How to handle stress in a leadership role

Ever have one of those weeks where everything seems to be going wrong? Have you experienced a week where the pressure keeps building, and the problems keep mounting?

Man, when things go downhill, they tend to pick up momentum, and it seems like it will never end. If you are a human, you can relate to this. Parents, business professionals, students, and people in general experience stress.

Stress can eat you alive and do a number on you emotionally and physically. Weight lifters know that resistance builds strength. Pumping iron and working hard stresses the muscles. Muscles then grow during recovery! Yes, I said recovery.

We need to take note of this in handling stressful situations. We need to apply as much effort as possible in working through our challenges, and then we need to sit down and recover.

We need to sleep on things. We need to stop and think things through before we work through things.

We need to rest and talk with a “coach” who can help us prepare for the subsequent “heavy lifting” we need to do.

Stress can eat you alive if it is not dealt with healthily. Get some education on the challenges that are hard to work through. Ask for help or change your approach.

Do some reading and have an attitude committed to growth and learning. Handling stressful situations can be a great learning opportunity.

Wisdom will come when we learn from our challenges.

Teams build when we bring others on board to help pursue the goal or address the situation. Having a rough day can be a good thing. It may motivate you to do better next time.

Stress can come from many things.

being unprepared
having limited resources
being up against a short deadline
losing a team member and doing more with less
experiencing conflict with people
following weak leadership
raising children
unclear goals
having too much on your plate
physical illness
allowing yourself to worry
And the list goes on and on and on and on………….

Leaders must learn how to deal with stress, or it will eat them alive.

It will affect your health and your relationships if not dealt with positively. Below are some tips.

Prayer
rest
exercise
seek counsel
schedule time for fun
free up some time
grow, learn and lead
make good decisions
set better goals
accept that stress will always be there.
read good books
make God & family priority
sleep on big decisions
don’t email negativity – you can’t take it back.
talk to people and learn to communicate
surround yourself with people who have great attitudes
know that this too shall pass with time, and you can move forward
have faith
put the right people in the right roles and let them do it
set daily priorities and follow through
create a to-do list and mark off accomplishments

With leadership comes great responsibility, and the stress it produces should move you towards more significant personal growth. Don’t let stress eat you alive, overcome it and allow it to make you come alive!