A leader's responsibility is to act as a stress shield for their team and family. Instead of offloading pressure, they should develop personal mechanisms like exercise or meditation to process it, creating a more stable environment for others to perform.
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In a crisis, the instinct is to shout louder and match escalating chaos. True leadership involves 'energetic jujitsu': deliberately slowing down and bringing calmness to the situation. This rare skill is more powerful than simply increasing intensity.
A leader's emotional state isn't just observed; it's physically mirrored by their team's brains. This neurological "energy transference" sets the tone for the entire group, meaning a leader's unmanaged stress can directly infect team dynamics and performance.
Refusing to discuss fear and feelings at work is inefficient. Leaders must invest a reasonable amount of time proactively attending to team emotions or be forced to squander an unreasonable amount of time reacting to the negative behaviors that result from those unaddressed feelings.
Tim Hortons' CMO embraces the pressure of managing a beloved brand as "positive anxiety." She internalizes the stress while presenting a calm, confident front to her team, similar to a duck serene on the surface but paddling furiously underneath, preventing her stress from impacting team morale.
A bad boss is the number one predictor of job dissatisfaction. Because emotions are contagious, leaders have a professional duty to manage their own well-being. Working on your own happiness is not a selfish act but a gift to the people you are responsible for.
A leader's role is to provide perspective and solve problems, not to be the source of a direct report's motivation. Spiegel avoids hiring people who need external prodding, prioritizing leaders with a strong internal drive and locus of control.