In a world where economic and technological changes seem to happen in the blink of an eye, it’s no wonder that stepping into a leadership role can come with an increase in stress levels. Pair that with other responsibilities like maintaining relationships, having a vibrant social life and staying on top of your health and a leadership role can become a suffocating presence that ripples into every area of your life.
As stress persists, it can begin to affect your job performance and impact the people around you. It can also begin to take a toll on your physical and mental health. You may find yourself turning to substances such as drugs or alcohol to cope with the day to day pressures of your work and home life.
But substances are no substitute for a healthy lifestyle. The chemicals you once relied on to help you unwind at the end of a difficult day or to calm your anxieties before a major presentation may soon become the greatest threat to your career, your relationships and your life.
While drug overdose rates appear to be on the decline across the US, addiction remains prevalent nationwide and across all socioeconomic demographics, including executives and professionals. According to recent data, 30% of persons earning $75,000 or more annually report at least one binge drinking incident within the previous 12 months.
The Subtle Emergence of Addiction
Maybe you’re noticing more difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Maybe stress is manifesting into physical symptoms like constant headaches and changes in appetite. It could even lead to an increased use of alcohol and drugs.
While stress is a normal part of life, left unchecked, it can fester and grow in the garden of your mind. It’s important to notice when stressors begin to overtake your life and take steps to combat them.
How can we work to balance being a leader with life’s list of responsibilities? Caring for one’s mental health, physical health and fostering positive relationships are all good places to start. There are simple things you can do every day to manage stress without turning to substances to get through the day.
Stress Among Business Leaders
There are a mixture of pressures that can contribute to high levels of stress in a leadership role. Many business leaders work long hours and have to constantly be at the top of their game. There are a plethora of factors that can throw business leaders off their game that are important to take note of.
The first set are external pressures. These are things that are out of an individual’s control like fluctuations in the market, and global events like climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. When the world around us feels unstable, it can be difficult to cope with the effects of stress.
The next are internal pressures, which often directly impact a person in a leadership role. This could look like performance expectations, conflict among a work team, and a lack of important resources.
Finally, personal factors can bring stress into the workplace. Factors like family obligations, caregiving, and poor mental health habits can all lead to overwhelming burnout and higher levels of stress.
All of these pressures can snowball and have negative impacts on a leader in the working environment. Burnout and long term health issues can develop due to these factors. How a leader leads can also change. Instead of being a source of positivity and encouragement, a leader may be negatively affected by stress. This could lead to mistreating employees and experiencing psychological issues when it comes to mental health.
Stress Spreading to the Workplace
When stress among business leaders starts to trickle into the workplace, negative effects can spread like a wildfire. Instead of only affecting one person, an entire business could be affected. Here are some effects stress can have in a workplace:
- More anxiety and fatigue in the workplace. When employees see their leader struggling with stress, they may feel similarly.
- Miscommunications. This could create a lack of trust in the workplace.
- High turnover rate. Employees may decide to quit if a leader contributes to the stressful work environment.
- Low productivity. How leaders adapt to situations may change because of stress, and employees may feel their ideas being stifled.
Supporting Yourself to Support Others
The idea that you can’t pour from an empty cup reigns true in the workplace. Managing stress is important so that you can thrive along with your workplace. Drugs and alcohol, however, only mask the symptoms of stress. They do not address the underlying issue and, in the end, these symptoms only exacerbate the problem. This is why finding healthy alternatives to dealing with stress is so essential.
What are some steps business leaders can take every day to manage stress levels?
Caring for Your Mental Health
- Find a supportive community to surround yourself with. Having trusted friends that you can talk to about the things in your life that are stressful can be highly beneficial.
- Relax after a long day. Practice journaling, mindfulness activities like meditation, and spend time doing activities you enjoy. Maybe you like to watch a comfort film or immerse yourself into a good book.
- Practice having gratitude even on hard days. Look around and write down three things you are thankful for.
Caring for Your Physical Health
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. Practice having a consistent morning and night routine.
- Find a type of exercise you enjoy. Maybe running is your thing, or taking a dance class. Something to get your body moving can help manage stress levels.
- Eat well balanced meals and try to consume foods high in fats and sugars in moderation.
- Limit alcohol intake and avoid drugs that are not prescribed.
Techniques for People in a Leadership Role
- Set healthy boundaries within the workplace and encourage team members to do the same in order to create a more positive environment.
- Distribute tasks. It’s important that a leader is not taking on all the responsibility alone. You can practice handing out tasks fairly and help build a workplace community where people come together and support each other.
- Practice good time management to help lower chronic stress in the workplace.
If every business leader took steps to care for their stress levels, it could begin a new ripple effect, where organizations are steeped in a positive, productive, and healthy work environment.
Recognizing the Signs and Getting Help
Managing stress effectively can help stem the tides of addiction before they can swallow you up. But if you are already in the grasp of a chemical dependency, there is hope. This first step is recognizing the signs that you’re experiencing addiction.
Some symptoms of chemical dependency include:
- Your use of drugs or alcohol is beginning to affect your job performance or your relationships.
- You continue to use it despite committing to abstain.
- You need increasing amounts of the substance in order to produce the desired effect.
- You conceal your substance use from family and colleagues.
- You experience significant physical, emotional and psychological effects when you attempt to abstain.
If you find that you’re experiencing any of these symptoms of chemical dependency, know that you are not alone. Help is available and recovery is real. Many addiction treatment centers offer specialized programs for executives and professionals, enabling them to receive the confidential care they need. These programs often offer specialized services to allow clients to continue to work remotely from secure spaces while receiving inpatient treatment.
Business leaders can practice filling up their own cups first, in order to fill the cups of their employees. When changes happen and stressors begin to pile up, leaders will be able to confidently turn to stress managing techniques and create positive change in their work environment and in themselves without spiraling into the vicious cycle of drug and alcohol misuse.
