We don’t pretend otherwise: leadership can be a tough gig.

But that doesn’t mean the pressures of leadership need to inevitably wear down role holders. Our focus in promoting Sustainable Leadership is to highlight how we can make leadership a more fulfilling and healthier experience.

One approach is to ensure leaders possess the skills to help them navigate common challenges in health and sustainable ways. And one of the most impactful skill sets in our toolkit is called Psychological Flexibility.

The challenges of leadership

Leaders’ difficulties can take many forms. The following represent a few of the most common topics we see in coaching sessions.

• Getting Bogged Down in Detail: Leaders can easily get pulled into unnecessary level of details. In doing so, they lose focus on the bigger picture and deplete energy for more crucial tasks.

• Overplaying Strengths: What might have been a strength in a previous role (e.g. meticulousness) can become a hindrance in a leadership position if overused. An overly conscientious leader can come across as inflexible or a micro-manager.

• Unhealthy Coping Strategies: When under pressure, leaders can resort to unsustainable coping mechanisms. The use of alcohol is a very common example, which can obviously lead to future problems.

• Neglect of Self-Care: Often viewed as a luxury, self-care is a proactive investment in one’s well-being and situation. Neglecting it can leave leaders without the necessary tools to cope with future challenges.

• Imposterism: This is the pervasive feeling of not deserving one’s role or that one will be “found out”. It can lead to unhelpful patterns like overworking or striving for impossible perfection.

• Avoidance: Avoiding difficult decisions or conversations offers brief, short-term relief but ultimately stores up problems for the future. Avoidance can frequently be masked under the guise of general ‘busyness’.

• Interpersonal Disconnection and Loneliness: Leadership can be isolating, leading to feelings of loneliness and interpersonal disconnection. This can easily erode leaders’ wellbeing over time.

What is psychological flexibility?

Psychological flexibility refers to our ability to observe our internal and external experiences (thoughts, feelings, and environmental factors) and, instead of reacting impulsively, make decisions and act based on what is genuinely important and workable in that specific situation.

The benefits of increased psychological flexibility for leaders are significant. They include improved decision-making, enhanced contextual awareness, boosted well-being and resilience, and better goal orientation.

Essentially, it allows leaders to “do more of what matters” for both short-term performance and long-term impact. Let’s take a look at the components of psychological flexibility, and how it can address some of the challenges outlined above.

1. Present moment awareness

By building their present moment awareness, leaders learn to be fully engaged in the here and now. This is more effective than constantly “mentally time traveling” (predicting the future or ruminating on the past). It allows for better decision-making by being connected to current realities rather than being hijacked by past regrets or future anxieties.

It also helps leaders be present and intentionally choose where to direct their attention, distinguishing between what’s urgent and what’s truly important for their role. Crucially, present moment awareness is a prerequisite for being able to ‘read the room’ in important interpersonal situations.

2. A flexible self-concept

This is about understanding and adjusting one’s relationship with oneself, particularly with internal dialogues and beliefs. When it comes to imposterism, a flexible self-concept helps leaders notice these internal narratives, evaluate their helpfulness, and understand their roots. They often emerge from a deep care for their work. They can then work on fostering a more compassionate relationship with themselves.

A flexible self-concept can also allow leaders to recognise when their usual approach might not be serving them effectively and when to adapt their behaviour. It’s especially useful for avoiding the over-use of existing strengths.

3. Cognitive defusion

This skill teaches leaders to see their thoughts as just thoughts, rather than absolute truths, demands or ultimatums. Instead of being preoccupied by unhelpful mental content, leaders can choose whether to engage with a thought or simply let it go, freeing up mental energy.

Defusion allows us to see thoughts as just thoughts and to end the mental struggle of attempting to change or suppress them. This is particularly relevant when leaders notice “I need to… ” or “I have to…” thoughts about getting stuck into the detail or neglecting delegation.

4. Acceptance

In this context, acceptance is not a passive resignation to the status quo, but an active, open embrace of psychological discomfort. By accepting that discomfort is an inevitable part of meaningful (or necessary) activities, leaders can move forward with tasks and situations they’d otherwise be tempted to avoid or delay. Acceptance helps move a leader’s focus from avoiding or minimising the risk of psychological discomfort to a focus on task completion and goal attainment.

5. Clarity of values

Clarity of values helps leaders identify what truly brings meaning and purpose to their lives. This clarity serves as a compass for making better decisions and choices, ensuring their everyday actions are aligned with what matters most. Values serve as a useful touchstone during periods of difficulty and upheaval, but also when leaders are faced with challenging interpersonal choices or tempted to engage in short-term, unsustainable behaviour to ‘just get through this’.

6. Committed action

This final skill in the psychological flexibility model is about intentionally moving in the direction of one’s values, even when faced with challenging situations or difficult emotions. Rather than responding automatically to life as it happens, this is about taking action that is aligned with purpose, rather than simply being busy.

Psychological flexibility encourages intentional actions that align with long-term wellbeing, even if they aren’t immediately “fun”. This supports ongoing investment in self-care, effective coping strategies and wellbeing.

How to develop your psychological flexibility

The beauty of psychological flexibility is how it can be developed in a variety of ways:

• One-to-one Coaching: This provides leaders with a dedicated space to reflect, gain support, and be held accountable for the commitments they make. Check out our coaching hub to find out more.
• Structured Training Courses: Psychological flexibility can be developed by undertaking a focused training course. Check out our Psychological Flexibility to explore some options .
• As part of a Leadership Development Programme: These skills can be embedded within broader programmes on topics like relationship management, resilience and productivity, ensuring a holistic approach to leadership growth.

Ultimately, psychological flexibility offers a powerful framework for leaders to not only survive but thrive in their roles, fostering a more sustainable and impactful approach to organisational leadership. To find out more about its relevance to leadership, check out this recording of our recent webinar on the topic.