There it is.

More than ever, organizational leaders are being asked to do more with less. At the same time, access to information has led to a dizzying spike in chaotic noise that every manager needs to sift through quickly and decisively. It’s no wonder that stress and LTD claims are on an alarming rise. 

Here is one simple habit that any leader can adopt to help reduce the stress of overwhelm; three simple words that can lighten your load and remove weight from your shoulders:

There it is. 

That meeting with your boss just got cancelled? Well, there it is.

Your most experienced employee just quit? There it is.

Legislation just changed that will make your team's mandate much harder? Yup, there it is. 

Why are these three little words so powerful? 

This simple phrase is one of the keys to clear-minded leadership because saying this will bypass the natural human tendency to judge, form opinions and decide how we feel about any particular circumstance. Focusing on “what is” brings us clarity, which helps us find order.

This is particularly relevant when we consider the research that reveals that 80% of the stress that we feel about the inevitable, unexpected chaos of our jobs are due to how we feel about what happens, not the event itself. 

Our judgement of any particular situation is nothing more than a label or conceptualisation that is powerless to change the situation. It's no wonder that many leaders feel stressed out.

You can hate that your co-worker just slammed your project during a meeting and in front of your peers, but what does that really accomplish? The only thing that our feelings change is to cloud our ability to respond with a clear mind and the focus needed to act. When unexpected chaos strikes, and it will, focusing on our feelings will often leave us tense, tight and easily breakable, rather than clear, loose and flexible. 

Freeing ourselves from how we feel allows us to consider the fact, a preferred outcome, and the options that we may be able to assemble into a plan of action. Another short phrase that has the same effect is “Well, that just happened”.

In these days of managing chaos to better lead people, we need all the help we can get. And cultivating the habit of bypassing our judgements and feelings can be as simple as three little words. 

There it is. 

Terry Lipovski is the Founder of Ubiquity, an international Executive Coaching and Leadership Facilitation firm, dedicated to making inspired leadership ubiquitous. For more information, visit www.UBIQUITY.coach