Do you ever find yourself on the edge of your seat before a high-stakes meeting, heart racing with a mix of fear and anticipation? Let us be your guides through the maze of executive anxiety, as we share our personal battles and triumphs in harnessing this energy for success. Together, we'll explore the transformative power of redefining anxiety as excitement, providing you with practical strategies to turn your nervousness into your greatest ally. Dive deep into the phenomenon of imposter syndrome and discover how to wield your passion as your compass, steering through leadership challenges with newfound confidence and poise.
In this episode, we discuss the following:
1. Dealing with stress and anxiety in high-pressure situations.
2. Using mindfulness, meditation, and breathing techniques to manage stress.
3. Importance of self-awareness and seeking feedback from others.
This episode is sponsored by LucidPoint
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CONNECT WITH SUSIE:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susietomenchok/
CONNECT WITH JAMES:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/capps/
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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Quick Take podcast, the show where you
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get targeted advice and coaching for executives by
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executives.
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I'm Susie Tominchuk.
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Speaker 2: And I'm James Capps.
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Give us 15 minutes and we'll give you three secrets to
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address the complex topic of issues that are challenging
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executives like you today.
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Speaker 1: Hey Quicksters, Welcome to Quick Take.
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I'm your host, Susie, along with James.
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How are you, James?
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Speaker 2: I am fantastic.
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I have a pumpkin seed muffin here in front of me and it is
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delicious.
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I know you love pumpkin seeds.
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Speaker 1: I do love pumpkin seeds.
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They're my favorite.
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Speaker 2: I know.
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Speaker 1: So moving on, moving on from that, A serious one.
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I work with a CEO that when he is under stress and a lot of
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that comes from like the board meeting let's get as an example.
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When he has to present in front of the board, he becomes so
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focused on that meeting that he gets nothing else done, and so
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his people complain about that because he's not very productive
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.
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And then they're always like oh , here comes the board meeting
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again.
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We're going to lose him for like a month.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, it's pretty common and I think you
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know many people assume that executives are, you know, very
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seasoned and experienced in a lot of things and therefore
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don't feel these emotions.
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And, and you know, I talk to people all the time about
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whether it's a big presentation or a board meeting or, you know,
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a particularly important conversation and and oftentimes
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they say to me well, I know you don't get nervous, but I do, or
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I'm sure you're comfortable with this, but I'm not.
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And and the truth is is that I know you don't get nervous, but
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I do, or I'm sure you're comfortable with this, but I'm
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not.
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And the truth is that leaders across the spectrum struggle
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with anxiety and nervousness, and I think that there's some
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good lessons to be learned from what those people have come to
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understand.
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Speaker 1: I think that's so true, and I think we understand
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this imposter syndrome or this thing, that we're quite not
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enough, but for some reason, we believe that other people don't
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suffer from the same thing, so we don't think they need support
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or we don't think they have anxiety or any of those things
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about something that's upcoming for them, and so this is a good
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topic to talk about.
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It's a great topic.
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Speaker 2: And I just feel like look, everybody has tools that
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they use to get through, and I think that these are tools that
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I know that leaders that I've either read about or met or
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worked with have come to use, and whether you're a regional
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director of sales in Colorado or you're the CEO of a Fortune 100
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company, these tools can apply to everyone and and I think that
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they're good, tried and true ways that you can address the
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anxiety that comes with you know , it comes with the roles.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's really good.
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All right, tell me the first one.
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What's your first tip?
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Speaker 2: Well, you know, one of the things that I find so
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fascinating is anxiety in and of itself has a as a, as a word,
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um, you know, has a lot of connotation and I think, um, I
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know Sheryl Sandberg talked about it in her book that she
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she reframes, uh, anxiety as excitement.
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And if you think about that very simple thing, they are
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physically the same thing.
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You get these butterflies in your stomach, you do feel stress
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, but, boys, changing it from anxiety to excitement, you know
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you get excited to go on a roller coaster.
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Nobody says well, very few people have anxiety to get on a
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roller coaster.
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I know you do, um, but but that changing it to excitement is a
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very different mindset and I think that, um, if you can
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reframe that um and channel that nervous energy into something
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else other than anxiety, you can be a lot more powerful.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's something it reminds me of the
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abundance mindset versus the finite mindset and being able to
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just understand that.
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Look at it in a positive light.
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There is research that shows when you do that, you'll be more
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successful because you have more confidence.
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Speaker 2: Well, and I think, if you think about those jitters
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as an indicator of passion, I often say to people you're
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nervous because it matters.
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Speaker 1: Oh, that's good.
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Speaker 2: Right, and if you did not have jitters, you did not
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have that excitement about this particular thing, then it
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doesn't matter to you or to me, so maybe you're not the right
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person for this.
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So I think taking a look at that anxiety, repositioning it
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as a power and realizing it's important for you to be
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successful really changes the way that you look at it.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, okay.
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So the first one is you're nervous because it matters.
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That was a good one.
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Speaker 2: That's right.
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Speaker 1: I love that.
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All right, what's the second one?
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That's a good takeaway.
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Speaker 2: The second one is okay.
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So you are nervous, not anxious , or whatever word we put to it.
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There's still physical elements of it that make it challenging
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and I think embracing some of the holistic mindfulness and
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peacefulness and meditation ideas are really helpful.
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And peacefulness and meditation ideas are really helpful.
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I think that you know there are tons of books that talk about
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this.
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Mark Benioff, who's the CEO at Salesforce, has said many times
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that he credits meditation to his ability to get through the
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day.
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Oprah has talked about it at length that she uses
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transcendental meditation to get through and I think that that
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willingness to take a moment and take the time and center
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yourself goes a million miles.
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Speaker 1: I think so too.
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You know, I talk a lot about self-awareness and zooming out,
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and it's so amazing to me, in big groups of executives,
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there's always a few people that swear by meditation and talk
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about that, and I think it's so such a great way to understand.
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But you have to understand.
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You're triggered.
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You have to be able to have that ability to understand it so
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that you can take the time to do that.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that, um, you know I, I practice yoga.
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Um, I know you and I have talked about that at length, and
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I think that, really, the core value of those types of of
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practices are giving you the the ability to be outside yourself
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and see your emotions and see your behaviors for what they are
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, and and that meditation, during the times of stress and
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anxiety, taking a step back and looking at them objectively,
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will go a long way for you to understanding what's happening.
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Again, if you're nervous, it matters, that's fine, but then
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being able to step back and address it and function
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effectively is equally as important.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I wanted to add something to it, but I'm
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worried that it's going to step on your third one.
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So tell me what your third one is.
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Speaker 2: Well, the third one is really just building a
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support mechanism and tools that allow you to be better.
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I think that, surrounding yourself with people that
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understand the challenges of speaking at a board meeting or
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being part of public speaking groups, those type of support
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systems give you the license to be nervous and allows you to not
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be alone in that anxiety.
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: How was that?
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I stepped on.
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No, I actually have a bonus.
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I actually have a bonus.
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Speaker 1: All right, but I will say that's so good too, because
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those people are not living your reality.
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And so it gives you a different perspective as well If you can
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find a group that isn't a part of your ecosystem.
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But what I was going to add to the bonus that I was going to
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add is, if you take that time, that meditation or being able to
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step out of the situation and look back, ask your team.
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You know what happens when I go into the board meeting.
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How can we make this more productive?
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Because you might not always know and they might be afraid to
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say to you, like that CEO that I said, His team gets really
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frustrated at him because he is not there for them in other ways
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and so, giving them the ability to step in, they might be able
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to help you during that time.
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But you need to ask.
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Speaker 2: I think that's a perfect example of the third
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item, which is building a support organization around it.
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Imagine a situation in which I have a quarterly presentation
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that I have to give to the board and that my team, my
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organization, suffers because I am completely fixated on that
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situation.
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I use meditation to try to allow myself or I take that
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first one, I I try to look at that energy is important.
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I use meditation to allow me to be more focused and then I
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allow my team to support me through that and we talk through
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it, and allows me to voice those concerns and they give me
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feedback, those that right there , all three of those things will
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make that entire situation so much better and you, you know,
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as a leader, infinitely more effective.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, so good, so good, all right.
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So what are the three?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the first one is really just trying
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to reposition your point of view on stress and anxiety.
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Look at it as passion and excitement, rather than the
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negative connotation that so often goes with anxiety.
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Second item take advantage of meditation, breathing, whatever
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types of mindfulness that you can, whatever types of
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mindfulness that you can find at your avail to allow you to take
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a breath and look at the situation more effectively.
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And then, third, surround yourself with a support group to
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ensure that you have people who will give you some perspective
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and really create some opportunities for you to get
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feedback and ways to learn from the situation.
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Speaker 1: some opportunities for you to get feedback and ways
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to learn from the situation.
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I think this is such a good episode for people to think back
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.
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What are my high stakes situations, what are the things
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that cause me anxiety and then make me nervous, and what do I
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need to be more mindful of when I face them again?
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And they could even schedule some things to think about to
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remind them of some of these tips.
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Speaker 2: I love the idea that you just offered up there, which
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is, you know, board meetings are obvious, but you know it may
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be as simple as going to the dentist and we all have these
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different flavors, and to disregard them I don't think is
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healthy.
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Looking at all of these things, and just this is a practice for
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how you can get through stress in your life.
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I think, um, it can apply to any number of uh situations oh,
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it's so good.
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Speaker 1: And I have to just say one more thing too is high
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stakes situations is different for all of us absolutely
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absolutely the example of giving blood.
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You do it very often.
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I, I hate it, can't.
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It makes me really nervous, and so just that the way we
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approach different situations can be the exact same situation
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High stakes for me, not high stakes for you.
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So understanding that and putting words to it can be very
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empowering.
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Speaker 2: You are powerful, super powerful.
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Speaker 1: This was a good one.
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Speaker 2: Good topic when they film the movie quick take who is
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going to play you and who's going to play me?
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Speaker 1: You're going to be played by Ryan Reynolds.
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Speaker 2: Oh gosh, Talk about absolute plagiarism.
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You're placating my ego.
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Okay, I'll take it.
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You got his name, so I'm just going to give you points for
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that.
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Speaker 1: I would say Sandra Bullock for me, because that
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would go well.
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Actually, I know that that seems too easy, since they've
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played a very famous role together.
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So I feel like I was going to say and again I'm just giving
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myself credit for this Jennifer Gardner, right Gardner.
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Speaker 2: That is a person.
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Speaker 1: Yes, that is who I was thinking for me.
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Ah, okay, very good.
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Yeah, thanks for listening to this week's episode of Quick
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Take, where we talk about the questions that are on the mind
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of executives everywhere.
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Connect with us and share what's on your mind.
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Speaker 2: You can find us on LinkedIn, youtube or whatever
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nerdy place on the internet.
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You find your podcasts.
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Our links to the show are in the show notes.
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We appreciate you.