WEBINAR

LEADERSHIP UNDER PRESSURE

Discover how pressure affects leadership before problems arise

Many leaders and professionals only recognize stress as a problem by the time it's effects already show:
  • when cooperation starts being affected;
  • when conflicts are increasing;  
  • when concentration, memory and creative thinking come under pressure;
  • and when people eventually drop out. 

What many people don't know is that long before these consequences become visible, stress actually affects how we function, lead and make decisions in a way that can set a downward stress spiral in motion.

There is a tipping point at which pressure not only determines how much is asked of you, but the stress response itself begins to determine what you perceive, what feels urgent and which response is most obvious at that moment.

Recognizing that point is important if you want to avoid the consequences of ever-increasing stress.

A live webinar every week:

In the free webinar Leadership Under Pressure, you will gain insight into how stress affects us long before burnout or other stress-related problems occur. You practice with an awareness technique to interrupt the stress spiral earlier.  

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Downward stress spiral

There are early warning signs that increasing pressure and the stress response is already influencing how you perceive and act. These indicate the point at which the effects of stress on our functioning can start to reinforce each other in a downward stress spiral that increases the risk of chronic stress. 

But: this is also the point where we have the opportunity to interrupt that loop.

In this webinar, you will discover: 
  • how the physiological stress response affects processes relevant to leadership, such as attention, memory and mental flexibility — long before that influence becomes visible in performance, cooperation or dropout;  
  • how to recognize when the stress response starts to steer your leadership;  
  • how the downward stress spiral works and how automatic reactions can further increase the pressure;  
  • which points of engagement there are to interrupt the downward stress spiral.

For whom? 

This webinar is for leaders, managers and high potentials who are responsible for people, results or complex issues. 

Also for HR, L&D and training professionals who want to support professionals earlier — before stress translates into visible health problems, conflict, dropout and loss of capacity.

The trick is to learn to recognize stress in time as leadership information, so that you can intervene before problems arise. 

Recognize the tipping point 

When high pressure activates the stress response, the body mobilizes to respond quickly. 

This reflex influences where our attention goes and how information is processed. It determines which input from our surroundings is given more weight, while the mental space needed to retain information, switch perspectives and respond flexibly becomes less easily accessible. 

For professionals who accept that high pressure is sometimes part of their work life, but at the same time want to be able to function productively in the long term, it is important to learn to recognize the tipping point where the stress response takes over. 

Because that is where you can still intervene effectively, before the risk of chronic stress, visible performance or health problems becomes bigger. 

How do you notice that stress is getting a grip on your leadership?

You can still get a lot done and at the same time notice that: 

  • overview decreases;  
  • more and more things feel urgent at the same time;  
  • you think less creatively and fall back on standard solutions more quickly;  
  • you become less flexible in your interactions;
  • Doing more and working harder does not automatically reduce the workload. 

These are not signs that you are doing something wrong or that you are not suitable for your job.

If you notice several of these signals in a short period of time, this may however mean that your stress activation is getting more than an occasional effect on your functioning – meaning that how you think and act is increasingly determined by a pattern of fight, flight or freeze responses.

The natural role of this stress activation is to help us survive in emergency situations where there are physical threats we have to avert. However, in complex decision-making and knowledge work the trick is to release that tension so as to be able to act consciously. 

Fortunately, that can be learned! 

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A practical exercise 

Leadership without moments of stress simply does not exist. So while it is not realistic to aim for a "stress-free" work environment the goal is to actively prevent unnecessary pressure and escalation of stress. 

This requires developing a larger bandwidth to be able to remain present when the pressure increases. The first step is to recognize more quickly when the stress response starts to steer your perception and behavior. Therefore this webinar does not stop at explanation alone. You will practice with a practical awareness technique that enables you to make adjustments earlier when you notice that pressure is starting to affect your reactions. 

This exercise is an important element within the broader approach of Leadership Under Pressure. You learn to notice what is happening physically, where your attention is drawn to and which stress reflex presents itself — so that you can prevent yourself from immediately getting drawn into acting on that reflex and make conscious choices instead. 

The goal is not to force yourself to calm down or "breathe away" stress. 

The goal is that you notice what is happening sooner, and prevent yourself from automatically going along with a reaction that reinforces the downward stress spiral. This way you immediately regain space and overview. 

Three questions for leaders under pressure

Under pressure, normal, effective responses often become more dominant — and therefore less effective when the situation demands otherwise. 

For example, decisiveness can turn into acting too rashly; responsibility into taking on a disproportonate load; and diligence can become over-control or micromanagement. 

That's why we look at three questions that help determine what effective leadership under pressure requires: 

  1. Where can I actually exert influence at the moment? 
  2. Where are my attention and energy going?
  3. What is needed now – what response does this situation require?

From understanding to experiencing

In retrospect, we can often see what other options there were. The challenge lies in the moment when you actually experience high pressure. It is precisely then that it is more difficult to switch flexibly and to weigh up conscious choices.

Moreover, understanding what is happening is not always enough to react differently in the moment. 

Stress activation influences our thinking, our attention, our information processing and which responses are most available at that moment. Truly effective leadership under pressure requires much more than knowledge and willpower. You have to recognize exactly what is happening while everything is moving in yourself and around you, and create enough space within the hectic pace to be able to continue to choose and switch consciously and in a focused way.

This means that theheorieles alone is not enough to learn to function better under pressure. For this reason, the training approach of Leadership Under Pressure is largely active and experiential. 

Among other things, we work with horses to make automatic patterns under pressure more directly perceptible and to experiment with more effective reactions. This makes it clear and tangible what works better in a situation, we can integrate new insights more quickly and the translation to work situations becomes more concrete and fluid.

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After 45 minutes:

  • you will recognize more clearly how and where stress affects your leadership before the consequences become visible in the result;  
  • You will have a better understanding of what pressure does to processes that determine the quality of leadership in teams and organizations;  
  • you have practiced with a practical awareness exercise with which you learn to perceive stress activation in your system earlier and create a moment to consciously adjust. 

You will also be introduced to the experiential approach behind Leadership Under Pressure.

By whom? 

Josselien Janssens is a specialist in the field of leadership development and experiential learning. 

She has more than 20 years of experience as a project and team leader in international organizations and has been working as a trainer and coach with leaders, professionals and teams since 2011 on strengthening leadership, cooperation and functioning under pressure. 

Register for the webinar:

Next dates English language webinar:

Weds 18th Nov 11am Weds 2 Dec 11am