Maureen Adams: Managing stress at executive level

Stress is ever-present in the workplace and in our lives. The HSE defines stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them.” It is the body’s response to any demand and can adversely affect the body.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified stress as “the health epidemic of the 21st century”. Despite the pandemic now being under control, stress remains stubbornly present and often most visible in the workplace.

Executive-level stress, however, is felt by employees in high-level positions within organisations with extensive responsibilities and high workloads. It can be experienced by anyone in the C-Suite or by emerging leaders trying to prove themselves in a demanding environment. According to the State of the Global Workplace report by Gallup, a quarter of leaders feel burned out ‘often or always,’ and two-thirds feel it ‘at least sometimes.’

This article aims to identify some of the key causes of stress at the executive level and suggest ways to address them.

NEW EXPECTATIONS OF LEADERS

As an experienced Executive Coach and NED, I know that leaders’ expectations have changed. Stakeholders and shareholders want to see stellar performance for their company against an often-difficult economic picture. Executives are accountable and visible in a high-pressure decision-making environment, not only in today’s performance but in future business planning performance.

If a company hits tough times, there is nowhere for the executive to hide when the stakes are high. Yet, at the same time, executives are responsible for others’ stress levels. Executives must increasingly deal with the wider culture by looking at what gets done and how it is carried out, through behaviours, words, and actions.

Leaders don’t arrive at that position without ambition, talent, and a desire to prove their potential. However, they often have blind spots preventing them from seeing the impact of their thinking and behaviour. Executive coaching is a process that helps unpack their thought processes and intentions in a way that is unique to them.

The key barriers and causes of executive stress that I regularly see in leadership teams and individuals are as follows:

• Maintaining perspective: 

Leaders are pulled into so many organisational issues that they don’t have time to think. With recently appointed leaders in particular or those with additional responsibilities or functions thrust upon them, stepping back to see the bigger picture is essential for correctly framing and then solving the challenge. They may never achieve a crystal clear view from the top of their particular mountain, or at least not for long, but they need to scan the horizon. The art of survival at this level is to step back and tap into the bigger picture. What is needed, and are the tasks we are tackling the right ones from a strategic perspective,

• Finding a leadership style:

Leaders need to find the style that works for them. Gone are the days of command-and-control leadership as the default. Nowadays, collaborative, and adaptive leadership, where they harness others’ talents, is more common. They need to find a style that is authentic to them. To expand their leadership style, one often successful technique is to observe leaders they admire and ‘borrow’ some traits to develop in situations where they feel less confident. A wider range of leadership styles for different situations (situational leadership) can offer real advantages.

• Making decisions

Managing risk is the ultimate executive-level skill. This requires a detailed analysis of the current picture and making evidence-based decisions in good time. When financial or reputational risk emerges, feelings can run high. The leader, however, must take the ultimate decision, ideally in agreement with their leadership team or Board. One of the ways they can instil confidence in themselves and their business is by feeling comfortable making timely decisions. Exploring how they make decisions, for instance, which data they use, which stakeholders they talk to, and what leadership they bring to bear on the issue, is as essential as making the decision itself.

• Adaptability

A leader needs to move with new expectations, upskill themselves and their thinking, and encourage their teams to do the same. That puts strategic planning in a different space. This is one where results depend on delivery and a transparent and collaborative culture. To achieve this, a leader needs professional and personal growth – getting past their blind spots, overcoming past issues, and developing resilience. How they deal with setbacks will be critical to company morale and set the standard for effective management.

• Paying attention to other’s wellbeing

CIPD research reveals that to address workplace wellbeing, ‘’companies need to develop systemic and preventative health and wellbeing strategies supported by the most senior levels of leadership. Unfortunately, senior leaders’ interest in these strategies appears to be waning despite it increasing during COVID-19.” A lack of line manager skills and confidence is the top challenge in supporting wellbeing. How leaders manage can directly impact other people’s mental well-being. Executive leaders are expected to improve, manage change, and deliver transformation simultaneously. It can’t be achieved and sustained without a healthy culture, and leaders are now responsible for culture and functions.

• Engaging the team.

When managers are engaged at work, their teams are also more likely to be engaged. In its State of the Global Workforce Report 2024^, Gallup found that 70% of the variance in team engagement can be attributed to the manager. The global report identifies the UK as one of the countries with low team engagement. The quickest way to drive engagement is to get people talking meaningfully and in service of the wider good. However, personal grievances, including harassment and discrimination, must be addressed. The quickest way to lose engagement is to do nothing, thereby inadvertently supporting a toxic culture.

• Finding space for vulnerability.

Senior leaders don’t often get feedback. They communicate daily, yet there is no one to open up to safely. They feel it is too risky to appear vulnerable or uncertain, so they privately carry their doubts and concerns and show leadership confidence in public. Yet, in coaching, it often emerges that others share the vulnerability they are hiding. Empathising with others over difficult personal choices or business failures can build trust. Leaders get to their position by failing and learning from each failure to improve. Sharing this with others will resonate and reduce their stress.

EXECUTIVE LEVEL SUPPORT TO AVOID BURNOUT

• Reset your energy levels

Stress affects us all, but not necessarily in the same way. It can be felt differently depending on our role, personality, life experiences and resilience. If you are a leader under significant stress, it’s helpful to decide if your stress is sudden and time-limited – a new project, new direction, new strategy, or chronic and long-term, which can lead to burnout. Many leaders don’t see burnout approaching, but the signs are always there. The desire to ‘get through’ the next organisational challenge drives the person to overwork and find themselves out of energy and resilience.

Yet, a leader can’t sell a vision if they don’t feel it. Space is critical to reconnecting with what you value in life and having some reserve energy and emotion to give to these values. We all must ‘refill our well’ and leaders are no different. Try scaling your levels daily from 1- 10 and see if there is a pattern. For instance, stress may be high after a new project bid or during a major restructuring, but what about in business-as-usual mode? Are you still feeling stressed? Reflect on what and what you can do about it.

• Seek out support

Any stressed leader will tell you that resources are a key barrier to their success and they are the key reason for their stress. Resources are, by their very nature, limited and always moving. Budgets contract, key talent moves on, a major supplier leaves or a trusted partner exits the marketplace. Change and transformation are constant, and managing those limited resources requires energy, resilience, vision, and constant communication. But there are also other resources to tap into. So, look beyond established partners, relationships, and resources to try something new.

Moving into No Executive roles may feel like an unnecessary extra responsibility but the insight it brins can make a huge difference to a leader.

Many leaders now have executive coaching to help them think through their approaches and implement new working methods. A global survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) reports an average ROI of seven times the cost of employing a coach.

• Coaching Models

Executive and leadership coaching techniques vary ranging from results-base coaching and career development to the model of systemic coaching where the organisation and even sector within which an individual works is considered.

Coaching can and does move beyond pure leadership development. As leaders tackle environmental issues, climate change and ESG reporting alongside technological innovation, the perspective needs to be wider. The role is only part of the picture; the organisation, the sector and the external environment all bring extra complexity. The leader is now a catalyst for sustainable change.

Recognising this wider remit through collaboration can reduce stress levels when the leader recognises that their role in working with others can bring the change that is needed.

CONCLUSION

Executive-level stress is multifaceted. A leader with clarity of vision, self-awareness, and insight into their decision-making capabilities and who can communicate well will be better placed to manage their stress.

Coaching is a psychologically safe space to unpack their leadership style, their blind spots, and their potential, and even to model to others how to manage stress at an executive level.