In the latest episode of Your Permission to Pause, a podcast dedicated to driven female leaders who strive to work smarter, not harder, we explore an important subject – stress management and its interplay with leadership and the female body.
The Hidden Impact of Stress
As leaders, we often focus on strategy, managing profit and loss, and driving team performance. However, there are other equally critical aspects of leadership that are often overlooked: self management and stress management. The statistics surrounding stress-related health issues are staggering. According to the World Health Organisation, 90% of GP consultations are stress-related. These issues are not only about our mental well-being, they also manifest in physical symptoms. Stress impacts everything from heart health to gastrointestinal function. Ignoring these signs and symptoms can lead to chronic conditions, reducing the quality of our lives and our ability to lead effectively.
Navigating Hormones and Leadership
As female leaders, our hormonal balance is an integral part of how we function daily, yet so often it’s misunderstood or completely ignored. Stress can disrupt hormone levels, leading to a domino effect on our overall health. And when our health is impacted, so is the bottom line. A reduction in workforce attendance decreases productivity and can directly impact things such as project timelines that could have a catastrophic effect on an organisation’s profit as well as the health of their workforce.
An average 18 million days are lost to mental health conditions alone in the UK. Data from 2018 – 2022 was analysed by personal injury firm claims.co.uk from the National Office of Statistics and found that 12 percent of working days lost were from stress, anxiety and depression.
Understanding the Stress-Hormone Connection
When we’re stressed our brain signals the adrenal glands to release cortisol and adrenaline which activates our fight-or-flight response. Though this release is useful for short-term challenges it can be detrimental to your health when stress becomes chronic. Persistent stress leads to hormonal imbalances, affecting hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and even our thyroid function. It also depletes testosterone and disrupts sleep cycles, and a lack of cognition around these stressors only exacerbates the problem.
The Ripple Effect on Leadership
Why should this matter to leaders? Because stress impacts our decision-making, relationships, and team dynamics. A leader under stress is more likely to be irritable, anxious, and indecisive – traits that can erode trust and hinder team performance. Poor decision-making leads not only to poorer outcomes but also creates additional stressors, creating a vicious cycle.
Personal Stories: Learning the Hard Way
If I could turn back time, I would pay closer attention to the signals my body was giving me. During the pandemic, like so many, my life changed dramatically. Despite walking more, maintaining a persistent strength training routine, cooking from scratch as the main event of the day and spending more time with my immediate family, I didn’t realise I was under persistent stress.
I was ‘stressing’ my body by the endless amounts of banana bread and the outputs of our neighbourly scone-making competitions by day and became quite a wine buff by night!
Like many, I was impacted by the lack of freedom to spend time with extended family and friends and had never really considered how those relationships were an integral part of my well-being.
Screen time was abundant and exhausting – pass me another scone for a sugar hit please and then I can get through the rest of the afternoon before I comfort myself with another glass of wine! And so it is.
Add into the mix homeschooling, five of us on the broadband, one going through GCSEs. And then we have the undercurrent and worry of people close to me becoming ill, dealing with actually being ill and the constant stream of depressing media coverage including daily death tolls.
It’s laughable that I hadn’t considered that stress was doing its thing. My hormones went haywire, cue physical symptoms like headaches, gastrointestinal issues, and irritability.
Initially, I blamed these symptoms on the circumstances such as change in diet (excess cake!) and less incidental movement from being housebound most of the time and then I found another potential source – age-related hormonal changes. But in hindsight, it was my body crying out for attention! At the time I was dealing with multiple stressors – it was a perfect storm of ongoing daily stress that I’d underestimated, all while thinking I was managing well. So what can you do to address stress?
Practical Solutions: Taking Your MEDS
I use the acronym MEDS to manage stress:
- Mindfulness & Meditation: Even five minutes a day can have a significant impact. Yoga can also be a form of active meditation, helping you get out of your mind and into your body.
- Exercise: Simple daily movements, like getting out in nature for 20 minutes or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, can be hugely beneficial.
- Diet: Focus on anti-inflammatory foods, good fats, and high fibre. Hydration is key, as our bodies are largely composed of water.
- Sleep: Having a good sleep routine can improve your overall health. Remember, a good night’s sleep actually starts in the morning – get some daylight to set your circadian rhythm.
Self-care is not just a luxury, but a necessity for effective leadership. By managing stress and understanding the hormonal impacts on our bodies, we can significantly improve our well-being and leadership capabilities.
If you want to achieve results without sacrificing your well-being, visit jocowlin.com for more insights. Let’s embrace a smarter, healthier approach to leadership together.
