans.

Modern work life, for all of its timesaving conveniences, is sapping our creativity, humanity, joy and, occasionally, our sense of humor. It’s time to stop and look at what’s happening.

The speed of our lives threatens to destroy our most important connections. Unless we deliberately set aside time for what matters most, the quality of our personal and professional lives will erode. When this happens, we find ourselves less energetic, optimistic and enthusiastic than before—and we don’t even know why. We may think we are just too busy or disorganized, or ascribe it to growing older—or simply to life itself.

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This is a brief synopsis of an article available for use in your newsletters, blogs and web site content.

If you're interested in learning how to purchase similar content you can use for your own newsletters and blogs, visit ContentforCoachesandConsultants.com.