3 ways leaders can better manage stress

By Ashley Carlson, former Team USA and intercollegiate athletics head coach

There's no way around it—leadership can be stressful. Leaders are expected to wear many hats, from role model, to teacher, facilitator, goal setter, motivator, organizer, decision maker, and more. Leaders answer to people at various levels, and they’re responsible for the overall well-being of those they lead—and getting results. Leaders are seen as the ultimate problem solvers and are often left to resolve a laundry list of issues on their own.

 Stress can impact your health and wellness 

On days when problems pile up faster than you can handle them, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, lonely, and stressed out. Over time, these feelings can lead to mental and physical health problems such as:

• Depression
• Lower self-esteem
• Decreased work performance
• Burnout
• Weakened immunity
• Poor sleep
• Increased risk for illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease

Effective stress management is vital to your overall experience as a leader and your likelihood to stay in that role. To be an effective leader and prevent burnout, you need support to do your job. You play a role in the stress management and resulting mental health of those you lead too.

Here are a few ways you can manage stress better—and improve your health

1. Change your mindset to manage stress

Remember an important lesson from military training: Not all stress is negative. Stress is simply your body’s way of giving you the energy needed to handle challenges. Your body is equipped with a response system that improves mental and physical function so you can be at your best when something important is at stake.

Managing stress isn’t about eliminating stressors. It’s about managing your beliefs about stress. With a change of perspective and some practice, you can use stress to:

• Build competence
• Learn and grow from difficult experiences
• Get the energy you need to be motivated and perform at your best
• Ask for help
• Strengthen social connections

Although the human brain is wired to seek out and remember the negative, you can rewire your brain to perceive stress as more beneficial than harmful and find the good in almost every situation.

2. Practice gratitude to build resilience

Showing and feeling gratitude and appreciation for something or someone in your life is associated with many mental and physical health benefits, including:

• Less anxiety and depression
• Higher self-esteem
• Greater optimism
• Stronger relationships
• Improved immunity
• Better sleep
• Decreased stress and lower blood pressure

You can practice gratitude a variety of ways, such as when you reframe your experiences, focus on your senses, meditate, serve those in need, write letters of appreciation, and keep a gratitude calendar. Expressing gratitude can also strengthen your relationships by creating feelings of warmth that help you feel more connected to your partner and friends. People who are grateful are also more likely to be helpful and generous in their relationships, which can lead to shared feelings of appreciation and create a powerful bond.

3. Use social supports to buffer stress

Strong bonds and social connections can change the way you perceive and manage stress. Your social supports—your network of family, friends, and coworkers—can be vital in helping you manage the daily personal and professional stressors associated with leadership. Simply knowing you’re not alone can help you reframe your mindset from negative to positive and feel able to face whatever challenges lie ahead.

Social supports can improve your ability to cope with stressful situations. As a leader, you can use your social networks to combat loneliness and for emotional support during difficult situations. Friends, family, and coworkers can also be a positive influence in helping you find the silver lining in tough times and to be grateful for the good things in life.

To maintain these social supports and the benefits of gratitude, be mindful of who and what you’re grateful for, and express it to those within your circle. This will allow you to broaden and reinforce positive emotions and strengthen your relationships even more.

 Words of advice 

Consider the following tips when you work to express more gratitude, build social supports, and better manage stress:

• Try not to put too much pressure on yourself when beginning your gratitude practice. Allow yourself to be a beginner and take your time.
• If you start to feel negative emotions such as guilt or shame throughout your gratitude practice, it might be time to seek professional support from a trusted source, such as a therapist. 
• If there’s a relationship that’s causing you more harm than good, it’s perfectly okay to part ways. Not all relationships fall under the category of social support.
• Remember, the goal is not to eliminate stress, but to change the way you think about stress.

 Bottom line 

Leadership can be stressful. You don’t need to eliminate your stress. Instead, change the way you view stressors. Practice gratitude. And learn to rely on your social supports to maintain healthy relationships with your coworkers and to be at your best to serve those you lead.

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The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of USUHS or DoD. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The author has no financial interests or relationships to disclose.