Stress is Designed to be Contagious
Fight or flight - we’re genetically programmed to respond to threats. Recognising how you react is key to leading through crises.
“Humans haven’t evolved past this instinctive physiological response to threat, except that we now have manifold more stressors than we are designed for.”
A gazelle, on the periphery of the herd, is chewing on the savannah grass, flicking away flies with its tail, calmly in the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic autonomic state. It senses something in the undergrowth, be it a smell, a movement, a sound, that unsettles it. Within microseconds, there follows an orchestrated sequence of physiological events which instantly and brilliantly turbo-charge it for ‘flight’.
Adrenaline and cortisol flood the system. Its heart rate and respiration rise, likewise its body temperature. Blood vessels dilate to allow more oxygen to the muscles, glycogen is released from the liver to fuel those muscles. Pupils widen, hearing becomes intensely focussed upon the source of threat. It doesn’t form a conscious thought, “oh that may be a hungry lion” but it is reacting unconsciously and its ‘sympathetic’ autonomic response is completely in charge of its body and brain.
Within a few seconds, it is running for its life away from the threat.
If the other gazelles look up, and metaphorically shrug and wonder what that’s all about, it’s a really bad survival response. Instead, without having directly perceived the threat, the herd is in flight mode and running.
10 minutes later, when the lions have caught their lunch, the herd all return back to ‘parasympathetic’ state, calm and relaxed, back to chewing grass.
Until the next time.
Humans are still programmed for fight or flight
Humans haven’t evolved past this instinctive physiological response to threat, except that we now face more stressors than we are designed for.
Under sympathetic, ‘fight or flight’ activation, we automatically prioritise our resources to fight or flee. Any functions that don’t directly contribute to that survival response are deprioritised, including our digestion and our immune system. Most importantly for leaders, our prefrontal cortex is hijacked and effectively offline. That’s the part of the brain where we perform the aptly named ‘executive functions’, including critical and strategic thinking, creativity and empathy.
It’s not whether leaders get activated or not. Leaders will be activated under extreme stress when their organisation, or their self-esteem, or their family, or their career/reputation come under threat. It is how they recognise and regulate that activation that matters, not only for themselves but for the people around them.
Understanding the stress response
Human stress responses are more diverse and more complex than a gazelle’s. The fight response can take the form of anger and blame, sometimes with others, sometimes with yourself. It can lead to too much control and ‘authority’ to the exclusion of others.
Sometimes the anger and blame get directed at the wrong people. Sometimes it's the IT team who are struggling to contain a cyber-attack, and not the unknown hackers who are perpetrating it. Sometimes it’s colleagues. Or the person bringing the coffee, or spouse, or kids. Sometimes leaders turn inwards and descend into vicious self-recrimination and even self-loathing.
The flight response can take the form of denial, hesitation, or, in extreme cases, key members of a crisis team switching off their phones to hide away from the difficulty.
“Even calmness and self-regulation can have a shadow-side.”
Every response creates a response
Even the best leaders, who take pride in their crisis response, need to be aware of the shadow-side of their response and its contagion.
A CEO with whom I work, who has become genuinely excellent at recognising and regulating his stress activation, was recently given feedback from senior members of the exec team that his response to a big crisis that erupted was “too laid back.”
“We didn’t realise quickly enough just how much of an existential threat to the organisation was underway because xxxxx was cool as a cucumber” was one opinion. When a few gazelles resume chewing the cud, the herd starts to relax, so parasympathetic response can also be contagious. Even calmness and self-regulation can have a shadow-side.
Every response from a leader in a crisis creates a response, sometimes helpful, sometimes not, but not always predictable in its effect upon others. It is incumbent on every leader, and every leadership team, to recognise their individual and collective responses and anticipate what impact that may be having on the people around them.
SPEAKERS
“Humans haven’t evolved past this instinctive physiological response to threat, except that we now have manifold more stressors than we are designed for.”
A gazelle, on the periphery of the herd, is chewing on the savannah grass, flicking away flies with its tail, calmly in the ‘rest and digest’ parasympathetic autonomic state. It senses something in the undergrowth, be it a smell, a movement, a sound, that unsettles it. Within microseconds, there follows an orchestrated sequence of physiological events which instantly and brilliantly turbo-charge it for ‘flight’.
Adrenaline and cortisol flood the system. Its heart rate and respiration rise, likewise its body temperature. Blood vessels dilate to allow more oxygen to the muscles, glycogen is released from the liver to fuel those muscles. Pupils widen, hearing becomes intensely focussed upon the source of threat. It doesn’t form a conscious thought, “oh that may be a hungry lion” but it is reacting unconsciously and its ‘sympathetic’ autonomic response is completely in charge of its body and brain.
Within a few seconds, it is running for its life away from the threat.
If the other gazelles look up, and metaphorically shrug and wonder what that’s all about, it’s a really bad survival response. Instead, without having directly perceived the threat, the herd is in flight mode and running.
10 minutes later, when the lions have caught their lunch, the herd all return back to ‘parasympathetic’ state, calm and relaxed, back to chewing grass.
Until the next time.
Humans are still programmed for fight or flight
Humans haven’t evolved past this instinctive physiological response to threat, except that we now face more stressors than we are designed for.
Under sympathetic, ‘fight or flight’ activation, we automatically prioritise our resources to fight or flee. Any functions that don’t directly contribute to that survival response are deprioritised, including our digestion and our immune system. Most importantly for leaders, our prefrontal cortex is hijacked and effectively offline. That’s the part of the brain where we perform the aptly named ‘executive functions’, including critical and strategic thinking, creativity and empathy.
It’s not whether leaders get activated or not. Leaders will be activated under extreme stress when their organisation, or their self-esteem, or their family, or their career/reputation come under threat. It is how they recognise and regulate that activation that matters, not only for themselves but for the people around them.
Understanding the stress response
Human stress responses are more diverse and more complex than a gazelle’s. The fight response can take the form of anger and blame, sometimes with others, sometimes with yourself. It can lead to too much control and ‘authority’ to the exclusion of others.
Sometimes the anger and blame get directed at the wrong people. Sometimes it's the IT team who are struggling to contain a cyber-attack, and not the unknown hackers who are perpetrating it. Sometimes it’s colleagues. Or the person bringing the coffee, or spouse, or kids. Sometimes leaders turn inwards and descend into vicious self-recrimination and even self-loathing.
The flight response can take the form of denial, hesitation, or, in extreme cases, key members of a crisis team switching off their phones to hide away from the difficulty.
“Even calmness and self-regulation can have a shadow-side.”
Every response creates a response
Even the best leaders, who take pride in their crisis response, need to be aware of the shadow-side of their response and its contagion.
A CEO with whom I work, who has become genuinely excellent at recognising and regulating his stress activation, was recently given feedback from senior members of the exec team that his response to a big crisis that erupted was “too laid back.”
“We didn’t realise quickly enough just how much of an existential threat to the organisation was underway because xxxxx was cool as a cucumber” was one opinion. When a few gazelles resume chewing the cud, the herd starts to relax, so parasympathetic response can also be contagious. Even calmness and self-regulation can have a shadow-side.
Every response from a leader in a crisis creates a response, sometimes helpful, sometimes not, but not always predictable in its effect upon others. It is incumbent on every leader, and every leadership team, to recognise their individual and collective responses and anticipate what impact that may be having on the people around them.
