21
a
guidebook
by
CEO
Health
+
Safety
Leadership
Network
Bill Howatt
"Seek out the support you need"
Negative stress is real, if not dealt with, can cause mental harm. Ultimately,
in situations with considerable organizational change and chaos, it's not the stress
(events) that define leaders' success; it is how they react.
This leader should be acknowledged for their social intelligence (ability to stay calm
under pressure) and their accomplishments in building a collaborative team.
They have clearly earned the team's trust and have established a strong foundation
as a psychologically safe leader.
This manager should be proactive and focus on managing, if needed, improving their
mental fitness (i.e., create space every day to create positive emotions) and charging
their batteries.
They may want to first assess whether they feel psychologically safe to speak "truth to
power" to raise suggestions about the priorities and approaches they feel would create
more structure and calm across the organization.
They might also consider how their team could help them in this situation.
If needed, the manager should (through your EFAP program if you have one) create
a plan to protect their mental health if they are struggling and feeling overwhelmed.
They should also talk to the team about these supports to ensure they are also caring
for themselves.
The manager has a strong relationship with the team. It's not a sign of weakness to
be vulnerable and to ask them for their thoughts on how to get through this difficult time.
