Stephen H Baum Leadership

CEO Emotional Intelligence — Strain Management

At what point is the best place to clean up wastewater? Upstream at the source. When is the best time to avoid a plant disease spreading? Nipping it in the bud. When is the best time to address a crisis? Before it is one.

So it is with stress management.  This valuable set of skills helps reduce stress from an event by:

–       working out the stress afterward (exercise, for example)

–       restoring equilibrium by attaining greater physical fitness beforehand  (exercise, nutrition, sleep)

–       building resilience to stress by attaining greater mental resilience (meditation)

But, as we know from physics, stress fractures in bridges and in people are the result of heavy strain. Effective CEOs deal with strain by:

–       Recognizing the people and situations that put strain on them (“triggers”), then taking steps to avoid or reduce the frequency of such situations (in some instances raising the issue with whoever generates such strain or establishing intermediaries to avoid direct contact)

–       Creating white spaces in the calendar to allow solo progress on important goals; this reduces the strain of an overscheduled life (from anxiety that such a schedule crowds out time for action on the real keys to success)

–       Thinking through important recurring choices and testing different approaches to root causes of strain

• How often and under what circumstances should time with family take precedence? Benefits of ,and ways of being more proactive and intentional?
• How often and under what circumstances are in-person meetings with direct reports, individual board members and customers/clients necessary and effective?
• What is really my job and my job alone? What am I spending time on that others (with guidance) could do a better job?
• These can prevent or reduce strain

As with many other insights gleaned from CEOs, these thoughts apply to any job as boss or supervisor.

That’s my view. What’s yours?