IN THE GRIP: BACK AGAINST THE WALL?
We often work with executives and leaders who experience enormous amounts of stress at work. As they say, ‘the closer to the top you get, the closer to the door you get’. In the compensation world, their total compensation is influenced by the size of the ulcers that go with the job. It’s also referred to as being in the grip. We’re sure you’ve gotten our point .
Naomi Quenk wrote a wonderful primer called ‘In the Grip: Understanding Type, Stress, and the Inferior Function’ based on the personality type theory developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. As Naomi mention’s in her work, Jung’s theory was refined and put into accessible form by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs, who developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory.
As part of working with and addressing the issues when each of us feels caught In the Grip, it behooves us to take a little time to answer some questions. Being completely authentic and honest with yourself goes a long way in helping you deepen your understanding of the way you think, behave and remedy the causes that trigger in the grip reactions. When you partner with a qualified executive coach, you’ll receive amazing insights and the ability to extricate yourself from this potentially devastating situation.
Naomi puts forward that there may very well be times when you feel or behave quite differently from the way you normally do. In other words, the way you see and react to everyday events at work is so unlike you that others you work with would describe you as “not being yourself,” “someone else” or simply “in the grip”. So here’s the invitation, try to think about how you are when you are most like yourself and how you are different when you are least like yourself by answering the following suggested questions from Naomi:
- What are you like when you are most yourself? That is, what qualities best describe you or define you as an individual? For example, you might describe yourself as typically optimistic, careful with details, concerned about others, future oriented, and so on.
- What are you like when you are not yourself-how are you different from your usual way of being?
- What events or circumstances are likely to provoke the reactions and changes you experience?
- What can you or others do to help the return process?
- What can you or others do to hinder the return process?
- What aspects of your work life are most satisfying and energizing?
- What aspects of your work life are most dissatisfying and stressful?
- How do you typically deal with chronic stress?
- What new things have you learned about yourself as a result of your out-of-character experiences?
We have worked with many executive clients who have successfully addressed being caught in the grip. Because of the great results they’ve been able to experience, we thought you too would find the foregoing of interest. What was your take away? On a scale of 1 – 10 where is your stress level (1 = none, 10 = let me out of here!)? What’s your next step? We would enjoy hearing your thoughts and feelings. Take care.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 7:31 pm and is filed under 360 Coaching, Business Coaching, Career Transitions, Emotional Intelligence, Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, Leadership Transition, Organization Development, Personal Coaching, Team & Group Coaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
