Managing Your Own Psychology in Leadership Roles

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

As a young leader, a wise mentor once told me that my toughest leadership challenge would be to manage myself. I found this to be true over my leadership career. Leadership can be stressful especially during times of great challenges. Anxiety can lead to a loss of confidence in one’s own abilities as a leader and negative self talk. Research studies suggest that when our anxiety levels increase – we often lose the capabilities that we need the most. These include the ability to think clearly, to prioritize what needs to be done and to plan for new strategic directions. The following is some important advice from the experts on to manage your psychology when you experience anxiety:

Keep the lines of communication open

Sometimes when things are not going well for a leader, the natural inclination is to retreat into one’s self. Working diligently to contain your own anxiety and communicate with your team members on a regular basis is very important. When a leader feels anxiety – these feelings often get communicated to the team. During challenging times, team members need to be kept informed and know that their leader is working hard to resolve the problems that exist. Maintaining a sense of humor can also help to alleviate anxiety.

Don’t procrastinate important decisions

Do not put things off when you can do them today. Often the best way to deal with stress is to be proactive and anticipate it. Planning if-then scenarios can be very helpful. Anticipate a worst case scenario and then think about how you will react. Decide your response in advance. As an example if you will be attending a very stressful budget meeting to discuss staffing, plan in advance how you will react if you are put on the defensive. If you need to do a very difficult employee counseling, think about how you will handle it if things do not go well.

Focus on the present

By bringing ourselves into the present moment and away from thinking about the past or future, we can shift our relationship to stress. We can think of the present moment as a vacuum chamber and that stress, anxiety, and depression-generating thoughts require an oxygen rich atmosphere to thrive. By being in the present moment, we help ourselves as nurse leaders to deal with the challenges of stress and attempt to successfully confront what captures our attention in the present. This is important for nurse leaders to consider because sometimes our greatest strengths (energy, ambition, willingness to act quickly) can become our greatest liabilities in maintaining the pace of our work. In today’s environment, nurse leaders spend a great deal of time trying to multitask, often unsuccessfully.

Within the context of our day to day work, it is easy to forget that work is just one aspect of our lives and all of us are replaceable. There are so many things in today’s health care environment that are beyond our control and stressing about it won’t change it. It is easy to begin to doubt yourself when things don’t seem to be going well. We often measure ourselves by what we have not done versus our accomplishments. The truth is that leadership is a journey. I am a great believer in networking. Leadership can at times feel lonely but when you talk with other leaders, you are likely to gain a better perspective on your progress in your work. You also quickly learn that many leadership challenges and anxieties that you may feel are universally shared and you are not alone in your feelings of doubt.

Read to Lead

Marturano, J. (2014) Finding the space to lead: A practical guide to mindful leadership. New York: Bloomsbury Press.

McFarland, K. (October 20th, 2009). How resilient leaders manage anxiety. Bloomberg Business Week.