How CEOs manage stress

Ryan Wuerch runs Motricity, a company that delivers much of the mobile data you may rely on daily, such as applications, news feeds and ring tones. Like many other CEOs, he has a lot riding on him. Stress is always part of his job.

He runs marathons, which he says not only keep him physically fit but provide major stress relief. What really sets his mind at ease, though, is a bowl of chips and some good salsa and guacamole with friends.

Robert Freedman, CEO of ORC Worldwide, a compensation specialist, spends two minutes every morning drawing on a napkin while he drinks his coffee. This meditative moment not only helps him clear his mind for the day; it appears to be bearing fruit of its own. He is considering publishing his doodles, along with some thoughts of his, in a coffee table book.

Debra Nelson notes that CEOs have three unique areas of stress that can exceed other people's. Those are the pace of their work life, the pain of downsizing (in today's economy) and social isolation. Nelson is president of the NelsonQuick Group, an executive coaching firm, and has 25 years of experience in stress research.

She observes that many CEOs have personal assistants who run their schedules for them, and they go from one meeting straight to another with barely a moment to go to the bathroom. They are, in a sense, on stage all day. And their BlackBerrys and cellphones mean they're always reachable from beyond the stage too.

How can they deal with this? Nelson suggests taking back some control of one's time. Tell the personal assistant not to schedule anything for one or two hours each day.

As for the pain involved in downsizing, and social isolation in general, Nelson points out that that's hard to avoid. It's lonely at the top. You may think a CEO can be detached when deciding who to lay off, but generally that couldn't be farther from the truth. Having to make tough decisions about the people all around you can hit very hard. Watching how other, more experienced CEOs do it can help, Nelson adds: "This isn't their first rodeo."

She recommends meditation for almost any executive. The idea may put them off (maybe the word hippie comes to mind), but she's found that many CEOs really take to it. They have busy minds at all times. The opportunity to quiet the mind seems to do wonders, regardless of the form the meditation takes--whether with tapes, in classes or according to a particular spiritual program, for instance.

Dr Douglas McKenna, an industrial and organizational psychologist who helped establish Microsoft's executive and management development group in the 1990s, says that a lot of CEO stress arises from the extreme complexities and ambiguities inherent in a boss' world. A top executive faces many threats and many opportunities at once and can have a hard time feeling certain he or she has a grasp on it all.

However, McKenna says, "I believe most CEOs have a greater capacity to deal with stress than the rest of us." Some are just simply better equipped for it, he explains, and that's one reason they are CEOs. However, that doesn't mean stress isn't a problem for them. They still suffer and make bad decisions under pressure like anyone else.

Sometimes they may not realize what their real source of stress is. They may get carried away fighting a customer service problem, but that's just the straw that broke the camel's back when the real issue is marital distress. McKenna tells almost all stressed-out executives to start out by expanding the picture and looking broadly at their lives to recognise all the pressures on them. Then they can more easily start thinking and reasoning clearly, free of stress responses.

He has found that some CEOs muscle through just about anything and continue to do the job. But after a certain point, that can't last. The CEOs who do the best, in his opinion, neutralize threats by stretching them out over long timelines, making them part of a strategic landscape to ultimately detoxify them. "I suspect President Obama has that ability, from what I've seen," he says.

Is there such a thing as a stress-free CEO? Robert Loudermilk Jr., of Aaron's, Inc., a rental company, says he has very little stress. He easily finds time to go fishing on a duck pond with his three sons. His company is well established, with members of senior management who have been on board for decades. Still, he admits, there are difficulties in running a family business.

Sitting at the top doesn't generally mean you have the most comfortable seat.