A Synopsis of an article by Lolly Daskal taken from her book The Leadership Gap.
Many leaders suffer from anxiety to some degree and its important to recognise that and consider appropriate tools that can help to manage it.
Lolly suggests techniques to help manage anxiety as a leader:
- Acknowledge your anxiety without denying it
seek to understand why its come up and enable yourself to better address and manage it. - Accept your anxiety without attachment
The best way to deal with it is to accept it, don’t try to fight or control it, instead accept it and you are already making progress in moving through it. - Surf the wave without getting swallowed up by the current
Recognise that you might not be in top form until things settle down. The goal is to learn to surf the waves and harness their power without being overwhelmed. - Watch for patterns and label your feelings
“It may be that stress leads to fear which leads to anxiety. Or it may be that something doesn’t work out, your perfectionist tendencies lead you to anger, and anxiety follows.” - Learn your telltale signs
When you learn to recognise your physical symptoms you can potentially deal with the anxiety before it over takes you. - Let go of controlling anxiety and work to manage it
Victor Frankl famously said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Make a conscious decision to tackle your anxiety with purposeful actions such as breathing, mindfulness or meditation even shifting your focus or attention.
Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.
Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.