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Ideas for Leaders #242
Managing Stress by Building
Resilience
Key Concept
Many people in the business world today are experiencing high levels of
stress, and corporate burnout is becoming a worryingly common
phenomenon. According to this Idea, there is a way out that involves four
simple steps. By making these steps a habit and therefore a natural part of
your being, you can lead yourself to a better and more productive lifestyle.
Idea Summary
There is no such thing as a stressful job or a stressful boss; in fact, all stress
comes down to something called ‘rumination’ — the mental process of
thinking over and over again about a past or future event with which negative
emotion is attached. This is the notion put forward by the Center for Creative
Leadership’s Nick Petrie, who discusses the work of Dr Derek Roger on
stress and resilience in a 2013 white paper.
According to Roger’s work, stress levels are not determined by external
factors in our environment; rather, it is the way we think and react that
influences how stressed-out we feel. In particular, people who ruminate a lot
have chronically elevated levels of adrenaline and cortisol, whereas non-
ruminators may also have plenty of pressure in their lives but do not get
stressed by it.
Such rumination can of course be detrimental to health, disastrous for
productivity and ruinous for happiness. Yet many people in the working life
experience this every day, and eventually when they are unable to see
solutions, often simply continue until they completely burnout.
Based on Roger’s research, Petrie highlights four steps that can help
executives become less stressed and more resilient:
1. Wake up (and stay awake): in other words, 'come to your senses'. Stop dreaming about the
past or the future; instead, be in the present.
2. Control your attention: understand the power of attention. The key to controlling it is to
practise consciously putting your attention where you want it to be and holding it there. Keep
your attention directed in the present (i.e. what you can see, hear or feel).
3. Detach: this is the ability to get appropriate distance from the situation being faced. This helps
to maintain perspective and only focus on what can be controlled.
4. Let go: a refusal to let go of things is at the core of why people continue to ruminate. Ask the
question: “will continuing to focus on this help me, my people or organization?” If the answer is
no, let it go.
Repetition of these four steps is the key, says Petrie. As if they are repeated
Authors
Petrie, Nick
Institutions
Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®)
Source
CCL® White Paper
Idea conceived
August 2013
Idea posted
October 2013
DOI number
Subject
Emotional Intelligence
Happiness & Well-being
Stress Management
Psychology
again and again, the brain creates a new habit, and soon executives will not
have to consciously do this; it becomes their way of being.
Business Application
Petrie also suggests three short, practical actions to help to start building the
four steps above into a new mental habit:
Look from the loft: this visual metaphor brings together all four steps in one place. Imagine
yourself at the top of a house, looking down at it being flooded with the things that are causing
you to feel stressed; now, think about dealing with this problem by applying the four steps.
Find your flow activity: engage in activities that bring you into a state of flow (i.e. help you
become focused on the present and absorbed in the task at hand). Examples include
gardening, sports and playing a musical instrument.
Meditation: both single pointed meditation (i.e. focusing the mind on a single word, phrase or
breathing) and mindfulness meditation (simply closing your eyes and observing whatever
comes into your awareness) are described by Petrie as extremely powerful ways to increase
resilience and practise the four steps.
Further Reading
Wake Up! The Surprising Truth about What Drives Stress and How
Leaders Build Resilience. Nick Petrie. Center for Creative Leadership
White Paper (August 2013).
Further Relevant Resources
Nick Petrie’s profile at the Center for Creative Leadership
Nick Petrie’s personal website
Center for Creative Leadership’s profile at IEDP
© Copyright IEDP Ideas for Leaders 2014
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