{"id":274,"date":"2011-01-10T13:01:28","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T18:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leadershipintherealworldblog.com\/?p=274"},"modified":"2011-01-10T13:01:28","modified_gmt":"2011-01-10T18:01:28","slug":"how-leaders-reduce-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leadershipintherealworldblog.com\/index.php\/2011\/01\/how-leaders-reduce-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"How Leaders Can Reduce Stress This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Too much on your plate today? Feeling stressed about all that you are responsible for?<\/p>\n

Andy Stanley shared on a recent podcast episode<\/a> that stress is more about what<\/em><\/strong> we are doing than how much<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 The idea is that if you are engaged\u00a0in your job, working on projects that are aligned\u00a0with your passions, gifts, and abilities, you’re less likely to experience the stressful feeling of being overwhelmed–even if you have a large quantity of work.<\/p>\n

Do you buy that?<\/p>\n

I’m quite\u00a0sure I have more quantity\u00a0of work in the last 10 years of running my own company\u00a0than ever before. Yet what I do is so closely aligned with what I truly enjoy: developing people and helping them to succeed. Though I have significantly more volume of work, I rarely have the same sense of stress that I did as an executive who spent more time slaving over budgets and\u00a0corporate politics. My what <\/em><\/strong>is more closely aligned to who I am, allowing the how much <\/em><\/strong>to not feel as overwhelming.<\/p>\n

It may feel to you that going off and starting your own company may not feel like an option for you this year. There was a day when I felt that as well. However, in my case, I started speaking at conferences while still an employee of a company. I was moving closer to what I loved to do each year. Eventually launching the new business was possible.<\/p>\n

But that’s my story, not yours. Here are some coaching questions for your consideration:<\/p>\n