To do otherwise I feel, would be negligent considering the working world of 2022 – and might put my clients’ long term career success and happiness at risk.

​​Perhaps this shift of wellbeing up the coaching agenda, doesn’t feel such a surprising development considering how professional and managerial work has changed in the last ten years.  Change is now the only constant due to new technologies, globalisation, political issues like Brexit and most recently Covid and the widespread adoption of working from home and hybrid working.  Executives are continually dealing with high levels of volatility, uncertainty, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) aspects to their projects. As a result, senior executives may gradually slide into ways of working that are unhealthy, damaging to mental health and ultimately unsustainable.

However, poor wellbeing manifests in many ways long before burnout. I’m talking about clients who frequently sleep badly or who have poor sleep habits, feel anxiety about their workload, or overwhelm and stress about the pressure their under. Others share feelings of isolation due to home-working or conflict in key relationships with bosses and subordinates. Under the wellbeing banner, I would also include feelings of lack of meaning and purpose.

Isn’t executive wellbeing part of the ‘corporate wellbeing’ agenda? Something that employers are attending to? Well yes and no. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)2 research shows that wellbeing is high on business agendas these days, but there is a significant ‘implementation gap’. It seems that while boards are wrestling with the corporate wellbeing issue and perhaps piloting programmes, staff wellbeing and executive wellbeing which is my particular focus, continue to deteriorate.

Coachees are realising the importance of managing their wellbeing and are prepared to invest to improve it. For many it’s a no-brainer. “If I stay fit and well then, I will have a long, lucrative and fulfilling career ahead of me. By contrast If I burnout, I may end up taking a lot of time out and my card might be marked”. (Yes, stigma around mental health still exists.)

​For me executive wellbeing coaching helps with so much more than ‘preventing burnout’. Like any executive coaching it is an opportunity for you to gain greater self-awareness, increase your self-knowledge, gain insights and replace outdated beliefs with beliefs that are more helpful to your life now. Executive wellbeing coaching can help you actually break patterns of self-destructive behaviour. E.g. You know you need to leave your desk, get out and take some fresh air, but still, you feel chained to your desk. Often, it’s not enough to cognitively be aware of the benefits of taking a walk, you may also need to understand and deal with the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that might be keeping you at your desk; behaviours that perhaps might be driven by low self-esteem, perfectionism or fear of failure to mention but a few reasons.

Some of this may be attributable to the fact that nowadays it can be hard for line managers to identify wellbeing issues. For instance, in matrix organisations a line manager may not have clear sight of their report’s total responsibilities as he or she may be collaborating on projects across the organisation and reporting to different leaders on some of them. A boss may only see a report on Zoom, and infrequently at that, making it harder to spot signs of poor wellbeing.

Executive coaching for peak wellbeing ideally explores what wellbeing looks like for the individual. This might include an audit of current issues, health status and self-care practices. Such an audit can identify latent mental health issues and pave the way to plan for better wellbeing and to access relevant resources.

Following the audit an executive wellbeing coach might help you to:-

• Develop better routines that support good nutrition, regular exercise and sleep
• Identify problems around work/life boundaries and balance
• Identify your drivers of stress in all aspects of your work and help you develop coping strategies. This might include coaching and training in even better prioritisation, delegation, assertiveness, confidence building, relationships skills and influencing skills.
• Get in touch with what is meaningful to you so that you can plan your career trajectory to include more of what is important to you and fewer of the things that aren’t.

I suggest that managing your wellbeing should be a ‘key result area’ for senior leaders and managers. If the culture of your organisation is not supporting you to keep it prioritised, consider how an executive coach might keep you on track with achieving ‘peak performance and peak wellbeing’.
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​ ¹ HSE Data Dec 2021. Work-Related Stress , Anxiety or Depression Statistics in Great Britain.
  2 CIPD June 2016. Growing the Health and Wellbeing Agenda
© 2022 Trudy Lloyd & Associates. All Rights Reserved.

You work on your skill set, right? 

Of course. It’s a must for you as a 21st century professional; to keep up with your field, with work technologies and relevant legislation. …So when did you last upgrade your skills in handling the pressure at work?
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Professionals often tell me that earlier in their career they might have experienced short bursts of high-intensity working, but then things always quietened down again. However, now they feel the pressure at work is relentless.
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Such pressure left unchecked can lead to workplace stress and wreak havoc on health; weakening the immune system, upsetting the digestion, disturbing sleep and more.  Stress can damage relationships inside and outside of work, making people feel miserable and no longer able to enjoy life.

Clients struggling to cope with workplace stress, often ask me if they should leave their role or change career. I tell them : “You have three choices – and leaving to find pastures new is only one of them”.

Here are the other two options.

1. Change the SITUATION that’s stressing you.
2. Change YOURSELF.

Whether you can influence change in your working environment will depend on the culture, how well you relate to your colleagues and what resources are available.

Explore with your boss or colleagues options to reduce pressure and combat stress; these might include deferring deadlines, getting access to extra resource from inside or outside the organisation, doing some work from home and cutting back on the scope of a project. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can and try to make a case.
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And yes, I’m aware that speaking out at work about how you’re experiencing pressure and even stress may carry risks as to how you’re perceived, and may even affect your career progression. However, if your current job with less pressure would still suit you, then maybe it’s worth a try?

Ultimately though, option two may be more fruitful: Change yourself. This means growing your capability to handle the pressure at work.

I imagine you’re already familiar with what I call ‘Level One’ stress management techniques. They include ‘self-care basics’. However, it’s easy to break these positive habits when we’re under pressure.

• Eat a nutritious diet and avoid junk food.
• Exercise and stretch regularly.
• Get enough sleep.

Follow these and you’ll have more strength and vitality to cope.  Level One techniques also include personal rituals:-

• Morning meditation, visualisation and 'setting your intention' for the day.

These tools won’t stop people interrupting your work and diverting your attention from your personal priorities, but they may help you get back on track more easily.

• Remember your boundaries.

Push back on tasks that aren’t in your remit. Be wary of colleagues sweet talking you into accepting work they should be handling. Push back on requests for you to deliver tight turnarounds, particularly when it’s to make up for delays further up the pipeline.

• Remember your emergency stress responses

Learn and practise your breathing techniques, affirmations and calming visualisations for when times get tough.

 OK, but what if you’re still feeling the pressure? That’s where what I call ‘Level Two’ techniques come in.

‘Level Two’ techniques can bring about a step change in how you manage pressure and stress at work. E.g. They’ll enable you to ‘get away’ from work when you’re not there, so that you’re not recreating your 'stress response', and the attendant risks to your health, by thinking about work at home. You may need to work at mastering these techniques, but if you’ll do, you’ll reap huge quality of life rewards.

Here's a brief introduction. 

Are You Too Attached to 'The Outcome'?

• How do you think about your work? If you have fixed ideas about outcomes and what is best for your career; ‘I must win this client’, I must get that promotion, then you’re likely setting yourself up for failure repeatedly, and by doing so adding to your work stress. 

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t be productive and ambitious in your work role. What’s critical to avoid stress is to be able to ‘just do your best’ and then ‘let go’ of outcomes over which you’ve got no control.

Are You 'Too Identified' With Your Role?

• You may feel you just want to be ‘a good accountant’ or a ‘good salesperson’. But be aware that your job can become a place to ‘prove your worth’.
• If much or ALL of your self-esteem comes from your professional role, work will take on disproportionate importance in your life. You'll risk ‘performance anxiety’. ‘Failures’ will hit harder, and stress will increase.

You can start to explore how attached or identified you are with your role through mindfulness meditation. In addition, there are specific techniques and meditations that can help you reduce your attachment and identification with work. 

Handling pressure and avoiding stress is a key life skill in the 21st century. Perhaps it’s the MOST important professional skill - because it’s fundamental to your ability to keep on working and to enjoy your work!

If you'd like to learn more about advanced techniques for handling pressure and stress you may want to consider personalised stress management coaching as an investment in your career and wellbeing for the long term.

How have you learned to handle pressure? Share what's worked for you in the comments below!