Anyone in a leadership role has felt it. That sense of crushing pressure compressing  on you by difficult circumstances. The pressure may be coming from internal or external forces. It may be complex and multifaceted.   Either way, as the primary decision maker and problem solver for an organization,  you feel the stress. We leaders respond to the pressure in different ways depending on our personalities or the make-up of our character.  Some of us get angry and aggressive. Others get distant and distracted. Some get sick. Yet some of us, on good days, find a way to move through the stress and remain hopeful. The pressures and circumstances pushing on us stay the same, but we were able to see them differently. We see them as transient and manageable instead of fixed and intolerable.

If the stressors remain the same then what is it that allows a leader to handle the pressures more adaptively? The answer is in finding coping skills equal to the forces pushing on us. When I have the opportunity to speak to aspiring leaders I often tell them I have to take three kinds of medication to handle the pressures of my job. The medications I take are 1) regular exercise (usually running, 2) journaling, and 3) prayer/meditation. I find that when I am taking my medication regularly the very large, powerful, and frightening problems aren’t as daunting.  It also seems that the greater the strength of the stress, the more I have to rely on my medication. When things are rough, I need more exercise,  journaling,  prayer, and meditation.

If you are a leader who is feeling overwhelmed and discouraged by the trials and difficulties in your job, try looking for some helpful medicine. I know leaders who paint, draw, write, run, do yoga, martial arts, meditate, pray, or participate in a drum circle.  If you take the remedy regularly your problems may look much more solvable and your stress may feel much more tolerable.

God bless,

Jerry