Discovering Psychological Wellbeing: A Path to Personal and Professional Success

Keywords: Psychological wellbeing, leadership development, career growth, coaching

Author: Dr Anna-Rosa le Roux
Date: 2 July 2024, Worklife Digital

No matter your age, role, position, title, profession, or status, increasing research shows that developing your psychological wellbeing enhances your soft skills, supports career development, and can pave the way to becoming a more successful leader.

Recently, I had a conversation with a client about her frustrations at work. She is a senior specialist in cloud engineering and works as a consultant for an international firm. Highly valued by her colleagues, she is the go-to expert for advice in her field.

But there's a Downside

Despite her professional success, she often feels anxious, waking up in the middle of the night to work. Her focus is consumed by worries about upcoming security audits. The security team had limited executive sponsorship that left them without enough resources and business buy-in to close all the compliance gaps. This left her with a feeling of being out of control. Her anxiety affects her personal life, making her irritable and creating tension with her partner and family. Her health suffers, with heart palpitations, sleep struggles, and allergic reactions. Consequently, she often feels tired, leading to a vicious cycle of irritability and bossiness.

The Path to Wellbeing

To develop your wellbeing, you need confidence in your authentic self, a commitment to growth and purpose, and strong connections in your relationships. This involves answering key questions: “Who am I really? What gives me energy? What are the patterns in my relationships?”

Our assessment revealed that our client's stress levels were critical. High stress often leads to unhealthy defence mechanisms, either avoiding accountability or taking on too much. This limits our ability to learn healthier coping strategies. My client felt overwhelmed, believing “everything stops with her” and that “she must look after everybody.”

Boundary Management

She had to learn to manage her boundaries. Her boundaries were too blurry resulting in her doing things that she didn't want to do, at the expense of her emotional and physical well-being. Her constant frustration damaged her relationships with others.

She had to reflect on the various roles of the people around her and the impact that these roles had on the audit? Secondly, by defining what her needs, values and limitations are around the audit process, she was able to identify the current issues and suggested a plan for future processes that she communicated assertively to all the stakeholders. Lastly, she learned how to make self-care a priority and allocated space and time for activities that recharged and rejuvenated her.

Managing boundaries involves giving yourself permission to be who you are, making decisions based on what is best for you in your role.

Investing in boundary management as part of psychological wellbeing can significantly enhance leadership value:

Improved Emotional Regulation and Stress Management: By setting clear boundaries, leaders can manage their workload and stress more effectively. This reduces anxiety and prevents burnout, allowing them to remain calm and composed under pressure. As the article illustrates, the client experienced reduced stress and better health outcomes by managing boundaries, which can translate into more stable and resilient leadership.
Enhanced Relationships and Communication: Boundary management leads to healthier, more respectful relationships. Leaders who respect their own boundaries and those of others are better able to communicate effectively and assertively. The client’s improved relationships with stakeholders after defining her needs and limitations around the audit process is a prime example of how clear boundaries can facilitate better teamwork and collaboration.
Increased Authenticity and Confidence: Knowing and respecting one’s boundaries creates a sense of authenticity and confidence. Leaders who are true to themselves can make decisions that align with their values, leading to greater respect from their team. The article highlights that understanding oneself and managing boundaries authentically can lead to more confident and effective leadership.
Promotion of a Healthy Work Environment: Leaders who practice good boundary management model healthy behaviour for their teams, promoting a culture of respect and wellbeing. This can reduce workplace conflicts and increase overall job satisfaction and engagement. By prioritising self-care and setting clear boundaries, the client demonstrated how leaders can create a more positive and supportive work environment.
Enhanced Decision-Making and Problem-Solving: Clear boundaries help leaders prioritise tasks and make more informed decisions. This prevents them from feeling overwhelmed and ensures they can focus on strategic goals rather than getting bogged down by unnecessary responsibilities. The client's ability to identify issues and propose solutions for the audit process after setting boundaries underscores how this skill enhances problem-solving capabilities.

Investing in boundary management as part of psychological well-being not only improves individual health and happiness but also strengthens leadership effectiveness and organisational culture.

Self-Reflection

Do you recognise some of these complaints in your own life? Do you find it difficult to be yourself? Do you often sleep badly and wake up more tired than the previous day?

Attempting to solve problems alone can lead to self-protection and avoidance, preventing you from addressing the real issues.

Take Action Today

Identifying areas of psychological wellbeing that hold you back, and focusing on addressing them is key to developing a strong, healthy mindset. Our free assessment helps you identify your strengths (areas where you are an ambassador) and areas where you have room to grow. Recommended guidance also helps you to focus on and develop areas of weakness and provide insight in how to use your strengths as a leader for others. Click here for your 15 min free assessment and diagnostic report.

WorkLife Digital is a global mental-wellbeing consultancy driven by the mission to improve the sustainability of businesses. Our psychological wellbeing tool, Worklife Quotient (WL-Q), is modelled on cutting-edge scientific research and provides organisation-wide measurement and intelligence on the mental wellbeing levels and psychological resilience of staff. WL-Q also assesses the impact of organisational practices (i.e. people and culture, leadership styles, organisational purpose and values, social impact) that have a direct influence on staff wellbeing and provides strategic recommendations on addressing risks and promoting strengths.

For more information, get in touch at anna-rosa@worklife.digital