Some anxiety is destructive. Other forms of anxiety improve life. Is your heart racing while you get ready for work? That’s not all bad. Are you alert during tense conversations? I hope so.
Anxiety means you care, but caring can become destructive.
Answer Anxiety:
Leaders worry (care deeply) about employee engagement, creating environments where people can flourish, and getting stuff done.
Thinking without action intensifies distress. Healthy anxiety guides behaviors.
Destructive concern loves to remind you of things you can’t do. You can’t control people. You can’t guarantee plans will work. However, you can control yourself by designing action steps.
- What simple actions promote employee engagement?
- How can you influence environments in ways that make strong relationships more likely?
- What will you do today to make your plan work? Plans without action become painful memories.
Destructive concern turns your inner eye on yourself. Self-reflection is healthy when it teaches you how to contribute. Self-reflection goes wrong when all you think about are disappointments, pain, and what you want from others.
Turn your attention to outward-facing action when you feel anxiety.
Worry fixes its attention on the worst that could happen. I have learned to think about what I will do if the worst happens. For example, what if I embarrass myself by saying something stupid? I will apologize. “I want to apologize for what I just said. It was stupid.”
Prepare for the worst. If you’re anxious about a meeting, prepare. If you’re worried about a presentation, practice. Preparation doesn’t eliminate concerns, it focuses them.
Practice gratitude when you’re worried. Make a list of your worries. Make another list of everything you are thankful for. The best expression of gratitude is being thankful for opportunities to serve.
When does anxiety become destructive?
How can leaders answer deep concerns?
Still curious:
3 Ways to Stop Worrying and Lead
Don’t let worry become a leadership weakness
A little book about humility.
John David Mann and I provide an opportunity to explore structured self-reflection in our book, The Vagrant.
Many of the experiences of the protagonist reflect my own. I believe you will see yourself in the story, at least in part.
The exercises at the end enable you to take self-reflection to the next level.
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Previously Published on leadershipfreak with Creative Commons License
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