The Stress Effect
Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions--And What to Do About It
By: Henry L. (Dick) Thompson, Ph.D
Published: May 3, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 336pp
ISBN-13: 9780470589038
ISBN-10: 0470589035
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
"Why do seasoned leaders with proven track records sometimes suddenly begin making really bad decisions - or no decision at all?", writes internationally recognized consultant, educator, speaker, and founder of High Performing Systems, Inc., Henry L. Thompson in his insightful and groundbreaking book The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions--And What to Do About It. The author presents the compelling case that stress is the real culprit that causes otherwise astute and experienced leaders to make very bad decisions, or to freeze up and find themselves unable to make any decisions at all.
Henry Thompson brings forth the startling revelation that stress can not only cause short circuiting of the brain's decision making process, but can also reduce the ability to receive and process information. With stress as the root cause of bad leadership decisions, even the best and most highly respected leaders are subject to its negative impact. In today's high pressure work environments, where fewer people are forced to perform multiple tasks and still achieve superior results, the overall level of stress rises within the organization. Compounding the problem is the information saturation that overwhelms even the most dedicated executives. Information overload, according to a landmark study cited by the author, causes inferior decision making results than lower amounts of data and choice options. The end result of high pressure business cultures, swimming in information, is weaker overall leadership decision making. That problem has an adverse effect on the leadership, the employees, the customers, and the entire organization.
Henry L. (Dick) Thompson (photo left) recognizes that the problem of stress induced decision making quality is common to business and political leaders. Stress causes problems in any organization, and is not limited to the private sector, or to certain industries. The stress related leadership problem is a universal phenomenon in our society. At one time, according to the author, it was thought that improving emotional intelligence would reduce the impact of stress. Henry Thompson points out that stress levels, if high enough, will impair emotional intelligence skills and the entire cognitive thought process. Stress is at epidemic proportions in every type of organization, and leadership decision acumen is suffering a crisis as a result. In response to this exploding management issue, Henry Thompson describes how to manage stress in a peak performance environment. His recommendations provide leaders with the stress coping and management tools to alleviate the stress related factors that cause cognitive breakdown.
For me, the power of the book is how Henry L. (Dick) Thompson acknowledges the danger of leadership stress on the ability to make sound decisions in high pressure environments. By addressing the issue head on, and understanding how and why stress causes decision making errors, the author provides a service to stressed leaders in both the public and private sectors. The solution, as shared by the author is threefold. He prescribes how to develop a stress resilient system based on improving stress management capability, enhanced cognitive resilience, and stress resilient emotional intelligence. Taken together, these skills can be learned and utilized effectively by leaders in even the most stress filled conditions. The author backs up his recommendations and ideas for stress management with the latest in cutting edge brain and cognitive research. By following the step by step program outlined in the book, leaders can enhance their ability to cope with stress, to overcome its debilitating force, and reach good decisions.
I highly recommend the essential leadership book The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions--And What to Do About It by Henry L. Thompson, to any leaders and managers who are seeking to manage their stress levels in high pressure workplaces. In this era of downsizing and reduced workforces, coupled with ever greater demands for results, this book is timely and of critical importance for today's leaders.
Read the game changing and leadership transforming book The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions--And What to Do About It by Henry L. Thompson, and put the power of a stress resilient system to work for you and your company's leaders. In today's high pressure and very competitive business environment, your leaders can't afford to make bad decisions, or fail to make any decision, whether on an important matter or in a crisis. Your company's very existence may depend on it.
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