Getting executives to SIT: building leaders’ resilience and stress tolerance for enhanced organizational effectiveness

Abstract

Purpose This paper presents stress inoculation as a method for reducing executives’ stress and enhancing their resilience and performance. Design/methodology/approach A review of theory and research on executive stress, resilience, and stress inoculation training was conducted. Findings Across studies, stress inoculation training has yielded reductions in performance anxiety and state anxiety while improving performance under stress. Practical implications Stress inoculation training offers a highly customized and practical way for executives to design adaptive responses to the stressors they find particularly difficult. Originality/value Stress inoculation training traditionally has been applied in clinical settings and in extremely stressful settings (e.g., military, law enforcement). This article describes how this intervention may be applied within organizations as a needed addition to the complement of stress management approaches currently offered to executives.