If you google “executive stress” you’ll find all sorts of studies.
Executives attribute their stress to:
– competitors
– reaching targets
– satisfying stakeholders
– volume of communication
Some say ‘What stress?” (I’m really suspicious of those)
What do all the above have in common?
They are all external stressors!
“It’s not me! High expectations are put on me!”
This is all true to a certain extent.
But what about inner stressors?
It’s not easy to for a leader admit to those, is it?
Perfectionism, impostor syndrome, low self-esteem masked with super-confidence.
We can go deeper!
The deeper reasons go way back into an executive’s upbringing and the expectations set by their parents.
An executive may have been neglected as a child and as a result, they had to strive to guarantee the love of their parents.
Or they were given too much attention because of their talents (yes, they’re charismatic).
And when they entered the real world, they had to go to extreme lengths to get the same attention.
When executives become aware of these deep-seated issues, they can forgive themselves and their caregivers.
They become more self-aware, productive, and emotionally intelligent.
And guess what?
The stress levels go down too.
Loving you, Angelos