Don't let stress lead you

These are stressful times for all of us, especially for business leaders who have to make all the tough decisions. So it is important for them to manage their lives, businesses and stress levels and channelise their thoughts better than most of us, as a lot rides on their shoulders.

Emirates Business spoke to life coaches and professional development experts in order to find out what people at top need to do to go through this economic storm and emerge winners at the end of it all.

Cathy Darnell, Life Coach, Synergy Medical Centre, said: "As a leader you need to pay attention to yourself and see how you are acting and how you are personally relating as a leader. If you lose contact with yourself and lose control of your thoughts then you will not be able to communicate and listen to others in your business.

"Take personal responsibility for your behaviour. Do things that will add value to your role as a leader. See what are the goals and values of your company and if you are working according to that. See if you can move each staff to the same values and common goal of the company. Unless everyone is aligned to the same goals and values, the company will not make progress.

"You also have to be more community conscious. If you have had to lay off staff, look after the survivors in your company and make them feel important, as they are scared. If they spend all their time in fear they can't perform. So make your staff purpose driven instead of fear driven. The most important thing for a leader is to take care of his own emotional strength and health. So, if you can't cope with the problems and stress, you need professional expertise and guidance. Don't let the stress lead you. Take control of the stress before it takes control of you.

"Concentrate on deep breathing as it calms you down and relaxes the heart rate. It brings you more into the present rather than being too much in the past and thinking what you have lost and worrying too much about the future. When you are too much in the past and the future, you start worrying and don't react to what is happening. You are going too much into your subconscious fears rather than focusing on what's happening. When you are calm you are more in touch with your intuitive side and gut feeling, which you need to be in touch with, especially these days."

Susan Castle, Success Coach, Outwiththedots, said: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. They need to get back to basics and remember why they are doing what they are doing. If they focus only on what's important they will waste less time and energy and get more done with less effort.

"Decide to be happy. Don't let your mood depend on what someone else does for you. Make the decision every day as soon as you wake up to be happy. It's amazing how that little decision changes your attitude to everything.

"Focus all of your energy on solutions, not on problems. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, it doesn't matter what should have been done. The past is the past and we can't change it. Deal with the present and the future will take care of itself. Try to keep a work life balance. It's easy, when times are stressful, to feel the need to work longer and harder. But the truth is long term you will be less productive if you do this. Yes, there will be times when your life is out of balance, that's inevitable. But make sure you prioritise getting back into balance as quickly as possible.

"Communicate with the people around you. Your staff, your family and your friends. You will be surprised how supportive people will be if you ask for help or advice. Don't let pride get in the way. You never know who might have a brilliant idea that could change everything. Keep an open mind and look for answers everywhere."

Castle said business leaders can apply ideas to their lives by focusing on what they can do and by not getting stressed about what they cannot. She said stress is a big waste of energy and our brains are functioning on a very low level when we are under stress so they need to deal with that first.

She said: "Keep thinking positively. This doesn't mean denying there are problems but it means dealing with the reality and finding solutions. Also, don't focus on what you've lost. That way only lies depression and misery. What's gone is gone. Focus on creating a new and exciting life that is sustainable.

"The worst thing about a tough economic climate is the feeling of being out of control. Focus only on what you can control – your attitude. And lead by example."

Castle said despite all the gloom professionals can positions themselves for success by never letting up on professional and personal development. No matter what the economic climate, there is always a market for the best. This is true for businesses as well – if business is slow you should use this spare time to train. When things pick up, and they will, you will be best positioned to take advantage of the upturn. Cutting training and marketing budgets when times are tough is the worst thing you can do."

Castle said: "Decide to be happy. I know this sounds a bit trite but it's not. It's the easiest, simplest and cheapest thing you can do. Decide what you want and spend all your energy going after it. Be kind to people. Just because you are stressed doesn't mean you have to take it out on everyone else."

Castle said leaders can ensure that their performance at work do not get affected by the present climate by doing simple things such as making sure they are eating well.

"Take a good multivitamin and extra B vitamins. Your body uses up a lot more nutrition when you're stressed and for a lot of people the more stressed they are the worse their diet becomes. Get plenty of exercise. Exercise is the best stress buster, even 10 or 15 minutes a day will make a huge difference in your ability to cope and get plenty of sleep. Surround yourself with positive people and cut the whiners out of your life now. Learn stress-busting techniques such as meditation, yoga and reiki… whatever works for you. Taking time out to settle your mind will pay dividends very quickly," she said.

John Kanary, owner of John Kanary International, a personal and professional development organisation, said: "Before we do anything, we cannot allow conditions and circumstance to put us in a react mode. We have to realise that even though things look bad now the principles that govern our lives and businesses are the same as the old days.

"Credibility is everything and to achieve it, we need to be an example, lead with vision, be competent and be an inspiration. And in order to apply good life/business practises and principles, values and beliefs, to our lives, we need to learn to talk to one another about the current realities with respect for each other's opinions. The benefits are that we earn and learn responsibility and accountability and most important, we empower people and develop a bridge of trust."

In order to put the present stressful climate behind them and return to normalcy Kanary suggests that business leaders should focus on a positive attitude and energy.

 

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