Another Possible Stress Response

Leader stress becomes problematic for the business when the person experiencing it isn’t paying attention to how their stress-induced behavior is affecting their relationships.

Typically, this happens when a gap exists between how the leader sees themselves (identity) and how others see them (reputation). This is common: as many as 80% of senior leaders aren’t aware of how their employees perceive their character.12 Learning where the boundaries of this gap lie—that is, developing self-awareness—is the first step in learning to manage derailers.

This can be accomplished in a few different ways. For example, 360-degree assessments can give leaders direct feedback on how their employees and stakeholders perceive them at a particular moment in time. Personality assessments with strong evidence of predictive validity, such as the Hogan assessments, can offer even deeper insights into leader reputation. With these, leaders get a science-based perspective on how their unique strengths, derailers, values, and even unconscious biases are likely to show up in multiple contexts over time.

Leaders who are aware of their derailers can begin to pay attention to when specific behaviors emerge. For example, a leader who scores high on both Mischievous and Excitable might find that the two derailers have different triggers. Her Mischievous behaviors, such as limit testing and risk taking, might tend to appear only when she’s bored. However, her Excitable behaviors, such as becoming easily frustrated and volatile, might be more likely to appear during times of stress or uncertainty. With this knowledge, she can work to modify her behavior strategically—perhaps by making time for a brief walk when she begins feeling Excitable. This is strategic self-awareness, the desirable response to work-related stress.