The Stress Effect
Why Smart Leaders Make dumb Decisions - And What to Do About It
Henry L. Thompson
Jossey-Bass, 2010, 327 pp. ISBN 978-0-470-58903-8
Henry Thompson is an organizational psychologist, leadership consultant, researcher, author, and former trainer
for the Armed Forces Special Forces. He is the founder and CEO of High Performing Systems, Inc.
Introduction: Good Leaders Make Good Decisions Under Stress
The story of Captain Chesley Sullenberger landing in the Hudson and how he did it.
1. How Leaders Make Decisions
"Most decisions are seat-of-the-pants judgments. You can create a rationale for anything. In the end, most decisions
are based on intuition and faith." Nathan Myhrvold
In 2007 major companies fell like dominoes as many highly stressed leaders made bad choices for their
organizations. The domain of leadership is reeling from the effect of questionable decisions by smart leader in
roles over their heads. "The current approach to selecting leaders and not holding them accountable has created
large bureaucracies populated by leaders incapable of making effective and efficient decisions...." (15) We have a
blind spot in identifying leaders.
Organizations have a hierarchy of levels of complexity. The leader must be in a role that fits his or her ability to
make right decisions. Leadership skills include technical skills, interpersonal skills and leader skills. Leaders with
the right skills must be selected for each level of complexity. Leaders must have cognitive ability, emotional
intelligence, motivation, and personality.
"The fundamental core of leadership is decision making." Routine decisions have standard responses. For
nonroutine decisions there is often no 'best' solution.
The standard seven-step problem-solving model consists of 1) Identify the problem, 2) Gather information, 3)
Redefine the problem, 4) Generate Alternatives, 5) Evaluate alternatives, 6) Select & implement a solution, 7)
Evaluate results, and return to 1). (31)
Leaders make decisions on the basis of rational logic and by intuition. Each follows a different process and has its
own applications and blind spots. It is a trade-off between analysis and speed. Intuitive decisions are made very
quickly, automatically, emotionally, and mostly unconsciously, often in routine or emergency situations. Leaders
usually go with the first solution they think might work. The cues come from similar previous situations. "A
significant portion of decision making takes place in the unconscious...." You trust your instinct. (40)
Another model for explaining the complex decision making is PAMA. When a stimulus occurs (like Sully seeing
"birds), there is Perception, Appraisal (both cognitive and emotional), Motivation, and Action.
2. How Cognitive Intelligence Influences Decision Making
"Cognitive intelligence refers to a person's ability to rapidly process, learn, and retrieve knowledge and procedures
and to use learned knowledge and procedures along with abstract reasoning to solve complex problems." (53)
"Moderators are common factors that influence a leader's cognitive intelligence and, consequently, ability to
make effective decisions. These include environment, age, gender, physical conditioning, nutrition, and sleep."
(58)
"One of the most overlooked and underrated moderators of cognitive intelligence and decision making is sleep:
getting enough sleep and the right kind of sleep are critical." (66)
Anything that causes a distraction to the prefrontal cortex makes for less effective decision making. The PFC has a
finite amount of random access memory and if it is overloaded with information, it cannot focus on the future. As
problems become more non-routine or more complex, the more cognitive intelligence is needed.
3. Emotional Intelligence and Decision Making
"All human decisions have some emotional component. That's the way the brain is wired...." Great leaders know
how to use their emotions and the emotions of others to make the best decisions. The eight basic emotions (joy,
trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, and anticipation) can be considered in terms of intensity, similarity,
and bipolarity (oppositeness). In real life most emotions are experienced as blends. Employing emotional
information helps make better decisions.
Emotional intelligence is "a person's innate ability to perceive and manage his/her own emotions in a manner that
results in successful interactions with the environment, and if others are present, to also perceive and manage
their emotions in a manner that results in successful interpersonal interactions." (91)
"Emotional intelligence consists of four basic processes: self-awareness (being aware of my emotions), selfmanagement (managing my emotions), other awareness (being aware of others' emotions), and relationship
management (managing the relationship). At the core level, emotional intelligence is about emotional awareness
and management." (91-2)
Emotional hijacking is "the hostile takeover of consciousness by emotion. ... When the hijacking occurs, it sets up
an opportunity for your 'evil twin, Skippy' (and everybody has one) to come forward. Skippy is the 'bad' side of you
who says and does things that are uncharacteristic of you. It was not Mike Tyson who bit off a piece of Evander
Holyfield's ear....; it was Tyson's evil twin, Skippy. When the amygdale completely takes over, the person seems to
be out of control and behaving outside his character. . . . The trick is to have emotions, not be had by them." (101)
"As the intensity of immediate emotions intensifies, they progressively take control of decision making and
override rational decision making." (101)
If emotions are disconnected from the process, a person simply cannot make a decision. Finding the right blend of
emotions and logic is critical.
Specific emotions are triggered by events that are connected in the mind with previous emotion-generating
events. (A former soldier hears a car backfire and instinctively ducks.) One aspect of emotional intelligence is the
ability to evoke emotions on demand to facilitate decision making. For example, happiness enhances the creative
process.
Age, gender, nutrition, and sleep are moderating factors. For example, lack of sleep contributes to grumpiness,
not favorable for good decision making.
4. Stress and Decision Making
"Some leaders describe their jobs as being similar to living every day in a blender, waiting for someone to push the
'puree' button." (110) Stress is "the body's nonspecific response to any demand made on it." (111) Whether you win a
million or lose a million, you will experience stress. "The appropriateness of how you react to stress influences
your success and health--and how effectively you make decisions." (111) More than 200 million people take
medicine for stress! "A person's level of stress constantly influences decision making." It is always present when
we make choices.
Stressors initiate a cascade of hormones which initially increase the leader's concentration and strength and
shorten her reaction time. However, if stress remains high for an extended time, it begins to damage the leader's
brain. Rather than being energized, she is stressed out and decision making and health suffer.
Stress affects the PAMA (Perception-Appraisal-Motivation-Action) Model. If offers several options for action:
fight, freeze, flight, adapt, tend and befriend. When a stressor is introduced, during the immediate sense of alarm,
the leader experiences a restricted ability to make good decisions or to react appropriately. Resources are quickly
depleted but the body begins to adapt. After reaching a peak response, the person gradually returns to normal,
but it takes awhile to recover. Stresses are additive. Each time a stressor is encountered, it adds to the stress left
over from the previous stressor. Stress continues to build up during the day as additional stressors are
encountered. And the accumulated stress from past stressors is all attributed to the most recent stress.
"As stress increases, the ability to use the full capacity of the PFC and cognitive intelligence decreases. If enough
stress builds up during the course of the day, the leader will eventually be pushed across the crazy threshold. At
that point...his evil twin Skippy emerges, and he begins to behave in an emotionally unintelligent manner, like
trying to kick the dog--or worse." (125)
"Everyone has a comfort zone in terms of how much stress they can handle, how much they want to handle, and
the long-term impact." (127) If stress is too low, the person will become bored. If the stress is too high for too long,
the person will become frustrated, overwhelmed, and approach burnout.
A person who has some control, or even perceived control, and some predictability of outcomes experiences less
stress. Major sources of stress include home, work, health and environment. And home doesn't stay at home: it
goes to work. And vice versa. The number one stressor for most people is their spouse.
"As the stress level increases, there is an overall degradation in the amount and quality of information that we can
recall, as well as in our ability to store short-term information. . . . Information processing slows as stress
increases." (136)
5. How Stress Leads to Poor Decision Making
"When stress suddenly escalates to extreme levels because of fear, the amygdale hijacks the prefrontal cortex
(PFC) and all processing changes.... The brain dramatically filters, reduces, and focuses the data that are
perceived; changes how information is Appraised (cognitively and emotionally); and changes the person's
Motivation, all of which drive toward different Actions from those that would be taken under normal
circumstances. In general, people tend to underestimate how dramatically stress changes their decision making
process." (139)
An acute stressor is one that occurs and goes away rapidly, such as a near-miss traffic accident. A chronic stressor
lasts longer. Stress can be categorized as low, moderate, high, and very high. On a good day, leaders spend more
than half their time in the low to moderate zone.
When a stressor is removed, the aftereffects may last for hours. If the stress level was very high, the aftereffects
may include nausea, vomiting, weakness, trembling, or other symptoms. If you are about to go above moderate
stress, stop, breathe, and take a break to regain control.
If the PFC is overloaded by too many choices, it might simply pick one, and it might not be the best one. At this
point too much choice tyrannizes us. A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. The human brain can
manage a limited amount of simultaneous information. Too many options slow the decision process.
Stress also degrades the ability of the senses to perform their functions. For example, fatigue may slow eye focus.
During the Perception process, the brain searches for patterns and fills in missing information. Under stress, it
may stop at the first recognizable pattern and filter out other information. Of it may fill in the blanks causing
decision errors. Stress focuses a leader's attention, which might cause him to miss vital information.
People suffer from the "confirmation trap" in decision making. They are virtually incapable of understanding and
accepting any point of view other than their own. This type of bias negatively impacts decisions and it is
exacerbated by stress.
Working memory, cognitive intelligence, and emotional intelligence are all affected by stress. When a leader's
brain is overloaded, processing speed slows, which decreases cognitive intelligence and inhibits the leader's ability
to process complex information and handle ambiguity. Stress also negatively affects one's ability to control
emotions. When the leader does not handle stress well, he simply can't think straight under fire.
6. Increasing Stress Management Capacity
"Resilience is the ability to continue to move forward, even when encountering adversity." (170) It is the ability to
confront reality and find a way to persevere. "Stress Management Capacity, Cognitive Resilience, and Stress
Resilient Emotional Intelligence all work in unison to reduce the likelihood of experiencing a catastrophic
leadership failure." (171)
Chronic stress drains a leader's capacity, so she may not be able to cope with the next stressor. A leader needs to
"stretch" the stress comfort zone. A leader will perform at a higher level outside the stress comfort zone, but
cannot stay at a high stress level for an extended time without approaching burnout. Job performance,
satisfaction, interpersonal relationships, motivation, and health will begin to deteriorate.
The size of the stress comfort zone varies among individuals and it is affected by commitment, control,
motivation, sensitivity to stressors, natural capacity, coping strategies, and having a higher purpose.
"Imagine that a bucket holds the capacity available to a leader to apply toward managing stress. The bucket has
resources flowing into it and a drain that allows capacity resources to flow out of the bottom of the bucket when
needed. As long as there are enough resources (capacity) in the bucket to meet the demands, the comfort zone
remains stable and the leader is able to manage stress." (176-77) With adequate training that increases their
capacity, leaders can function at a height level and make good decisions in tough situations.
Navy SEAL trainees learn four key techniques - self-talk, setting short-term goals, mental rehearsal, and arousal
control. [See, for example, The Heart and the Fist, Eric Greitens)
Think of stressors as bubbles that are pushing up your stress level. "Pop" some of the bubbles. Divide the big
bubbles into smaller ones that are easy to pop. Pop the smaller bubbles. As your stress level decreases you will
find it easier to deal with the bigger bubbles. Draw the bubbles on a chart: once you see it, plans emerge.
Learn to generate a relaxation response that slows the heart, relaxes muscles, and decreases blood pressure.
Repeat a word, sound, phrase or prayer and let go of other thoughts for 10 to 20 minutes.
7. Developing Cognitive Resilience
Cognitive resilience is "the ability (resilience) to ward off the negative influences of stress on the cognitive aspects
of decision making." (195) It can be boiled down to facing reality, the search for meaning, and ritualized ingenuity.
Do I truly understand the reality of the situation? Can I see what I may have been blocking out? To confront
reality, I must know what it is. You must have some purpose greater than the immediate situation that motivates
you to do whatever it takes to survive that situation. Ritualized ingenuity refers to being able to use whatever is at
hand to help you survive your current situation. The resilient person is always moving, innovating, and finding new
ways to do things to improve his situation. (196) "Great leaders are optimists, but they also confront reality...."
(197)
Three components contribute to psychological hardiness (resistance to the negative effects of stress):
commitment to being deeply involved in life, belief that you can influence events in your life, and anticipating
change as an exciting challenge.
Four critical indicators of cognitive resilience are processing speed, information retrieval, available working
memory, and planning, plus a means of rating overall cognitive functioning. These can be imagined as four dials
on a dashboard with a central dial a combination of the four. This imaginary dashboard can be used to keep you
aware of how well you are functioning. Identifying which of the four areas is suffering helps you recover the lost
ability. (201)
"If stress can find a small crack in a leader's resilience armor, if it can get inside just a little and create a small
amount of doubt, bring what should be automatic behaviors into consciousness, and make the leader begin to
question and analyze processes, he can literally watch himself spiral out of control. It's as if he is watching
someone else and has no control over the outcome; the harder he tries, the more mistakes he makes." (203)
[Think of a professional golfer.]
Sleep loss is a major enemy of cognitive resilience. Further, sleepiness is a side effect of stress.
Enhance cognitive resilience by maintaining awareness or your processes, get adequate sleep, engage in
overlearning (repeated practicing), use checklists, make decisions in advance via scenario planning, and interrupt
your work with pleasant activities to stimulate blood flow.
8. Building Stress Resilient Emotional Intelligence
Negative emotions affect how leaders make decisions by changing what is Perceived, how it is Appraised, the
resultant Motivation, and the ultimate Action (the PAMA model). When the leader perceives inaccurately, he may
incorrectly interpret his own and others' emotions. When stresses accumulate, one may push the leader over the
edge and his evil twin Skippy takes over the conversation in an outburst the leader watches but can't seem to
control. The fundamental rule of SCUBA divers is to Stop, Breathe, Think. Recognize when the dark side is pulling
you and use stress management techniques. Emotional areas are your Achilles heel. Look for early warning signs.
Understand what's behind your responses. Recognize that under stress we fail to override our automatic
decisions. Create and use an emotional functioning dashboard to monitor your energy, mood, time focus, and
control.
Be aware of your emotional functioning. Step back from your experience and ask yourself honestly what you are
feeling. Watch for your own stress symptoms such as perspiration, eye twitches, pulsing veins, etc. Get plenty of
sleep and rest, including vacations, breaks, walks, and other activities that rest the brain and emotions. Make a
performance aid or checklist that will work for you. Overcome your fears through a desensitization process.
Reprogram your default responses to certain feelings.
9. The Seven Best Practices to Prevent Stress
Here they are: Awareness, Rest, Support, Exercise, Nutrition, Attitude, and Learning. [ARSENAL] These are part
of a system and each requires an emotional process. Each one has its own self-assessment scale.
Awareness "watches" the other best practices. Use it to monitor and collect feedback. The scale ranges from not
being focused, missing details, and spending time 'in the clouds' to being very focused on what's happening,
"feeling" what's going on, and knowing where I am all the time when I'm performing.
Avoid losing sleep if at all possible. Sleep loss is cumulative. Take short breaks, create mental distractions. Have a
cup of tea. Rest some during the day. Walk, listen to music, take mini-breaks. Take a short nap between 1 and 3
pm. Schedule some personal time in each day. Say 'no' and mean it. Don't overload yourself. The scale goes from
very tired, not sleeping well, overworked, can't relax to wake up refreshed, energized, take vacations, and do
relaxing things.
Support refers to the psychological, emotional, and physical help you get from others. Identify those in your
support system. Offer support to others. Increase time with people. Practice your faith. Use your safety net. Stay
in touch with friends. Nurture relationships at work.
Engage in exercise that builds cardiovascular and muscle strength. Get off the couch; exercise; set reasonable
goals. The secret to exercise is to do it.
Make healthy food choices. Watch your portions. Write down what you eat (everything). Weigh yourself every day
and keep a record. Make small, gradual changes in your diet toward more healthy foods. Stay away from fad
diets. Drink plenty of water. A hungry brain is a distracted brain.
Your attitude reflects your mindset, happiness, optimism, and contentment. It is a window into a leader's
motivation, commitment, character, and self-esteem. It drives energy level and focus for all the best practices.
Attitudes range from a constant negative, critical, blaming attitude to being very positive, loving, accepting
responsibility and being adaptable. Engage in activities that build your self-confidence and self-esteem. Smile!
See the glass half full. Get feedback from people you trust on how others perceive your attitude. Become a team
player. Accept responsibility for your life and actions.
Be a lifelong learner. Increase your knowledge, skills, and abilities. Set learning goals. Spend time with other
learners. Get out of your comfort zone to learn something you have always wanted to learn.
You can do a basic ARSENAL assessment by giving each of the seven qualities a subjective numeric rating and
plot them on a spider web graph. See where you most need to work.
These practices will help you increase brain functioning, build stress resilience, control emotions and stay calm,
build new brain cells, improve physical functioning and increase longevity.
Conclusion
"Leaders of the future will be required to be masters of decision making under stress." "Training leaders is similar to
training parachutists: you have to train them to jump before pushing them out the door." (284) Organizations may
need a Chief Stress Officer.