You are moving up in your organization.
Your talent is recognized.
Your ambition is respected.
But do you have a key leadership trait? Can you stay calm under pressure? Can you navigate your team through chaos? Can you handle the stress? The pressure of change is usually what makes young leaders crumble.
They are perfectly capable of following a checklist or implementing a policy.
But change, and the uncomfortableness it naturally causes, can make them indecisive and fearful.
Throw a chaotic situation in there and some people crumble under the twin attacks of stress and the workplace.
How can you eliminate stress? Here are 5 ways: 1.
Take time for self feedback.
This is not the "take a break" recommended by so many stress management programs.
It is specifically time for you to inventory yourself - your emotions, your physical condition, your mental reaction to stress.
You are training yourself to recognize the areas you need to work and strengthen in the fight against stress.
2.
Treat the stressful situation like a problem to be solved.
Not only are you more likely to create a long-term solution.
But you will also diminish your "fight or flight" reaction.
Your mind and body get fearful in the face of a threat, but excited in the face of a curiosity.
3.
Develop a plan of attack.
Treat the stressful situation like an attacking army that must be destroyed.
Set specific goals that must be accomplished, with specific dates of completion.
Be aware of the resources you have and especially the resources you need to be successful.
4.
Be aware of your physical health.
In addition to the feedback cycle above, pay attention to your weight and energy.
Either of these two, if left unattended, can be worn down by stress.
5.
Take consistent action.
Stress can be compounded by the feeling of helplessness that inaction induces.
In addition, attacking stress negates the power it is putting on you.
By taking consistent action, you are also building momentum.
Trying to battle stress is a losing proposition.
Stress doesn't "give up" or stop.
You can't "convince" it to stop killing you.
And you may be stronger than it.
This time.
But stress is relentless.
The key to winning over stress is to eliminate it.
This means removing the source of the stress.
Or transforming it into something else.
You just need the skills to do this, and stress management coaching to implement it.