With stress a given in their worklives, CEOs rely on diverse remedies. Some run marathons. Some turn to food. Some clear their minds by doodling.
According to a recent Forbes article:
“CEOs have three unique areas of stress that can exceed other people’s. Those are the pace of their work life, the pain of downsizing (in today’s economy) and social isolation.”
Daily critical decision-making challenges impacting their teams take a toll. And CEOs are on-call all day and accessible non-stop through their Blackberrys and cell phones.
Instead of filling their schedules each minute, experts suggest taking back control by having their assistants schedule them “out” for at least an hour each day. Carving out time to quiet the mind through meditation seems to work, too.
Advice also includes watching and learning from other CEOs who manage stress well.
And they can take their cue from President Obama, who has the ability to “neutralize threats by stretching them out over long timelines, making them part of a strategic landscape to ultimately detoxify them.”
Everyone faces stress, in their work and personal lives. I’m not convinced that CEOs feel more stress than the rest of us. But, in a job that’s all about sound decision-making, their bad choices probably impact a lot more people than mine do.
CEOs owe it to themselves and everyone around them to learn how to do it better.
