Roxanne Derhodge says stress shuts down the prefrontal cortex, the brain's decision-making center, making leaders reactive instead of thoughtful. She recommends a five-step routine before meetings or tough conversations to restore control and improve how you lead.
Ultimately, what you're trying to do is to put back on the prefrontal cortex, which is the boss of the brain. That's a logical, linear part of our brain that allows, you know, us to make decisions in a sequential way. But however, if you don't keep your eyes on your stress response, what happens is your stress becomes cumulative. And when your stress becomes cumulative, you're not aware of the first signs when you're getting so dysregulated that you're gonna react to someone. In a way that, you know, that's less than desirable. So leaders out there, think, how do I manage my stress? What is my stress response? I'm a hyper-arouser or a hypo-arouser. And what kinds of things— a quick list of 5 things you can do. Do those things before you respond, before you walk into a meeting, and you'll find that that makes a difference, you know, just with how you can deliver things. Right there is gold.
