PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING AND SUSTAINING PSYCHOLOGICAL BALANCE IN BUSINESS

 

All around the world, there have been reports of executives and business leaders' complaints of stress.

According to a survey conducted by Vistage (an international organization for CEOs), it was found that 100% of the 2,400 CEOs who participated were suffering from stress. 

This challenge to the mental health of leaders is very visible in the workplace, but there is a solution. 

This is what this article will provide. It will provide executives and business leaders with proven strategies that can help them deal with stress and both achieve and sustain psychological balance.

What is psychological balance?

Psychological balance refers to a state of mental stability where individuals across different fields maintain balance in their well-being. 

Whenever this concept is raised, what should come to mind is the act of maintaining a happy and stable mind. It's all about gaining stability in the mind. 

Leaders across businesses face stress, mental exertion, pressure, etc., and this can affect them negatively if not handled properly. 

When leaders become aware of their feelings and are able to handle stress without being overwhelmed by it, that's a good sign of having psychological balance.

Why Psychological Balance is Crucial for Business Leaders

Many mental breakdowns that happen to leaders in businesses, organizations, etc. occur because they don't pay attention to the importance of psychological balance. 

Let's consider three reasons why leaders need to pay more attention to their mental health:

1. For making effective decisions

Sound decisions that influence the outcomes of business journeys are usually made with sound minds.

Any leader who has a psychological imbalance will not be able to make effective decisions, and we know that businesses thrive on effective decisions. 

It is therefore necessary that leaders seek out strategies that can help them maintain balance in their minds.

2. Being resilient during difficult times

There will come a time in every business when they face one challenge or another. In times like this, a leader who is battling with psychological imbalance may end up "sinking his ship." 

Difficult times such as crises, economic downturns, insufficient funds to finance projects that may lead to downsizing, etc. may occur in a business's journey. 

A leader should be able to remain resilient all the way, unless he has been overwhelmed by pressures from work, competitors, etc. Leaders must therefore seek out ways to achieve and sustain balance in their mental health.

3. Team morale and productivity

A leader who has been overwhelmed by stress will not be effective with his employees. Sometimes, employees need their leaders to be a source of motivation for them when they need it. 

The time comes when they'll need to have high morale when the business is facing difficulties, when all they need is a level of reassurance that things will be fine.

What will happen when the leaders who should be there for them need help dealing with psychological imbalances?

Hence, leaders must take their mental health seriously because a motivated team will be very productive, and vice versa.

Read also: How to lead and motivate your team to achieve success in the workplace

Common Challenges Business Leaders Face in Maintaining Psychological Balance.

Here are some of the challenges business leaders face in maintaining psychological balance. They are:

1. Isolation and loneliness

Many times, business leaders confirm that it's lonely at the top, and this is a fact. They are caught up with so many responsibilities that they often don't have the time to interact and seek help. 

They are often isolated by being so occupied with goals and objectives that many other things suffer. After a while, they realize they are lonely, and that begins to affect how they react at their places of work. 

This begins to influence their thought processes, bringing imbalance to their minds.

2. Pressure from making decisions

Another common challenge to the psychological balance of leaders is the pressure of making decisions.

So, it's very normal for leaders to make decisions, which are like the compasses that navigate the direction of their businesses. While this is true, the pressure from these expectations is often worrisome. 

This causes leaders to be under intense pressure to say things, give instructions, and make critical decisions with heavy consequences, and this certainly has negative effects on them. 

It's therefore expected that leaders pay attention to their mental health because it's crucial to how they function in their workplace.

3. High stress levels

Stress comes from leaders trying to do everything without planning to manage it through relaxation. 

They get so caught up with planning, making decisions, execution, and accountability that they don't realize how much stress they are putting on themselves. They become so stressed that it reflects on what they do. 

A stressed leader will certainly stress his or her employees. The result of all this accumulated stress is ineffectiveness and a loss of productivity in the workplace.

Proven Strategies for Achieving and Sustaining Psychological Balance in Business

These strategies have been proven over time by leaders to be effective in not only addressing the challenges they face by neglecting their mental health but also in achieving psychological balance, which, when done consistently, can help sustain it too. The strategies include:

1. Become self-aware

Self-awareness is a conscious state where you recognize who you are—your thoughts, feelings, challenges, strengths, etc. 

By becoming self-aware of these intricate parts of you, you start gaining a better understanding of yourself. 

By regularly reflecting on them, you will be able to identify areas that require assistance, and when you do, ensure you go for assistance immediately.

2. Know how to manage time 

To be able to achieve and sustain psychological balance as a leader, you must know how to manage your time effectively. 

You already know that you've got tight schedules and meetings upon meetings, so the last thing you want to do is waste time. 

Many leaders hire personal assistants who help them with scheduling their meetings and effectively managing their time. This can work for you too. 

Know how to allocate time for different things or activities in your workplace. When you do, time becomes an ally, not an enemy you have to compete with.

3. Practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques

Being physically present at work doesn't mean you're mentally present as well. They should not be mistaken for meaning the same thing. 

The only way you can be both physically and mentally present is to practice mindfulness, the act of being mentally aware of your current environment. In addition, you'll have to learn how to relax as a leader. 

There are different relaxation exercises you can engage in that can help you get rid of stress and pressure. You can take a stroll, practice deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, take regular breaks, etc. 

By practicing mindfulness and techniques of relaxation, you'll be able to achieve psychological balance.

4. Learn how to delegate

Leaders sometimes get the feeling of responsibility to uphold their businesses; hence, they tend to want to do everything. So, trying to do everything by yourself will not only wear you out but also leave you ineffective.

This is why you need to learn how to delegate. It's an art, and you should learn it. You need to train your employees and trust them to carry out their duties, including the ones you occasionally assign to them.

Delegating shows that you trust your employees to deliver and that you are willing to embrace and sustain balance in your mental health.

5. Build a supportive network

As a leader, having people you can run to for support or help in the form of advice in difficult times can go a long way toward keeping you sane. But many leaders don't often have such people. 

They are more like lone wolves who walk alone. While you try to show strength, also realize that having a supportive network like mentors, associates, and friends could render moral support when you face difficulties in your workplace. 

Doing so will help you manage stress, which in turn can help you achieve psychological balance. When you make these interactions with your supportive network consistent, sustaining your mental health becomes possible.

Read also: The role of networking in building a successful business

6. Always learn

If you must achieve and sustain psychological balance, then you'll have to make learning a priority. Why do you need to learn? Because each time you learn something new or have new information, like how to manage stress, you'll apply the knowledge and become better.

As a leader who intends to remain valuable to you and your team, staying stale in knowledge will not help you. Knowledge brings insights into challenges and possibilities. 

You should not only learn, but also encourage your workers to learn too. Learning becomes a daily practice, and growth and mental stability in the workplace happen naturally.

Conclusion

Stress issues are real among business leaders and executives. Knowing exactly how to manage or mitigate will be a step in the right direction. 

We dealt with the challenges leaders face in managing psychological balance and what they can do to achieve and sustain it. To make the strategies mentioned in this article work for you, you've got to put them to work. Take action!