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Tips for Being a Strong Leader With Less Stress

As the leader of a team, you’re in a particularly high-profile position and expected to model behaviours to your staff. You’re the person from which everyone on your team will take direction and whose lead they will follow.

But being a leader also means you might have more stress on your shoulders than your team members, and you might have access to information that they don’t about sales, performance demands and outcomes, things that could make or break a quarter and, if things go poorly, could mean someone’s out of a job.

How can you do your job, and do it well, without falling under the weight of all that stress or compromising your status as a leader?

Take a moment to breathe

Your inbox will always have messages that need an answer. Your phone will always have voicemails waiting. The to-do list will always have something on it. Someone will always burst in with something that’s a new crisis, or a new top priority, and in need of immediate attention. You don’t have to address everything all at once! Take a breath. Keep a priority list handy and adjust it as needed. Reset yourself before you revise your day. A good leader knows how to take things in stride and move decisively to address the most important things first.

Delegate and prioritize

Not every crisis is one. As a leader, people will want to demand more of you, but you have an obligation to both your job and your team to pick and choose which projects need to be addressed by you and which can be assigned to another capable member of the group. Be clear when reassigning work where this falls in terms of urgent priorities — your team members have long to-do lists as well, and their time and resources are equally taxed.

Don’t get caught up in the small stuff

No matter how much you want to be liked by your team, getting tangled up in the latest gossip won’t help anyone, especially you. If a meeting starts to diverge into discussing the latest rumours or something else that doesn’t move the subject at hand forward, find a way to redirect the conversation to something productive and more pertinent. Do what you can to refocus your team. If that doesn’t work, end the meeting and move on. This will also give the impression that there are more important things to be discussing during the workday, a strong example to set for your team. If the gossip indicates a personnel problem, contact HR and let them handle it.

Remember that perfect isn’t real

Most people on your team, including yourself, are doing the best job they can in the time they have and with the resources they can access. They, like you, are human. It’s OK to ask questions if you’re not sure about something — we all need more information from time to time before moving forward. If you’re worried about being perfect and setting a perfect example while turning in perfect work, the stress will set you up to fail, which will just add to your stress. Do the best you can and forget the rest.

Give yourself a pep talk

You wouldn’t be a leader if you didn’t earn it by proving yourself smart, capable and talented. You’ve worked your way up from a new employee to one overseeing a team of people. Remind yourself of your abilities and regain some confidence that you’re where you are because you deserve to be. That reassurance can help reduce your stress, which can also translate into a calmer, more focused, and steady appearance to your team, to which they’ll respond with reflected confidence and strength.

Not every day will go smoothly, but that’s OK. You’ve got another chance tomorrow to be a strong, confident, calm leader. But you can do it! The less stress you feel, the less stress you’ll exude, and the less stress your team will feel. That’s the best way to lead — by example, with confidence that things will be fine.

Need to staff up?

A good leader also knows when it’s time to add new members to your team that will help diversify and expand your group’s skill set. Luckily, IFG Global is ready to help with both! Contact us today to discuss our roster of qualified candidates.