Leveraging findings from neuroscience and psychodynamic theory to tackle senior executive stress

Rook, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1646-1245, Hellwig, T., Florent-Treacy, E. and Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2016) Leveraging findings from neuroscience and psychodynamic theory to tackle senior executive stress. In: Thriving in Turbulent Times. British Academy of Management. (Proceedings of the British Academy of Management Conference 2016)

Abstract/Summary

Tackling senior executive stress has become urgent due to the increase of prominent cases of stress in senior leaders. Commonly used stress and leadership development inventories do not always pick up on stress issues due to the taboo of executive stress. Assessment of leadership behavior based on neurological variables may provide a reliable alternative to traditional leadership and stress testing. However, we believe using neuroscience evaluation and training techniques need to be complemented with a psychodynamic approach in order to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying causes and factors of the stress experience. The psychodynamic approach addresses conscious and unconscious aspects of individual behaviour and therefore emotional and relational issues can be addressed in an intervention.