Leadership in Action: In Focus—Managing Stress—Surviving the Pressure Cooker

In Focus/Managing Stress: Surviving the Pressure Cooker

Vidula Bal, Michael Campbell, and Sharon McDowell-Larsen

Everyone experiences stress, and leaders face the additional stress brought about by the unique demands of leadership: having to make decisions with limited information, managing conflict, and doing more with less, to name just a few. When leaders' resources meet or exceed these demands, they experience eustress— the energy felt when tackling a challenging assignment and feeling confident of success. When the demands exceed leaders' resources, they experience distress—the type of stress associated with health problems and deteriorating relationships. The good news is that leaders can learn to manage the negative type of stress.

For ...