The Stress Arc in Leadership and Three Powerful Disciplines for Mitigating Major Stress Impacts in a New Era

• In Event: Presentation | Facets of Sustainability Leadership

Short Description

Utilizing Mindful Leadership, Relational Leadership, and Psychology, this presentation delivers an evidenced-based model for effective stress mitigation alongside an informed tactical approach to dealing with employee stress in the wake of rapid-change impacting events, where decision-making and managing the stress arc is not only crucial, but defining in the moment. Drawn from the recent Texas weather devastation that impacted millions and viable stress-inoculation strategies evidenced in from the COVID-19 work from the American Psychological Association, this research provides adaptive tactical strategies to help leaders plan, engage and modify for rapid onset of change events and create powerful resilience in staff.

Detailed Abstract

To date, leaders have struggled with the scope of pernicious disaster phenomena and “black swan” events that have impacted the psychological states, physical lives, and overall well-being of their employees, as well as contributing to a “dysfunctional momentum” in the workplace (Barton, Christianson, et al.,2020). The latest of which comes in the form of natural disasters such as the recent winter freeze that affected much of the United States and took an even greater toll on Texas businesses, shuttering operations with power outages and elevating stressors for employees. Add to this an agitator for psychological destabilization like COVID-19, and you have the makings of a complicated psychological storm for leaders and their human capital. In fact, symptomology of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder currently denotes an upward trend in the United States during April–June of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).

But what can current, efficacious practice, from the disciplines of Mindful Leadership and Relational Leadership, alongside Psychology, teach leaders regarding better ways to respond to socio-environmental transgressors? This research qualifies the need to understand how stress evinces itself in the face of impacting events (stress arc) and prospects from three disciplines as a means to foster emergency preventative programming that circumvents impacts, instills trust and safety with employees, and ultimately imbues greater confidence in leadership.

The framework for this research examines leadership, strategy, and treatability applications during rapid onset of change events from a scholarly perspective cross-referencing high predictor models of success based on three disciplines. The first, Mindful Leadership, fosters embedded practices of mindfulness that have shown immense value in quality of work-life for employees (Patel, 2019). The second, Relational Leadership, builds on empathic socio-relationship conditioning which builds trust and communication (Coleman, 2018). The third component, Dialectical Behavior Therapy borrowed from Psychology, promotes both mindfulness and relational strategy through specific cognitive processes (Southward, Neacsiu, & Eberle, 2020). These three areas become the cornerstone of the research frame.

Within this scope of research, the ‘stress arc” refers to a compilation of components that are typically observed during stressful events and pivotal cognitive functional components that help mitigate impacts such as efficacy, resilience, locus of control, and adaptive bridging. These become core areas that leaders can utilize to challenge the impact of rapid onset of situational factors. In tandem, the stress arc conveys the relative modifications of those areas which, when supported by leaders, can provide optimal outcomes moving employee stress from the neuro-limbic system to a more deliberate, cognitive executive functioning possibility (Connolly, 2021).

The significance of this research provides compelling evidence regarding the need for more focused training on managing the stress arc during rapid onset of change events. To date, in research conducted which surveyed government and public service employees, more than half of these institutions have begun focusing on addressing psychological stress impacts due to sudden events (Deloitte Touche, 2021).

As industries are challenged like never before with a confluence of social and environmental events, the merits of this research will help illuminate the further need for training while also delivering evidenced tactical solutions to delivering key components necessary for helping employees and nurturing emotional intelligence around the subject. As noted by McKinsey and Company, “In landscape-scale crises such as COVID-19, such events strip leadership back to its most fundamental element: making a positive difference in people’s lives” (McKinsey & Company, 2021).

Relevant questions this work addresses are imperative to the progression of leadership in times of chaos and impactful environmental changes that have the potential to eviscerate employee health. Of key prospective interests, the following questions are addressed;

• There is no precedent for the tenacity and currently acknowledged impacts of rapid onset of change events that are impacting leaders and employees currently, so how do leaders prepare then, for rapid onset of change events?
• Are there any evidence-based approaches to helping leaders inoculate employees against major stress impacts driven by rapid onset of change events?
• Can leaders apply cognitive-based approaches to use in their own daily leadership regimen that also benefits their ability to render cogent and better decision-making outcomes during rapid onset of change events?
• What are the benefits of understanding the stress arc in how leaders practice leadership?

The outcomes of this research indicate the primary need for leaders to develop stress inoculation training, as well as methods for challenging rapid onset of change events in ways that do not upend employee health, but intelligently distract and repurpose focus. Experimental study outcomes also indicate the urgency for leaders to establish some sense of shared social identity practice that creates a feeling of “unitedness” with employees as imperative to the future of dealing with major change stressors (Bavel, Baicker, Boggio. et al, 2020). Large scale studies such as an 18-month clinical psychiatric development project which used a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods [such as the Maslach burnout inventory-General Survey MBI-GS, free format questionnaires, and group interviews], further confirms the potentials of integrating psychologically evidenced-based strategies like DBT and mindfulness methods into stress inoculation training for leaders (Perseius, Kåver, Ekdahl, Asberg, & Samuelsson, 2007). Conclusive aspects of this research suggest the importance of harnessing the key potentials for helping reduce stress, burnout, and healthier optimization of human capital through the integration of informed practice that considers Mindful Leadership, Relational Leadership, and Psychology in off-setting the dramatic impacts from socio-cultural and environmental determinants so far during 2020-2021.

Without focused preventative programming measures in place for leaders, employees will continue to suffer in greater numbers because of a lack of training in how to down-regulate emotional reactivity, how to feel and embrace efficacy, and establish a sense of locus of control in the face of hardening events like COVID-19 and the Texas weather disaster. The potentials poised by psychology, mindful leadership, and relational leadership can change the way future disasters and change impactors are met, supporting employees that feel empowered to take on the worst with confidence.

Participant

• Rodney James Luster, University of Phoenix
  Presenter