Leaders who are highly driven to learn and excel sometimes can become hypervigilant about everything in their world.
Technically speaking, hypervigilance is an elevated state of constant assessment, usually regarding dangers and threats. For law enforcement and military professionals, this excited state of situational awareness can help to protect people from harm.
But being on constant guard creates a host of problems.
Those who maintain a never-ending level of awareness and arousal often have a difficult time relaxing even when they are “off duty.” They become so preoccupied with scanning the environment for threats or opportunities that they sometimes overreact, become easily agitated, and live in a state of utter exhaustion.
It is no surprise that leaders who are hypervigilant have difficulty maintaining relationships and often experience severe mental health issues.
Hypervigilance is not reserved only for those in the protection and enforcement business. Leaders who have the energy and desire to learn and grow sometimes become hypervigilant about ideas and people, perpetually scanning the environment in a search for any challenge, opportunity, or insight that might give them an edge.
Like their peacekeeper counterparts, they can become obsessed with assessment and never fully turn off their mind, letting other matters take precedence. Leaders who can’t turn themselves off and fully enjoy small events and experiences find their relationships suffer, too.
If you know of or work with a leader who is hypervigilant, you understand all too well the challenges this constant arousal presents. While they add energy and insight to every conversation and value to any discussion, they are exhausting. If they can’t turn off and enjoy themselves, they can be especially difficult to work or live with.
Just knowing they are hypervigilant and asking these folks to find times and activities that allow them to completely disengage is often a boon to them. Now, it may seem like a demanding activity that requires all of their attention, unrelated to their primary focus, would be a good distraction. But the new activity can often become just another arena of hypervigilance where they over-evaluate and learn like a machine.
Better is to push these leaders to meditation, yoga, and experiences that require complete disengagement and provide a connection to other people.
Leaders who can’t retreat from hypervigilance will often create amazing outcomes but leave relationships on fire behind them. Teaching them how to relax and disengage will save them from a myriad of long-term problems. Challenging them to do so can make a world of difference for their eventual satisfaction and peace of mind.
Who knew that, for some leaders, turning off is the biggest challenge they face? Ask them to stare down the test and pass.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
