Do you ever experience stress, panic or anxiety in your everyday life or professional work environment?
There is nothing worse than being in that moment where your blood pressure goes up, your pulse races, you break out into a sweat, and you can't collect your thoughts. Anxiety is a normal part of life. For example, you may have felt anxiety before addressing a group or in a job interview. In the short term, anxiety increases your breathing and heart rate, concentrating blood flow to your brain, where you need it. This very physical response is preparing you to face an intense situation.
If it gets too intense, however, you might start to feel lightheaded and nauseous. An excessive or persistent state of anxiety can have a devastating effect on your physical and mental health.
Anxiety disorders can happen at any stage of life, but they usually begin by middle age. Women are more likely to have an anxiety disorder than men, says the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (healthline.com). This is a physiological reaction to anxiety which can trigger a fight or flight mode.
This past week, I experienced severe anxiety in a matter of minutes. I went from taking my dog to the vet for a rabies vaccine and to discuss to her "wetting the bed" when she falls asleep, to her having a heart attack and almost dying on a cold, steel table. As I watched her lifeless body, fixed dark eyes and lungs labor to breathe on oxygen, I panicked and called my husband. Between sobs I needed him to get to the veterinary hospital in case she was dying. She had an enlarged heart, but thank goodness for the quick reaction of Dr. Helland and his team she was given medication to rectify the situation and put on an ECG machine. The results were not an underlining health concern, but pure anxiety that brought on the heart attack. We have an anxious 13 year old Bichon Friese Yorkie that barks at everything and everyone, but panics when she has to go to the vet or groomer. Years ago, we started having the groomer come to us through a mobile unit called "Fur on the Fly." It's the best extra $10 we ever spent on our baby girl, Maggie Moo.
Anxiety can also happen when your organization is facing a crisis and its during this time that crisis leadership is needed. Strong leadership is more important than ever. To be an effective leader, you must remain calm and help others remain calm, which can be challenging: When you are feeling anxious, people know it – no matter how hard you pretend otherwise.
Anxiety also inhibits your ability to perform at your best and erodes others’ trust in your ability to lead. As Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Bob Cantor provides insight into three strategies when dealing with crisis leadership. I would encourage you to read his article at: https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2020/3/crisis-leadership-how-overcome-anxiety
While our baby girl is fine, thanks to the expertise of the veterinary hospital, we continue to monitor her health conditions. Knowing her propensity to anxiety, we will use other means to calm her before a visit.
Have you considered what it takes for you to control your anxiety, stress, and/or panic? Are you or can you be a crisis leader in a situation or for an organization? I hope you never have to find out, but as in everything, even in leadership development, we should prepare for the worst and pray for the best.
What She Said ~ Beverly
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