Feeling Overwhelmed as a Leader? 10 Easy Steps Out

As a leader, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed from time to time. After all, you’re juggling a lot of different responsibilities and tasks. But don’t worry – there is hope. By following these 10 professional executive coaching steps, you can get your bearings and regain control of the situation. So what are you waiting for? Start fresh today!

 

 

 

Step #01: Take a deep breath.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, the first thing you need to do, even as a leader or executive, is take a deep breath and calm down. This may sound cliché, but it’s true – taking a few minutes to relax can help clear your mind and make it easier to focus on what needs to be done.

From a medical perspective, deep breathing is incredibly important for healthy high performers. It helps improve blood circulation, oxygenates the body, and releases stress hormones. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, deep breathing can help you regain control of the situation and make it easier to think straight. So don’t hesitate to take a few minutes to yourself to breathe deeply and relax.

Step #02: Assess the situation.

Once you’ve calmed down, take some time to assess the situation and figure out what’s causing you stress in your leadership situation. Once you know what the problem is, it’ll be easier to come up with a solution.

There are a number of different tools that you can use as a leader to assess a problem. One popular tool is the 5 Whys technique. This involves asking yourself “why” five times in order to get to the root of the problem.

Let’s say you’re feeling overwhelmed because you have a lot of work to do. The first step is to ask yourself “why” you’re feeling overwhelmed.

Why am I feeling overwhelmed?

Because I have a lot of work to do.

Why do I have a lot of work to do?

Because I’m behind on my deadlines.

Why am I behind on my deadlines?

Because I didn’t start working on it sooner.

Why didn’t I start working on it sooner?

Because I was procrastinating.

Another helpful tool many executives and leaders use for assessing a situation is the Problem Solving Triangle. This triangle consists of three steps: identify the problem, brainstorm possible solutions, and select the best solution. By using this triangle, you can systematically go through each step and come up with a workable solution.

One common situation where a leader might feel overwhelmed is when they’re dealing with a difficult employee. Let’s say you have an employee who is constantly arguing with you and causing conflict in the workplace. The first step is to identify the problem – in this case, it’s the difficult employee. The second step is to brainstorm possible solutions. Some possible solutions include firing the employee, transferring them to a different department, or giving them a warning. The third step is to select the best solution. In this case, the best solution might be to fire the employee. By using the problem solving triangle, you can systematically go through each step and come up with a workable solution.

Step #03: Delegate tasks where possible.

If there are tasks that can be delegated, don’t hesitate to do so. Delegating can help leaders in any organization take some of the pressure off and free up your time to focus on more important things.

One popular approach to delegation is the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. This principle states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. In other words, most of the work is done by a small minority of the employees. This makes delegating a task a more efficient use of time.

When delegating a task, it’s important to make sure that you’re delegating it to the right person in your team. In your leadership role, you need to find someone who has the skills and knowledge to complete the task, and who is also willing to do it. It’s also important to delegate tasks in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the employee. You don’t want to give them a task that’s too big and beyond their capabilities.

Step #04: Set priorities.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s easy to feel like everything is a priority. But that’s not realistic – and it’ll only lead to stress and frustration. Instead, set priorities and focus on the most important tasks first.

One common approach to setting priorities is the ABCDE approach. This approach involves ranking tasks in order of importance, with A being the most important and E being the least important.

Another popular approach is the 1-2-3 rule. This approach involves ranking tasks in order of urgency, with 1 being the most urgent and 3 being the least urgent.

Step #05: Take breaks when needed.

Don’t be afraid – not even in a leadership position or senior executive position – to take breaks when needed. When you’re working hard, it’s natural to want to push yourself as far as you can go. But if you don’t give your mind and body a break, you’ll end up burned out very quickly, not getting closer to healthy high performance. 

Short breaks can also have a positive effect on your health. When you’re constantly working, your body is under stress. This can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. By taking short breaks, you can reduce the amount of stress your body is under. This can help improve your health and reduce your risk of developing health problems.

Step #06: Set deadlines.

One way to reduce stress  and increase productivity is to set deadlines for yourself as a leader. This will help you stay on track and make sure that you’re not trying to do too much at once.

One way to set realistic deadlines is to use the SMART approach. This approach involves setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Another way to set realistic deadlines is to break down a task into smaller parts. This makes the task seem less daunting and makes it easier to track your progress.

Step #07: Take care of yourself.

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s easy to forget about yourself. But it’s important to take care of yourself both physically and mentally and demonstrate true self-leadership. This means making sure that you’re getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and exercise.

It’s also important to take some time for yourself. This can be anything from taking a relaxing bath to reading your favorite book. By taking some time for yourself, you can reduce the amount of stress you’re under.

Step #08: Simplify your life.

One way to reduce stress is to simplify your life. This means getting rid of the things that are causing you stress and decluttering your life. 

One way to declutter your life as a leader is to get rid of unnecessary possessions. This can be done by evaluating each item and asking yourself these questions:

– Do I use this item?

– Does this item bring me joy?

– Is this item worth the space it’s taking up in my home?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you should consider getting rid of the item.

Another way to simplify your life is to reduce the number of commitments you have. This can be done by saying no to new commitments and cancelling existing ones. It’s one of the most important skills for successful leaders to learn to say “no” in order to increase productivity and become a real healthy high performer. 

Step #09: Ask for help when needed.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed – it’s not a sign of weakness for leaders in any position but a sign of strength! When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s often difficult to do everything on your own. By asking for help, you can lighten the load and make things a little bit easier.

There are many different ways to ask for help, including:

– Asking friends and family for help

– Asking coworkers for help

– Hiring a professional organizer

– Hiring a personal assistant

– Reflecting with your Executive Coach

 

Step #10: Practice stress management techniques.

Finally, one of the best ways to deal with stress is to practice stress management techniques. This includes things such as deep breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga – all of them practiced by some of the most successful executives and healthy high performers.

By practicing these techniques regularly, you can learn how to manage your stress in a healthy way. And that can lead to a more relaxed and less stressful life.

One of the easiest stress reduction techniques is deep breathing exercises. This involves taking a few deep breaths and focusing on your breath. This can help calm your mind and body. Another easy stress reduction technique is meditation. This involves sitting in silence and focusing on your breath or a mantra. Finally, yoga is another easy way to reduce stress. This involves stretching and breathing exercises.

One of the more sophisticated stress reduction techniques is mindfulness meditation. This involves sitting in silence and focusing on your breath or a mantra. By focusing on your breath, you can learn to let go of your thoughts and feelings. This can help reduce the amount of stress you’re under.

 

Follow these tips and you’ll be able to overcome feeling overwhelmed as a leader or executive team member. Just remember to take things one step at a time and don’t be afraid to ask for support from a trusted executive sparring partner or leadership coach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Identify And Practice Emotional Intelligence In The Workplace

In years past, the emotional intelligence of employees was low on the list of qualifications, especially for leaders. However, with the way that the market has changed, how someone connects with others on an emotional level is becoming much more important. Company leaders need to understand the emotional connection audiences have with services, products and companies as a whole. The most recent Fjord Trends 2020 even talks about “liquid people” and why it is important to set up human insights teams instead of consumer insights. All this leads to the conclusion that now, more then ever before, if you want to successfully lead your company or grow your startup, you will need to understand what emotional connections are and how they can propel you forward.

How is EQ a KPI for emotional connections?

EQ is a term that describes the emotional intelligence that people in the workplace have with each other, and also with the customers or clients of that company. It propels the relationships that people build with one another and can also be applied outside of work.

In general, EQ is thought to have four distinct characteristics, including self-awareness (being aware of how we respond in situations), self-management (how we apply that self-awareness), social awareness (how we perceive others’ feelings in the context of their environments) and social management (how we apply social awareness in order to have fruitful interactions with others).

How does EQ make leaders more successful?

The way people connect allows them to understand what others are going through, which can be the perfect way to help solve someone’s pain points. Leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence often notice how people around them observe, react and respond. Knowing how to respond appropriately in all situations, both in private and in a group, allows for better experiences with the people around us. As leaders, we want to create the best employee experience possible so that those positive experiences trickle down into how our company’s representatives treat clients and customers. In turn, this can help build positive, trusting relationships with customers.

Where can EQ be utilized in today’s companies?

The greatest thing about emotional intelligence is that it has endless applications. It can be used to help inspire higher performance, develop new products and services, and improve personal development opportunities. It can also be used to prevent burnout, as people who learn how to manage their emotions are often less overwhelmed and benefit from a better work-life balance.

Higher EQ can benefit everyone in a company, from the CEO and founder all the way down to the latest part-time hire. But when it comes to helping improve the employee experience, leaders need to fully understand and utilize EQ regularly. The reason? When you understand where your employees are, both with the company and with the clients, you can better serve them. You can inspire them to strive for more fulfillment and give them challenges that allow them to feel as though they can accomplish even greater things.

Three Ways To Improve Emotional Connections

For many leaders, the question is less about why emotions matter and more about how to create better emotional connections. Here are three practices that you can easily incorporate into your schedule:

• Coffee Surprise: Pick one employee from your team, and schedule a coffee this week. Have a 20-minute conversation about how things are going. Show sincere interest. This conversation is not about facts and figures, sales objectives, or difficult clients. It’s purely about your people and what’s on their minds. You might be surprised by what your employee brings up.

• Listening Marathon: Practice your active listening skills on a large scale by engaging your entire team in a monthly listening marathon. This is a meeting — preferably outside — where two people from your team go for a 30-minute walk. For the first 15 minutes, one person is talking, and the other person only asks questions — no commenting, no telling stories — and practices active listening. Then, switch roles. At the end of the month, take time to reflect with your team on what you’ve collectively learned.

• Gratitude Board: Next to your team bulletin board — whether that’s an objectives and key results board or the spot where you post announcements in the kitchen — set up a gratitude board where every team member is required to post one note every day, stating what they are thankful for. This could be related to work, colleagues, clients, the office building, company events, etc. The point is to get in touch with your emotions and practice positive thinking.

Emotional Intelligence Can Be Taught

If you do not feel as though you have as solid of a grasp of emotional intelligence as you could, then feel better about the fact that you can learn it. You have the opportunity to learn about what makes customers respond the way they do and how to help your employees use that to their advantage. But it’s not a tool or a plugin you can buy. It takes dedication, passion and a real interest in the human beings around you to grow your emotional connections.

This post was initially published on Forbes.com early 2020.

How To Lay The Groundwork For Your Organization’s Next Breakthrough Innovation

All innovation comes from an idea that started with a problem and ended with a solution. It seems simple, right?

There’s just a small — though very important — differentiator: Everyone can think of problems, but not everyone has the same ability to come up with solutions. That is why collaboration is such a valuable tool. One person might see the problem clearly, but it might take the perspective of another to see the solution clearly.

If your goal is to have your business find the answers for the problems and pain points of your customers, then you need to set your company up to successfully collaborate with the best and brightest in your niche. By following these steps, I’ve found collaboration and innovation can become much easier:

Understand your starting point.

Over time, the knowledge each company brings to its specific niche becomes even more specialized. This is because you get better at what you do and can solve the issues that come up for those specific pain points.

However, to find a solution to a customer’s problem, your knowledge might be too specialized to see a valuable solution. It is vital that you have an understanding of what you know as a company — and what you do not know. That way, you see where the gaps are that you need to fill in.

Many leaders today reach out to startups or collaborate with individuals from completely different industries in order to identify these gaps. My personal favorite (and what I’ve found is one of the most powerful ways to learn) is working with children. What if you asked your employees’ kids to test your product in order to challenge your processes and assess your operations? It can be insightful and a true eye-opener to start asking your next-generation customers (as well as your next-generation talents) for their perspective.

Combine teams to improve the knowledge base.

To make sure your company can come up with as many innovative solutions as possible, make sure your knowledge base is vast. This can be done by mixing employees from different departments and having them work as a combined team on selected company challenges. This way, they can bring in their specific skills and expertise, as well as learn from and train their new team members — an excellent and fast way to build and share knowledge inside your organization.

As previously mentioned, it can be very insightful to conduct “experts workshops” with external experts such as young entrepreneurs, influencers, representatives from suppliers, artists, etc. to get their perspectives on the challenge the team is facing. For extra credit, make sure these teams have access to some guidance or a toolbox of creative and innovate techniques so they get support when trying to come up with innovative solutions.

If your teams are unable to work together at first, provide some team-building exercises to help them learn how to rely on one another and value others’ opinions. The more closely each team works together, the sooner their collaboration can result in innovative thinking. Again, for extra credit, make sure the office space is set up in a way that fosters and supports collaboration and creative brainstorming sessions (yes, innovation is often more of a “people” thing than a “technology” thing).

Encourage people to collaborate on all aspects of a business.

While many believe they already understand how to collaborate, your company might need your teams to work together differently than they are used to. For example, by simply taking two ideas from different use cases or product lines and putting them together, you might get a completely new solution, or maybe even a new business model. However, if you take two known ideas and your teams work together to add in one whole new part, it might be just different enough from what has been tried in the past to create a unique, new and innovative solution.

It’s important that your people understand the power of trying something unique in order to come up with a solution your clients will love. Nevertheless, doing minor adjustments to an existing way of doing it can also sometimes be just enough of what’s needed. The bottom line is that as long as your teams remain open and are willing to give different perspectives and collaboration a try, they are on a good track.

Many companies have taught the value of collaboration to their employees by simply encouraging them to keep striving for new answers. They show through the organization’s culture that they value communication and an agile leadership style in all avenues of how they do business. These companies give rewards to those who continually step up and provide more than what is expected of them. They are set up to listen to new ideas regularly, and they truly understand the concept of “fail fast and fail forward.”

If you want your company to have successful, innovative ideas and collaborative people, then you need to encourage collaboration at every level of the company. Even brand-new employees should be encouraged to be a part of this practice, as you never know where the next breakthrough will come from.

Conclusion

The good news is that your company has all of the innovation potential. You simply need to ensure that you are set up to collaborate with the best talents. Make yourself aware of your shortcomings, and fill in those gaps with people from the outside who can elevate your company. If you are not sure where to begin or what shortcomings you might have, reach out to sparring partners who can show you how to bring your company up to the next level of innovation and collaboration. After all, fast innovation capabilities will turn more and more into a key currency in the digital economy.

This article appeared in its original version on forbes.com late 2019.

The One Thing You Can’t Buy That Gets Your Business Ahead

One of the most common challenges my senior management clients face is how to foster curious, high-performing, healthy and engaged employees during an era in which constant change and innovation are keys to success (see also Leadership In The Digital Age). The answer is actually simple: The No. 1 factor for preparing employees across functions and business units to become a true asset to the business is trust. And trust doesn’t cost money. It starts at the leadership level, with the behavior of each and every leader.

But nearly all of my clients overlook this. Instead, they expect to hear suggestions like invest more budget in talent development programs, approve requests for more team-building workshops, hire the latest VR-enabled training gadget, offer more flexible work time and other perks, and so on. These are all good ideas and, for sure, they can pay off, but it is trust that makes the real difference.

Why trust? Because trust has the power to inspire and influence. It’s the glue that bonds us to each other and turns threads of connections into steel cables. Trust is among the strongest known predictors of a country’s wealth and it is the basis for long-term investments, motivation, engagement, and innovation. The 2015 Edelman Trust Reporteven ranked trust as the essential factor for innovation. Yet leaders across the globe do a lousy job in building trust with their teams. Although we know from research that key trust-building leadership attributes are beyond the 50% importance rank, only 20% of leaders meet that expected level.

Can you build trust? Yes, of course! Can you do this easily? No, not at all! It takes time, and the trust and reputation you build over years can be destroyed and ruined within seconds. Nevertheless, there are always a few steps you can take to improve:

Talk open-book.

Don’t tell your people only half of the truth – be honest with them. Tell them the full story, explain where you stand, and demonstrate integrity. Leadership isn’t about being the smart one keeping secrets from a stupid crowd of employees. Be transparent and get feedback.

Correct wrongs.

Remember how you told your kids or were told by your parents to say “sorry” if you did something wrong or to fix the sandcastle if you destroyed it on purpose? How come we forget to apply the same principle as adults in the business world? If we as leaders mess up, we should apologize and try to fix our mistake.

See people, not hierarchies.

In almost all the large, medium and small organizations that I’ve worked with, there is a phrase about demonstrating respect written into each organization’s core values. Make sure that you apply this in your daily business life — play fair, play kind, and be respectful regardless of age and gender, and most importantly, regardless of hierarchy.

Do what you said.

Again, this is one of those attributes that we value most and try to teach our next generation. But it’s all worthless if we ourselves don’t live up to being trustworthy, keeping our commitments, and doing what we promised or said we would do.

Listen with five senses.

We experience a lot of information all day (and night) long. Make time for face-to-face conversations with your team members. Then, make sure you listen first, go back and ask for clarification, and then ask for feedback. Listen with all your senses — because sometimes our eyes and our hearts are better listeners than our ears.

Building trust takes time, but investing in these steps now will help you, your employees and your organization succeed.

This article was first published with Forbes®.com 

5 Pieces Of Advice For Leaders To Deal With Toxic Employees

It is a question that many leaders at different levels and industries keep asking themselves at least on a weekly basis: If research is correct that the quality of my life depends on my social connections, which in return impact my happiness, how should I handle those 40+ hours a week with negative and even toxic people around me? They take away my energy, they kill my vision and positive perspective and they just make me see the glass half empty instead of half full!

Whether hiring the wrong people, organizing teams with the wrong players or simply not dealing with toxic people in an efficient way will impact your personal and your organization’s productivity and performance. Together with some of my colleagues from the Forbes Coaches Council, we tried to find positive solutions to that tension.

Wendi’s advice: Disengage Through Diplomacy and Positive Solutions

Remaining diplomatic, neutral and polite toward a toxic employee is one sure way to extinguish any negative discourse or problem behavior. A great way to expand on this is to consider taking the higher road by not feeding into or clashing with a toxic colleague’s behavior. When the toxic colleague displays negativity, you can address it with positive solutions that disengage their behaviors.

Laura’s advice: Be Bold Enough to Care

I often work with leaders on cultivating curiosity and empathy. A “toxic employee” is also a human being. Start by getting curious about what they are experiencing in the whole of their life and practice empathy that demonstrates support. That alone may be enough to cause a shift, or you could discover that their “toxicity” is reflective of something deeper going on in your organizational culture.

Bill’s advice: Top Leaders Get Beyond Labels

The best leaders understand when they make an inference that a colleague is “toxic” they aren’t ready to “deal with” them until they unpack the word. What does “toxic” look like? What is a person doing when they are being “toxic”? Once a leader can describe the behavior, then they should confront the behavior (e.g., “When you [fill in the blank with such and such behaviors], it has the following impact…”)

Jessica’s advice: Be Direct and Open Their Eyes

Many times people don’t realize they are the ones who are contributing to the toxic behavior. Be direct and make them aware of what you are seeing. Don’t make an ultimatum, but present them with support and solutions allowing them to make the decision to change. If they choose not to change their behaviors, this is when you make a business decision later to part ways.

My personal advice: Listen, Lead and Leave

Normally toxic people aren’t toxic to the entire organization. It is just the wrong minds in the wrong crowd with wrong tasks. Good leaders listen first how their team feels about this toxic colleague and how this person pictures him/herself. Then they take the lead and re-shape the environment. If nothing works, leaders have the duty to protect their team and make toxic members leave the party.

This article was co-created by international executive coaches and initially published on forbes.com