The belief that leaders have the endless stamina, ideas, and skills it takes to deliver success year after year is an old fashioned fallacy. Today’s leaders have to be able to bounce back, cope, renew, and revitalise. They need to be tough. They need to be resilient. A passion for excellence can only take leaders so far because they will burn out if their physical, emotional and mental limitations are ignored. A study by Korn-Ferry found that 90% of leaders were ‘let go’ due to physical or mental conditions that impaired their leadership effectiveness. If organisational changes are planned without consideration for the impact on the human condition, this causes the current leadership to falter and breeds inefficiency in the next crop of leaders. Charismatic leaders possess more natural resilience because they tend to be more authentic and more self aware. They tend to place more importance on ‘heart count’ rather than ‘head count’ efficiency.
When we feel good our brain releases chemicals such as serotonin and oxytocin that perpetuate this feeling of balance and strengthens our immune system and ensures good health. When we feel stressed, our hypothalamus, a tiny region at the base of our brain sets off an internal alarm system. Cortisol is released into our system and activates our fight or flight response. Cortisol is not supposed to remain in our system for long because it alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive, reproductive and growth systems. When we experience long term stress at work our whole system becomes anxious, paranoid and fearful. Our job is then literally killing us.
Charismatic people accept themselves and find it easy to accept others. This provides the ideal inner emotional landscape for developing our potential, growth, adaptability to change and the qualities of charisma. Because charismatic leaders are more comfortable in their own skin, they operate in a way that supports and nourishes their immune system and consequently their health. Consequently charismatic leaders tend to be healthier when compared to their less charismatic peers.
So, be happy in your own skin and it will become easier to accept others and live a happier, healthier life in and outside of the workplace.
