Energy management...where to start?

Managing stress is on everyone’s agenda. As individuals and as organizations, the modern global economy with 24/7 connectivity is pushing us to our limits. It can be difficult, however, to know how we are doing at any given moment.

Stress and recovery are controlled by our body’s complex nervous systems, specifically the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The ANS is responsible for key physiological functions, like digestion, as well as the rate of heart contractions and breathing.

Within the ANS, you have the sympathetic and parasympathetic system. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our “fight or flight” response to stress. The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, controls our “rest and digest” state.

When everything is in balance, there is a natural rhythm in the ANS where sympathetic and parasympathetic systems work in tandem. An unexpected life event, illness and other stressors can disrupt that cycle, leaving you unable to recover from stress as normal.

We also can become numb to stress. When high stress is the “normal” state, we lose our ability to clearly evaluate our own situation. We end up in a survival mode without realizing. This can dramatically increase the risk of anxiety, illness, as well as burnout.

Resilient Leadership - Using data to go from surviving to thriving

A leader with low workplace resilience and energy depletion is likely to crumble under pressure. This is going to have a negative impact on culture and employee engagement. It may even further impact team performance. In contrast, resilient leaders are more likely to engage in leadership behaviors. This includes providing creative ideas, problem-solving, or encouraging others to contribute meaningfully.

Needless to say: it is important to get the leaders as resilient is possible. In order to do that, the level of resilience capacity should be monitored to know on which level exactly there is a need for change.

Research found that Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitoring is the perfect tool to do that. Not only can it be used to maintain a continuous monitoring of your stress- and recovery levels, it enhances your intrinsic motivation for change, as it immediately shows the outcome and benefits of healthy behaviour on your recovery and HRV.

“Not only can Heart Rate Variability be used to maintain a continuous monitoring of your stress- and recovery levels, it enhances your intrinsic motivation for change, as it immediately shows the outcome and benefits of healthy behaviour on your recovery and HRV.”

What is Heart Rate Variability?

We all know that our heart rate increases when we exercise or get excited, and slows down when we relax, but what most people don’t realize is that our heart rate is always in flux.

The distance between one beat and the next is constantly changing, and this fluctuation is known as Heart Rate Variability, or HRV. The difference in those intervals is extremely small. We don’t notice changes in HRV like we do with heart rate.

"By building people’s curiosity about their health and well-being through actual data we get much deeper engagement." - Duncan Young, Head of Workplace Health and Well-Being, Lendlease

Next week, we'll dive deeper into Heart Rate Variability and why it is such an important marker for business people to track.

Be your best,

Lieven

This article is part of the Built For Endurance whitepaper "The missing metric to boost business performance - How biometrical data can help leaders to optimise their performance and recovery".

Interested in reading the full whitepaper? Download it here.