Stress has always been synonymous with leadership. But after a pandemic, difficult economic downturns, drastic cultural sifts and international unrest, anxiety in the leadership community has grown significantly. A recent survey by KPMG found that 27% of leaders report symptoms of anxiety disorder compared to just 8% in 2019.[1] Anxiety—that feeling of fear, dread, uneasiness—will make you sweat, feel restless and tense, and even lead to panic attacks. Anxiety is a persistent emotional state brought on by the concern that something negative is just ahead. It’s going to hurt me in some way, and I have no means to stop it.[2]
Anxiety most often grows from lack of knowledge and/or control. It’s easy to be afraid of that which we don’t understand, or can’t foresee. The mind can become an echo-chamber, where negative thoughts feed on each other, causing us only to consider what may go wrong, and conclude we are powerless to do anything about it. When we caused sin to enter creation, God knew that anxiety would be among the consequences of our actions.
The Bible addresses anxiety directly. As leaders we find at least three spiritual resources we can use to overcome anxiety in life and work. God does not want us to be anxious, but to approach each challenge we encounter with confidence, in order to glorify God by accomplishing His purposes through our lives. Indeed, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). How does a man move from anxious to confident?
Pray with thanksgiving. There is no more powerful tool to quell anxiety than prayer, so much so that the Bible makes this direct connection through a command: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:6-7. The key here is to pray through a situation, versus praying to avoid it.
Because God will use the difficulties we face to teach and train us, and help us to trust Him more, we often find ourselves praying in the midst of trouble. Why does God command us to pray with thanksgiving? This may be to remind us that every situation is an opportunity to know and trust God more, and to rely on Him through storms in life and work. Jesus Himself prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God to avoid enduring punishment for the sin of the world—but He knew this was not what would happen. “Nevertheless,” He continued, “Your will be done.”
Through prayer and thanksgiving, we are granted the peace of God. This is the antidote to anxiety—a peace felt in the heart that comes from faithful belief that God provides when we are facing difficulties, challenges and pain and obstacles. With anxiety it’s important to understand that our prayer accomplishes something in our own hearts and minds as we turn over our concerns to God and trust Him for the results.
Hope in God’s promise. We need not be anxious when we have certain hope that God is working for our good through life’s challenges and difficulties. When we seek what God wants to do through us in each situation, He reveals direction that helps us navigate with sure footing. The Psalmist writes, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). Hope stands in opposition to anxiety. It’s the expectation that certain positive things will happen. Hope comes from trusting. When we trust in God, He gives us hope in His promised deliverance.
The Bible counsels, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” Isaiah 40:31. Anxiety and fear can suck the life out of us, robbing us of the strength we need to fight through difficulties in life and work. Here too God promises that He will renew our strength. Perhaps there is no coincidence that Isaiah writes we will soar on wings like eagles. Consider the ”birds-eye view” that the eagle has over the earth. When we hope in God through anxiety, He too may change our perspective, reminding us that nothing is a surprise to Him or beyond His reach to address.
Surround with wise counsel. Anxiety and isolation go hand-in-hand. You generally will not meet a leader who is surrounded by friends and trusted advisors who is constantly anxious. There is never a bad time to build a support team. The ideal opportunity is, of course, before anxiety sets in. But even if you find yourself fearing the worst, among the best steps forward is to find a few people you can trust to talk to about the situation and share that burden. Proverbs 12:15 teaches, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkens unto counsel is wise.” Trying to figure out all the answers on your own, and overcome anxiety in your own strength? The Bible has a word for that: foolish.
Faith-centered leaders today suffer from an epidemic of loneliness. A Forbes magazine study recently found that loneliness in leaders resulted in “Loss of enjoyment, a sense that things are more gray than usual… Tension, fear and anxiety… loss of empathy and limited tolerance for one’s own and other’s imperfections that makes people irritable, judgmental… [and] uncertainty and distress about what, if anything is amiss.”[3]This is one of many pieces of research that clearly link anxiety to isolation in leaders.
The Bible is filled with teaching that links our relationships to a healthy personal and spiritual life. Proverbs 17:17 tells us, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Here the Scriptures clearly show that our troubles are best handled with the help of close friends. In the New Testament, the bond between Christ-followers is more acutely emphasized: “For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:10-12).
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2023/11/08/how-executives-can-manage-over-thinking-and-keep-anxiety-out-of-the-workplace/
[2] https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html
[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/constancedierickx/2020/06/23/why-loneliness-is-a-problem-for-leaders-and-what-to-do-about-it/?sh=dbaf1513471b
Anxiety most often grows from lack of knowledge and/or control. It’s easy to be afraid of that which we don’t understand, or can’t foresee. The Bible addresses anxiety directly. We find at least three spiritual resources we can use to overcome anxiety in life and work.