how to stay calm as a leader

One of the most important qualities of great leaders is their ability to stay calm and keep their emotions in check under all circumstances. This helps them come up with effective solutions to navigate personnel issues, think clearly in stressful and challenging situations, and maintain better relationships with their team members. As a leader, you must understand what emotions other people are going through and respond to them in a calm and healthier way —  in a manner that serves the interests of everyone involved. 

Awareness is the key, and like any other skill, it can be developed over time with discipline and dedication, and by focusing on the right habits.

Here are a couple of beneficial habits that can help you stay calm and cultivate a greater sense of awareness:

Meditation

Meditation is a wonderful practice that brings numerous benefits to you and your well-being. There are many ways you can incorporate meditation in your daily life. You can experiment with different techniques and figure out the one right for you, however a majority of them serve the same purpose: they help you develop greater awareness of the present moment. While meditation is good for you, you must know that this discipline doesn’t bring you immediate benefits. You need to cultivate a consistent practice and over time you’ll start experiencing its amazing perks. Start small and just focus on meditating for around 10-15 minutes every day; with repetition you’ll get in tune with your inner world and all your thoughts and feelings. Many studies report a strong association between meditation and emotional control, that’s why the more you’ll meditate, the easier it’ll become for you to stay calm and think rationally, even in stressful and overwhelming situations. There are many meditation apps as well as countless videos on YouTube that can get you started, so get started with meditation right away to reap its awesome benefits. 

Journaling

Many effective leaders throughout history have practiced journaling or a variation of it to capture their thoughts and process their feelings. Journaling is key to not only identifying and controlling your own emotions, but also helping you arrive at realizations with regard to the behaviors of your team members. This can assist you in cultivating empathy as well as figuring out effective and thoughtful resolutions in case of disputes and disagreements.

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