Steve Cuss returns to the podcast to discuss how to manage leadership anxiety.
Steve talks about how anxiety spreads in a group, how to diffuse it, managing your personal stress during a prolonged crisis, and how to handle angry and critical voices so they don’t add to your long term anxiety.
Welcome to Episode 406 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey shares three things that really help him manage leadership anxiety.
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Conversation Links
Managing Leadership Anxiety by Steve Cuss
Managing Leadership Anxiety podcast
5 Keys to Reducing Stress, Anxiety and Overwhelm in Leadership (and Life) by Carey Nieuwhof
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Insights From Steve
1. If you’re a senior leader, your anxiety can make your team’s anxiety worse
One of the biggest things Steve has taught leaders in this season is that anxiety spreads throughout your team from one person to another. And, you, as the leader, have the most power to spread anxiety.
Because of this power dynamic, it’s even more important for you to have your anxious tendencies identified and managed. If you don’t, you’re causing chaos among your team members.
2. Take whatever steps you can to make it easier for yourself to slip into life-giving activities
As a leader, you will always have things that cause you to be anxious, and you’ll always have things that give you life. To help combat the constant flow of anxiety-causing stressors, Steve recommends you make it as easy as possible for you to slip into life-giving activities.
For Carey, that looks like him renting a slip for his boat at the local marina rather than trailering the boat every time he wants to take the boat out. For a small price, this removes some subtle objections that Carey could normally have about taking the boat out, and it makes him more likely to engage this life-giving activity more.
3. The more playful and fun your organization is, the less anxious it is
If you want an easy way to understand how much anxiety you and your team carry at work, Steve recommends you look at how easy it is for your team to laugh and have a good time with each other. If your team doesn’t laugh or is easily offended, you likely have a lot of anxiety running through your organization, and you need to address it.
Quotes from Episode 406
The more anxious the leader is, the more anxious the group is. @stevecusswords Share on XThe general rule of anxiety is the most anxious person in any room has the most power in that room. @stevecusswords Share on X2020 did not create the situation you're in, it exposed it. @stevecusswords Share on XIt's not that you eliminate anxiety, it's that you deepen your ability to manage yours and their anxiety. @stevecusswords Share on XAmbiguity will always make you anxious. @stevecusswords Share on XIf you look in the scripture, Jesus didn't tell us to be like him, he just tells us to die to ourselves. @stevecusswords Share on XAs a leader, so many people either lionize me to be bigger than I am, or they demonize me to be a monster that I'm not. @stevecusswords Share on XPeople pay attention to content, what's being said. But they react emotionally to process, the way we relate. @stevecusswords Share on XAnxiety management really gets powerful when you stop seeing the problem inside someone, and you start seeing it as between you and that person. @stevecusswords Share on XFor a leader to be able to know what makes them anxious, now you have a power tool to start to overcome it. @stevecusswords Share on XPeople who attend a church for a while think that means they know how to lead a church. @stevecusswords Share on XI focus on what I know is true not on what I feel is true. My feelings lie to me. Share on XGod is less done with you than you are. Share on XA rested you is a better you. Share on XRead or Download the Transcript for Episode 406
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Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.
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Next Episode: John Maxwell
Leadership expert, John Maxwell, talks about how to develop next generation leaders before they’re ready, how and when to hand things off, and what playing golf and eating at buffets can teach you about who people really are.
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