We address in this post an issue that has repeatedly come up in discussions with owners and leaders within an organisational context as we go about our work.
Namely, while leaders and owners of organisations naturally and properly take responsibility for the mental and emotional wellbeing of others, how are they themselves provided with a StressBusting™ outlet of their own, being, after all, only human themselves at the end of the day?
We talk about the importance of having a simple means of self measuring stress levels at a given time in our post entitled "Have an SMI™ (Stress Management Index™) to accompany your BMI".
When it comes to organisational leaders and owners, who are one of any organisation's biggest assets, their admirable perceived perception that they have to put the interests of the organisation first can take its toll on their own wellbeing.
And we have had reported confidenially from a number of independent senior sources that there is a reluctance on the part of leaders to seek out support when needed, particularly within large companies and large professional services firms.
This is reported as being in part because they feel they are paid to appear strong at all times.
And also because they feel asking for support may damage their onward career prospects.
Leaders are incredibly driven, committed and proud individuals.
This can make it difficult to ensure that they take the kind of steps to look after themselves as are contained in our previous StressBustingExpert4Business™ post entitled "The importance of recharging to maintain optimum efficiency".
And they occupy a unique position in that they are accountable not only to one organisational stakeholder but a number - staff, shareholders, trustees, fellow directors and customers to give but a few examples. This can foreseeably take its toll over the long term.
So, in the same way as they do for any other such foreseeable risks, how can an organisation better promote and safeguard the wellbeing of their leaders and optimise performance in the process?
Well firstly, by recognition that stress is an entirely natural emotion as well as a truly universal one - as explained in our post entitled "Accepting Stress as a Global "Pandemic", not a Localised Problem" .
As such, it is bound to affect leaders as much as anyone else and it should be impressed upon leaders that a self ecognition of their support needs from time to time will be celebrated, not frowned upon.
Secondly, as a leader's continued wellbeing is critical to an organisation's present and future success, then any prudent organisation will construct a support system that incorporates its leaders, even if this is on a bespoke basis.
Many of the factors and steps that can be taken to safeguard and promote leaders' wellbeing echo those contained in our previous post entitled "Specialist Guest Post - A Returning Success: Optimising Support for Working Parents".
It may, however, be that an organisation considers that its leaders would benefit from an external support system in place for them, comprising a safe place to speak and share concerns away from the daily operational cut and thrust.
Profiling leaders at point of hire or beyond can not only help identify the best leaders for a particular organisation but also which areas leaders may benefit from support in moving forward.
External coaches and mentors can also be an invaluable independent sounding board resource for leaders and diaries should be encouraged to be cleared to accommodate sessions on a regular basis.
Be sure, however, to ensure that any external coaches enter strict terms of written confidentiality with the organisation to ensure its leaders can speak freely on company matters and protect, for example, trade secrets and other proprietary information.
Very forward looking organisations might even consider making the drawing upon leadership support a condition to employment of a leader - as this step immediately removes the perceived stigma of a leader asking for support when needed!
Of course, the opportunities created by external coaching and mentoring are not restricted to larger organisations.
Sole traders and leaders of SME's could equally benefit from an independent voice of experience as they navigate their growth curve and would do well to explore these kinds of options too.
And organisations should always "Have a "Plan B" " where appropriate and ensure that their directors and officers insurance policy adequately covers risks related to leadership and if necessary investigate the suitability of "key person" insurance cover to provide a financial comfort blanket in the event that any leadership replacement provision is required. Look out for a post dedicated specifically to these matters in the weeks ahead.
Finally, it is worth noting that an effective organic way to mitigate leadedship risk is to provide ongoing training and experience to staff to a point where their own leadership capabilities create a natural succession plan for the organisation internally, potentially without the need for external recruitment spend.
If you can relate to the contents of this post and would like us to assist, please see our "Funding" page for detail of the services we can provide and feel free to reach out to us in confidence via our "Contact" page.
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