STAFFING RESOURCE CENTER

Anxiety originally evolved in humans out of biological necessity over 200,000 years ago. In today's dramatically different world, how can you keep what's hard-wired in your brain from paralyzing your ability to lead and make optimal decisions?

The biology of anxiety

Anxiety and stress are part of human evolution. Their symptoms evolved as a response to dealing with dangerous situations.

After all, the signs that we're stressed -- sweating, nervous stomach, not being able to sleep -- are signs of awareness. There's something dangerous out there. Our body is telling us to escape it.

A tiger heading our way? A running tiger was very bad news when early humans were hunter-gatherers looking for food. It was a good strategic decision to run away. Otherwise? We would have ended up as a tiger's lunch.

The early human who led the charge to run away from the loping tiger was the strategic CEO of the era.

Immediate- versus delayed-return environment

Early humans lived primarily in an "immediate-return environment," in which decisions and actions provided immediate returns (e.g., they wrapped themselves in animal hides to stay warm).

In the past 100 years, though, humans have increasingly been living in a "delayed-return environment," in which decisions and actions don't yield immediate results (i.e., neither benefit nor harm is experienced right away). People put money in 401(k)s for retirement, for example, but they don't experience any benefit until they retire.

Delayed return environments can cause more anxiety. The reason? Any stress caused by being hungry can be eliminated right away, by eating. But stress caused by worrying about the safety or adequacy of retirement savings can't ever be entirely eliminated.

Corporate life, especially in the C-suite, is saturated with delayed returns. A CEO's decision to expand into a new market or give the go-ahead on a new product is not going to yield benefits right away. In fact, determining the full impact of decisions and realizing the full benefits may take months or even years.

How the delayed-return environment affects decision-making

As a result, life in the executive suite can be suffused with anxiety and stress. High-level decisions potentially impact countless people, their livelihood, and their families. Good decisions can bring in higher revenues and expanded markets.

But poor decisions can result in plummeting revenues and shrinking markets.

Combine high-stakes decisions with delayed results, and you have the perfect recipe for anxiety.

And that can be a problem for sound strategic decision-making. Anxiety can make executives focus too much on threats, and not enough on opportunities.

Anxious CEOs take fewer strategic risks than their peers who demonstrate less anxiety.

Now, some of this is good. Some strategic risks might be like that loping tiger: a genuine threat, and well-avoided.

But other strategic risks can deliver big rewards. And stressed CEOs are afraid to place bets on a big risk/big reward scenario. As a result, they are less likely to reap big rewards.

What you can do to manage anxiety

If anxiety is a fact of life in the C-suite, these anxiety-busting tactics can make it easier to strike a balance between reward and risk.

1. Measure, measure, measure

What's measured is known.

Delayed-return-environment stress stems from the unknown. Is the loping tiger looking for lunch, or just out for a brisk stroll?

If you measure the unknowns, they become known. They become less anxiety-producing.

Begin to measure returns on any new decision immediately.

The more you can see measurement data, the less you will be anxious about the unknown. And if you do see cause for concern, you can devise a plan to deal with it.

2. Develop a preventive strategy

Instead of worrying, devise a preventive strategy to guard against the factor(s) you're worried about.

Worried that customers won't embrace a new product, for example? Work with your marketing and advertising team to build awareness and sales momentum.

Then, of course, measure whether those strategies are working. Frequently.

3. Acknowledge anxiety

Things that are acknowledged become less threatening. Executives can acknowledge anxiety by making a joke or telling a story about big business bets that seemed like a risk, but turned out spectacularly in the end.

Let a staffing partner help

Busy executives can also let partners take worry off their plates.

A staffing partner can alleviate employment-related worries: compliance, safety, quality of talent -- even in a tight employment market, a staffing firm can ensure adequate staffing levels, freeing your team to focus on top priorities.