Managed well, stress can be an ally rather than an enemy. Here’s how to use it to your advantage.
Peter is stressed out. He’d hoped a vacation would be the reset he needed, giving him a productive head of steam to fight through the growing sense of frustration, anxiety, and restlessness he’d been feeling as the pandemic wore on. But it isn’t working out that way.
Prior to COVID-19, Peter was to all appearances a successful bank executive, a self-professed “numbers guy” who coped well with stress and tackled setbacks with a “see it, solve it” attitude. But now, he can hardly get a night’s sleep. He’s exercising less and gaining weight, and sometimes his heart races for no obvious reason. He’s having trouble staying on task, gets irritable with colleagues, and finds himself working longer hours despite a commute that’s just a dozen steps to the dining room. Quicker to anger with his spouse, he’s struggling to juggle the needs of their careers with the care of their young daughter, who still hasn’t adjusted to kindergarten on a laptop screen. While these might also be symptoms of depression and anxiety, Peter’s doctor informs him that he’s most likely experiencing burnout.
Aberkyn associate leader Fleur Tonies describes key insights from this article.
Peter is a composite of several executives we know, but he stands out in that he’s seeking help. Many of us are experiencing levels of stress that are overwhelming the coping strategies that worked in the past but have not fully recognized. By losing our ability to manage stress, not knowing when to seek help—or both—we’re putting our health, personal relationships, and professional success at risk.
At the core of this challenge for many people is a misguided view of stress itself, which contributes to our inability to recognize and manage it. Many executives view stress as an unalloyed negative, something to fight through or minimize.2 As a result, they may manage it ineffectively.
In fact, stress serves a natural, physiological purpose that can help us solve important problems and learn and grow from our experiences. Instead of trying to eliminate or tamp down stress, we should try to understand it and optimize it, minimizing the downsides while capturing the upsides.3 No meaningful life is stress-free. But, managed correctly, stress can be an engine of personal growth and peak performance.4 In this article, we’ll help you better understand the stress and reframe how you manage it for yourself and the colleagues you lead and work with.