Leading Through Anxiety

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DEVELOP TECHNIQUES FOR SITUATIONS YOU CAN’T CONTROL

为你不能控制的情况开发技巧

Make a connection. Connecting with others can break the negative thought loop that often accompanies anxiety. Instead of focusing on yourself, you turn your attention outward. When I asked my friend and colleague Cheryl Contee, the CEO and cofounder of the digital agency Do Big Things, how she was staying motivated during the crisis, she said that she was trying to “be a good neighbor,” something she learned from her grandfather, William G. Contee, who has a park dedicated to him in his Baltimore neighborhood. “Being a good neighbor is surprisingly simple — it’s just about connecting on the human level,” she told me. “Do you say hello to your neighbors? Have you asked how they’re doing (他们过得怎么样) or if they need anything?”

Contee also connects digitally with people in her field, who support one another and contribute to causes (事业) they care about. At her company she and her colleagues are leaning into (倾向于) talking about their feelings and families, doing a lot of checking about how to balance homeschooling with work. “We’re all veteran (富有经验的，老兵) virtual knowledge workers, but having kids around and being responsible for their education is a new challenge we’re facing together,” she said.

In your own life, think about performing a quick, generous act. You might check in on a former colleague via text message. Or ask a family member how you might help (你能帮得上什么忙). When I’m feeling anxious, I sometimes go to LinkedIn and “like” articles written by my colleagues or write up an endorsement (支持，认可) of their work. This gets me out of my head and focused on something more positive.

Finally, if anxiety is persistent and hampering (妨碍，束缚) your days, you might consider consulting a therapist or mental health professional. Talking to someone trained in helping others manage anxiety may give you additional coping mechanisms to address debilitating (使衰弱的) symptoms.

Limiting Anxiety’s Impact on Your Leadership

减少焦虑对领导力的影响

Once you have a better sense of how you experience anxiety and how you can manage it daily, it’s time to turn to how it affects your leadership and management abilities.

MAKE GOOD DECISIONS

做出好的决定

Anxiety can impair our judgment. It can cause us to focus on the wrong things, distort the facts, or rush to conclusions (匆匆下结论). Ideally, we could postpone (延期) critical decisions until we’re in a better frame of mind, but that’s not always possible.

In anxious times it’s important to proactively (主动地) set yourself up to make good choices. Much as you do when separating the possible from the probable, start by acknowledging that your emotions can make you an unreliable narrator and that you will likely be prone to (倾向于，易于) negative thoughts. Let’s say you’re prepping for a speech and the last time you spoke to a group of a similar size, you felt that you bombed. You may even have a long-held belief that you’re a terrible public speaker because a middle school recitation (背诵，朗诵) drew snickers (偷笑). Ask yourself: Are you being objective? If you’re not sure, check whether your memory is correct, perhaps by asking a colleague who was in the room for feedback.

Of course, you need to ask the right people. Boyes suggests you find a trusted adviser with a decision-making style that differs from your own. If you’re impulsive (冲动的，任性的), consult someone who is methodical (有条理的) and conservative, for example.

Ultimately, every leader should develop a team of “real talk” peers (同事): people who will provide their unvarnished (未涂漆的；无装饰的) opinions. You can fill this role for others, too. You can still offer them clarity and insight even if you’re an unreliable narrator of your own experience.

set up: 装备，建立

See you tomorrow