With countless responsibilities, packed schedules, financial constraints, and many other demands of work, it’s no surprise that leaders feel overwhelmed, particularly as they are also accountable for the productivity and wellbeing of their teams.
Sustained pressure in the workplace can easily turn into stress and, if left unchecked, lead to burnout. However, with the right tools and approaches, leaders can prevent pressure from manifesting as dangerous stress and use it instead to nurture a culture of positive growth.
It takes a while for stress to become chronic, but when it does, burnout can follow quite rapidly. By contrast, recovering from burnout can take months and always requires the identification and then moderation of the root causes. Whether those causes stem from workload, environment, or other external pressures, they must be actively addressed.
It’s normal to feel a short-term stretch when pressure rises, and this is often the catalyst for personal growth. The problem starts when we feel constantly stretched. The instinctive response to feeling this way is often to just go faster or spread yourself thinner, but this is not a sustainable reaction. While many sources of pressure are beyond leaders’ direct control, how they choose to respond is not.
This is how the tide can be turned and hard-wired job pressures transformed into sustainable performance and growth. When leaders take ownership of their response to pressure and take an intentional approach to personal energy management, unavoidable pressure can be harnessed for better outcomes.
Here are three proven strategies to prevent pressure from escalating: practising self-care to build resilience, cultivating psychological safety and openness, and engaging in reflection to foster growth.
Prioritising Self-care
To better cope with pressure, thereby avoiding stress and leading their teams effectively, leaders must first look after themselves. Much like putting on your own oxygen mask before helping others, it means recognising the importance of self-care before attempting to support those around them. This involves actively prioritising regular and intentional recovery, exercise and movement, good nutrition and hydration, and adequate sleep.
Scheduling time for self-care and staying mindful of their bodies’ basic physical needs puts leaders in a stronger position to meet their multiple demands, maintain emotional control during high-pressure moments, and stay fully present and engaged. It’s equally important to remain focused on the bigger picture, ensuring energy investments are targeted in the right place. By intentionally recovering energy every 90-120 minutes and working with the body’s ultradian rhythms, leaders can enhance their long-term performance and resilience.
Fostering Psychological Safety
Another crucial element of mitigating stress is encouraging openness within the organisation, which requires building a foundation of trust through psychological safety. By fostering a safe culture where open conversations about addressing team challenges are the norm, leaders empower people to contribute valuable insights and ideas.
Often, the personal weight of responsibility and decision-making can take a significant toll on leaders. Therefore, introducing this not only upskills the team, increases engagement, and belonging, but it also creates a working environment where leaders can tap into the skills and insights of others to solve problems. Rather than feeling the pressure to have all the answers themselves.
Dedicating Time to Reflection
In addition to prioritising self-care and fostering psychological safety, leaders should also make time for reflection. Embracing challenges as opportunities for growth is key to gaining clarity and maintaining control. Our responses to pressure are often shaped by a blend of our previous experiences from childhood, education, and career to date. Reflecting on these moments can uncover valuable lessons and skills that help us navigate future challenges, ultimately preventing overwhelm.
How we react to and manage pressure differs from person to person, shaped by a range of individual factors. But when the unhealthy responses become patterns, the outcome is usually the same: chronic stress, mental health problems, and eventually, burnout. By prioritising self-care, psychological safety, openness, and reflection, leaders can reframe their stress mindset for positive professional and personal growth. In doing so, they not only protect their own wellbeing but also model sustainable, healthy behaviours for their teams.
Lesley Cooper
Lesley Cooper is a management consultant with over 25 years of experience in the design and delivery of all elements of employee wellbeing management programmes. In 1997 Lesley founded WorkingWell, an award-winning specialist consultancy that helps companies manage workplace pressure in a way that facilitates growth and development. She is also the co-author of Brave New Leader: How to Transform Workplace Pressure into Sustainable Performance and Growth.