There are certain anxieties involved with leading people. After all, what if you lead them in the wrong direction? What if your efforts come to naught because, despite your well-meaning and focus, you make a mistake and that affects your team? Well, this is the risk involved with managing anyone, as responsibility for others means taking responsibility when things go wrong.
However, if you’re good at your job but otherwise struggle with anxiety, these unknowns can be difficult to handle. That being said, you shouldn’t have to limit your career ambition and willingness to progress because of the anxiety you feel. It does not dictate who you are or what you can achieve.
I’m sharing about this topic because I’m a bestselling author on anxiety and leading Behavioral Change Coach – with about 2 million books sold globally.
Plus I founded the therapist recommended self-paced online program called The Anxiety Cure Course.
I am committed to helping people to manage their anxiety symptoms with care. So coming up I will be sharing a range of strategies. Plus there’s more available at places like Thera-fi Counseling Services and read on to learn how to stake your claim in the professional world – free of anxiety and loaded up with confidence.
If you’re in a management role, you will appreciate these tips for managing anxiety in the workplace.
It’s important to never worry about perfection. If you’re working in a department, such as leading a small sales team, then you don’t have to worry about the same kind of results that a military captain would. You can allow for mistakes, see some of them as inevitable, and then move forward with that new insight. This means you won’t beat yourself up as a complete fool for making a mistake or asking an employee to perform a task they weren’t correctly trained on.
However, mistakes should always inspire improvement, of course. If you see mistakes as prompts to do better next time, to encourage learning, and to be honest, you can ultimately view them as a positive. That helps lessen their terrifying presence and allows you to move forward with a sense of calm competency. Would you prefer a boss who demands perfection and does anything to reach it, or one who is relatively relaxed around mistakes, isn’t afraid to try and learn again, or remains modest when they make the wrong call? As you can see, you’re not expected to be perfect in any rational capacity.
It’s important to trust your team. They’ll trust you in return if you allow them that capacity. It also means that mistakes or difficulties made can be worked on together, as opposed to being used solely for punishment.
Many of us know what it’s like to have a boss that is overbearing, constantly micro-manages, and never trusts us to do anything. Is this because they don’t think we can perform? Sometimes, but not always. Often, it’s because the manager is so obsessed about their team’s actions reflecting poorly on them that they limit autonomy at any chance. They might not even realize this is where it emanates from, but it does.
You can manage this sense of anxiety by simply trusting your team. This is a hallmark element of how to overcome mild anxiety in general – trusting the world around you. For example, if you have deep anxiety driving a car, learning to let go of that worry means trusting yourself behind the wheel, the worth of traffic laws, and your ability to avoid making a mistake.
As a manager, you’re in the great position of having capable professionals under your direction. Trusting them to work hard and do what they can to achieve the tasks you set is a wonderful idea, and can help relieve anxiety on your end.
Of course, so far everything we’ve suggested involves a perspective shift. But rationalizing your way out of anxiety isn’t always that easy. You might not think back to the insights shared here when your heart is pounding and you feel that biting sense of discomfort that comes from anxiety. This kind of anxiety is defined by irrationality, but that doesn’t make it less affecting, and it doesn’t mean you’re silly or weak.
As such, having a few management techniques to help you overcome these episodes and come out through the other side. Having a stress ball you can use for focus, breathing techniques, or heading into the break room for some water and a quick break can be key. There’s no shame in talking to your staff or your bosses about your anxiety and how you may need to separate yourself here and then. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, as many people can relate to anxiety. But of course, heading out for a second or two to gain your composure is key. You might also use prescribed medications (visit your doctor before taking any), or herbal supplements such as valerian root to manage mild anxiety.
Ultimately, if you have anxiety that might be harder to deal with, it’s important to speak to someone about it. You don’t have to be the stoic manager who never has a bad day or never shows their challenges.
However, it’s important to manage this outside of work when you can. If your anxieties always present themselves at work and no action is taken to manage it, that could be considered unprofessional. No one is helped by you bottling up your difficulties, as it could affect your judgement.
Being honest with your own employer is key. Don’t worry, many of them actually have great resources, even access to counseling or therapeutic services you could use. In the long run, this might help you develop a better, more pronounced understanding of your condition and how to handle it.
This way, you may be able to get to the root of your anxiety and how to manage it. Such efforts could also help you unspool certain elements of your management style that are less healthy. It’s not uncommon for those who experience anxiety to throw themselves into work, for example, but a workaholic perspective can sometimes put undue pressure on the team you are charged with managing. Such efforts could help you become a better manager, then.
Sleep is important for everyone. But anxiety can certainly be more pronounced if you’re repeatedly getting poor, uncomfortable, interrupted sleep. Investing in your sleeping environment is a good place to start. Do you have a comfortable space to lay your head, to relax without screens before retiring for the night? Do you keep a regular schedule so you don’t have to feel exhausted and in a rush each morning? How much time do you give yourself before work?
These questions might seem basic, but you may be surprised just how helpful a regular cycle is for the proper management of emotions. It also gives you the time to properly vent and express the stress which is natural in any kind of leadership. A good rest can help you think over situations more easily, relax despite a bad day, and come back each morning ready to go again. While this might not be the only solution to you anxiety, you’ll find working hard is much easier when you’re sleeping well and consistently.
The great thing about leadership is that you don’t have to come up with your strategy on the spot, and never put a foot wrong. That would be unrealistic and unreasonable to expect. In fact, you can stick to your plan, your vision, your belief that a certain direction will ensure success, and move in line with that.
This gives you structure, frees up your mental bandwidth, and also provides a baseline to review your success from. Moreover, planning in a comfortable position is much better than trying to come up with an entire game plan in a matter of minutes, or defining it on the fly.
But how does this reduce anxiety? Well, it provides the ability to step back and look at the bigger picture. It allows you to trust your staff to do their jobs, as we explained above. It also means that you have structure to work with, as opposed to worrying about your moment-to-moment leadership. Should a plan limit your ability to plan and think creatively? Not at all. But it can be freeing to open your mind in this way.
There are many excellent books about effective leadership and management out there, often with genuine insights to share. From the journals of military leaders to Roman generals to heads of industry, you’ll begin to find that the human condition, doubt and anxiety are hardly measures other people have never experienced themselves. This can help you connect to some of the greatest figures and realize they had challenges too.
For example, Marcus Aurelius and his famous book “Meditations” was collated out of diary entries he addressed to himself, planning to be a better man and figuring out his way through challenge and trials. Reading material like this doesn’t mean you’re going to lead a national campaign of war anytime soon, but it can help you see humans grappling with leadership has been pondered about since antiquity. Sometimes, a little insight from that angle can be a wonderful aid.
Explore my bestselling and therapist recommended audio and video program: The Anxiety Cure Course.
Think about subscribing for free weekly tools here.
No SPAM, ever! Read the Privacy Policy for more information.
