4 Leadership Destressers

I heard a story about a psychologist who walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

For a leader, it is important to remember to let go of the stresses of life. Put all your burdens down as soon as you can. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down as the psychologist explained. Leadership can be a stressful place when the weight of progress is resting on your shoulders. But we cannot allow the weight to push us down. Here are some tips to lay down leadership stress…

1. Refresh Yourself

Too many leaders are so busy doing that they forget to slow down and rejuvenate themselves. One can only go so long without a break. Let me say this loud and clear…It is just as important for a leader to take a vacation as it is for them to accomplish a task! I hope you got that…let me say it this way…you can’t produce if you are drained. Make sure you are refreshing yourself so that you are at the top of your game when it’s game time. Go fishing, hiking, watch a movie, read a book, take a nap, take a vacation, get away with your family for a mini trip, go skiing, do something that refreshes yourself on a regular basis.

2. Admit Your Mistakes

Many leaders carry too much stress because they are trying to be perfect. NO ONE is perfect, no matter how great of a leader you are. Trying to keep a perfect, flawless, no failure reputation, is STRESSFUL. Stop thinking people will see you as perfect. They already know you make mistakes and have weaknesses. Do yourself a favor and admit you don’t always have the answer, and you don’t always do everything perfectly, they are waiting for you to be real anyway.

3. Get Some Humor

Don’t take yourself so seriously that you forget to enjoy leading. If leading is such a burden, then you may need to lighten up a bit. Leadership is a journey that can be rough, but it is a journey that is fulfilling and enlightening. Make leadership fun and enjoyable, don’t always be about WORK, WORK, WORK. Take some time to build relationships with your team and those you lead by laughing together. A team that can laugh together will lead together.

4. Keep Perspective

Don’t get so caught up in tasks that you forget the big picture. Sometimes we can’t see the forest through the trees. Make sure that you keep your eyes on the mission not the mundane. The more you bog yourself down in the details, the more stressful leadership becomes. Keep your focus on the main things. Never allow yourself to lose sight of what really matters. In the end, it is about people and the impact you have made in them.