Managing Stress and Anxiety: Coaching Strategies for Well-being

Nearly 70% of C-suite executives have contemplated quitting their jobs for roles that better support their well-being . This stark statistic shows that even the most senior leaders are not immune to stress and anxiety. In boardrooms and virtual meetings across the world, CEOs and VPs face relentless pressure—quarterly targets, high-stakes decisions, and the unspoken expectation to be always on. The result? Sleepless nights, racing thoughts on Sunday evenings, and a constant undercurrent of stress that can erode leadership effectiveness.

For senior leaders, managing stress isn’t just about feeling better personally; it’s about performing at your peak and leading with clarity. Your state of mind impacts everything from strategic decisions to the morale of your teams. As an executive coach who has worked with countless C-suite leaders, I’ve seen firsthand how addressing stress and anxiety can transform a good leader into a great one. In this article, we’ll cut past the generic advice and zero in on real-world coaching strategies to bolster your well-being. You’ll gain insight into practical techniques that top executives use to stay calm under fire, maintain their health, and keep their companies thriving. By the end, you’ll have a toolkit of coaching-inspired strategies to manage stress and anxiety—so you can lead with resilience, focus, and humanity even in the most demanding times.

TL;DR;

•Well-being is a leadership skill: Treat managing stress and anxiety as a core part of your job, not a luxury. Leaders who prioritize their mental health make better decisions and model healthy behavior for their teams.

•Know your stress triggers: Build self-awareness to spot the early signs of stress. By understanding your emotional triggers and reactions, you can respond thoughtfully instead of reacting on impulse.

•Set boundaries and recharge: Protect time for rest and recovery just as you protect a key business meeting. Consistent habits—exercise, micro-breaks, disconnecting after hours—prevent burnout and sustain high performance.

•Reframe and refocus: Use coaching techniques like reframing challenges as opportunities and mindfulness in the moment. These tools help convert anxiety into productive energy and keep you grounded under pressure.

•Don’t go it alone: Seek support through trusted peers or professional Executive Coaching or Leadership Development programs. An outside perspective provides accountability, stress-management strategies, and a confidential space to vent and gain clarity.

1. Well-Being as a Core Leadership Priority

It’s time to dispel the myth that extreme stress is just “the price of success.” As Arianna Huffington once said, “It’s our collective delusion that overwork and burnout are the price we must pay in order to succeed.”  Leaders who ignore their well-being eventually hit a wall—often at the worst possible time. In contrast, viewing wellness as a strategic priority is a mark of forward-thinking leadership. Senior executives are beginning to recognize that taking care of themselves is part of taking care of business. In one Deloitte survey, nearly seven out of ten executives said they would seriously consider leaving their job for one that better supports their wellness . That’s a powerful wake-up call: if you’re running on fumes, you can’t effectively run your organization.

Real-world leadership experience shows that well-being and performance are deeply interconnected. I recall a VP of Sales who was skeptical about “self-care” until his unchecked anxiety led to a public blowup in a meeting. That incident became a turning point. Through coaching, he learned to view managing stress as enhancing his leadership, not detracting from it. He started blocking out 30 minutes in his day for reflection and exercise, treating it as an important meeting with himself. Within weeks, his decision-making became sharper and his team noticed a new sense of calm in his approach. The business impact was tangible: better focus, more creativity, and a leader who was truly present.

The truth is, well-being is no longer a soft nice-to-have – it’s a hard metric that affects your bottom line. Research underscores this link. Executives suffering high stress are prone to tunnel vision and erratic decisions, whereas those who actively manage their stress tend to be more strategic and resilient under pressure. Moreover, your personal well-being signals to the organization what “acceptable” looks like. If you routinely send emails at 2 AM and never take a vacation, your team gets the message that burnout is part of the job. On the other hand, when you model balance—leaving the office at a reasonable hour, taking that family vacation, or simply acknowledging when things are tough—it creates a culture where seeking balance is encouraged, not stigmatized. You set the tone. As one coaching client, a COO, told me after instituting no-meeting Fridays for her department: “I’ve never seen productivity and morale so high at the same time.”

In short, give yourself permission to treat your mental and physical health as integral to your role. It’s not selfish – it’s leadership. When you take care of the leader in the mirror, you’re able to bring your best self to your company and inspire others to do the same.

2. Mastering Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence

One of the first principles in executive coaching for managing stress is increased self-awareness. You can’t manage what you don’t notice. High-powered leaders often get so used to constant pressure that they become numb to the warning signs of stress overload. An effective coach will ask pointed questions: “How do you know when you’re nearing your limit? What physical or emotional cues tip you off?” It might be a tightness in your shoulders, a shorter fuse in meetings, or mindlessly scrolling through emails late at night. These signals are red flags telling you to pause.

By tuning into these cues, you move from living on autopilot to making conscious choices. For example, a tech CEO I worked with started tracking his mood and energy level in different situations. He discovered that back-to-back meetings without any breaks led to anxiety and rushed decisions by late afternoon. With this insight, he rearranged his schedule to build in short buffer zones between meetings. This small adjustment—rooted in self-awareness—significantly lowered his daily stress. He used those 10-minute buffers to stand up, breathe, or jot down thoughts, returning to work with a cooler head. The result: more thoughtful responses and fewer “reactive” emails he would later regret.

Emotional intelligence goes hand-in-hand with self-awareness. It’s the ability to understand and manage your emotions (and recognize others’ too). For leaders, one critical EQ skill is emotional self-regulation under stress. The goal is not to become emotionless; it’s to avoid letting emotions run the show. A useful technique here is often summarized as “name it to tame it.” When you’re hit with an overwhelming situation—say a major client just threatened to leave—take a moment to silently name what you’re feeling (“I’m feeling panicked and angry”). It sounds almost too simple, but neuroscience shows that labeling an emotion engages your thinking brain and calms the emotional brain. Rather than reacting with a panicked phone call or yelling at your team, you regain a measure of control. One Fortune 500 director I coached made it a habit to write down three words describing his mental state at the start of each day. Anxious, frustrated, overwhelmed might appear on the page—but by acknowledging those feelings, he found they had less power over him. He could then deliberately choose strategies to address them (for example, if he noted “overwhelmed,” he’d delegate one extra task that day).

Importantly, managing your own emotions isn’t just about you. It directly affects your team. Emotion is contagious. Stressed leaders have stressed teams . If you’re constantly anxious or irritable, that mood will spread through subtle cues—tone of voice, impatience, lack of clarity—and soon you’ll see it mirrored in your organization. A Harvard Business Review piece pointed out that a leader’s anxiety can easily transmit to others and undermine team performance . On the flip side, staying composed under pressure instills confidence in those around you. Great leaders are often described as the calm in the storm. By developing emotional intelligence, you become that steady presence. You listen more and react less. You can empathize with a stressed team member instead of snapping, and then guide them effectively.

Practical tip: The next time you feel your stress climbing in the middle of a high-stakes moment, remember the coaching cue: Pause – Breathe – Choose. Pause for just a second, take a slow breath, and choose your response deliberately. This simple EQ micro-skill can prevent a knee-jerk reaction and turn a potential blow-up into an opportunity for leadership. It takes practice (and yes, you might slip—everyone does), but over time these moments of mindful self-management add up. You’ll notice fewer fires to put out, because you’re not inadvertently sparking them yourself. Instead, you’re modeling the kind of thoughtful behavior you want across your organization.

3. Building Resilience Through Habits and Boundaries

Stress is inevitable in a top job; burnout is not. The difference often comes down to resilience—your capacity to bounce back and even grow through adversity. Resilience isn’t something you either have or don’t; it’s a set of behaviors and routines you can strengthen over time. Think of it as your leadership stamina. Just as athletes train their bodies to handle physical strain, executives can train themselves to handle sustained mental and emotional strain. In fact, one of the documented benefits of leadership coaching is increased resilience and better stress management . In practice, that resilience is built on daily habits and firm boundaries that protect your energy.

Start with the fundamentals: sleep, exercise, nutrition. It may sound cliché, but these are often the first things senior leaders sacrifice in the crunch, and the effects on stress levels are huge. Consider sleep – are you routinely burning the midnight oil? Remember that chronic sleep deprivation essentially puts your brain in a constant mild state of fight-or-flight, making you more reactive and less creative. One manufacturing CEO I worked with was averaging 5 hours of sleep and prided himself on it – until he started mixing up names in meetings and struggling with strategic thinking. Through coaching, he committed to simple changes: no work email after 9 p.m., and a wind-down routine to be in bed by 11. In a month’s time, he was sleeping closer to 7 hours. His anxiety levels dropped noticeably, and he joked that he felt “two steps ahead of everyone else now” in morning meetings rather than two steps behind. The investment in rest paid off in sharper focus.

Set healthy boundaries around your work. This can be incredibly challenging in a culture that rewards always being available, but it’s essential. Research by Deloitte found that the top two hurdles executives face in improving well-being are a heavy workload and long work hours . It’s telling that even among hard-charging executives, about one-third admit they don’t disconnect enough or take the breaks they need . As a leader, you often have more control over your schedule than you think. Use that power wisely. Small boundary-setting moves can have outsized effects:

•Take your vacation (seriously). Too many leaders leave paid time off unused. Yet stepping away fully, even for a few days, can reset your stress thermostat and give you fresh perspective. Your team also learns they can operate without you micromanaging every move. If an entire week off feels impossible, start with a long weekend and truly unplug – no check-ins except for true emergencies.

•Schedule “white space” on your calendar. High-level execs often have calendars packed 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Proactively block out a couple of short recovery periods in your day (even 15-30 minutes). Label it as a meeting with yourself if needed. Use that time to take a walk, grab a healthy snack, or simply do a non-work activity that relaxes you. These micro-breaks act like pressure valves. Studies show that taking brief breaks during the day can lower stress and prevent fatigue from building up .

•Set an end-of-day routine. Just as you have a morning routine to gear up, create an evening wind-down. It could be as straightforward as a final check of email, writing down tomorrow’s top priorities, and then shutting the laptop. One executive I coached created a habit of playing one song on the piano at the end of her workday. It was a clear psychological divider between “work mode” and “home mode,” and it prevented the work stress from bleeding into her evening with family.

Building resilience also means finding routines that strengthen you outside of work. This might be regular exercise, a hobby, meditation, or time with friends and family—whatever activities recharge your batteries. The key is consistency. Consider it part of your job description to maintain these habits. When coaching leaders, I often frame it this way: what’s your personal “training plan” for leadership? Just like a marathoner trains to handle 26 miles, a CEO needs practices to handle 12-hour days and high-stakes pressure. Maybe your plan includes a 3-times-a-week morning workout, or a 10-minute mindfulness meditation before work, or dinner with your spouse on Tuesdays no matter what. These aren’t indulgences; they are your resilience routines that keep you strong for the long journey.

One financial services executive I know treats his morning workout as non-negotiable as his biggest client meeting. He noticed on days he skipped exercise, he’d snap at colleagues and feel more overwhelmed. Now, that hour of physical activity is locked into his schedule. He told me, “I’ve realized that hour creates time for me—I earn back at least two hours of clear-headed productivity later.” This is how resilient leaders think: they invest in habits that pay dividends in energy and effectiveness.

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of saying no to protect your boundaries. As a leader, you’ll always have more demands on your time than hours in the day. Strategically saying no (or “not right now”) to non-critical requests is a skill that can reduce stress significantly. It might mean delegating more, postponing a project, or declining an optional engagement so you can recharge or focus on what truly matters. Every “no” is really a “yes” to something else—often your well-being or your top priorities. By courageously setting these boundaries, you demonstrate control over your time and send a message that well-being is woven into how you lead. And guess what? Your team will feel permission to do the same, fostering a healthier, more resilient organizational culture.

4. Reframing Stress and Staying Mindfully Present

Even with great habits and awareness, high-pressure moments will still come. The make-or-break factor then becomes how you handle stress in the moment. A core coaching strategy for this is reframing your mindset and practicing mindfulness under fire. Simply put, it’s about changing your relationship with stress from enemy to ally.

Start with reframing. Stress and anxiety often come from the story we tell ourselves about a situation. Executive coaches often help leaders reframe a perceived threat as a challenge or opportunity. For example, instead of thinking “If this product launch fails, I’m done”, you might reframe to “This launch is a chance to learn what our team is capable of under pressure—and even if it falters, we’ll gain valuable insights.” This isn’t just positive thinking for its own sake; it’s about seeing a stressful event in a way that empowers you. Remarkably, research supports this approach. A Stanford study showed that people with a “stress-is-enhancing” mindset (believing stress can be beneficial) had more adaptive physiological responses and performed better during high-stress tasks . In other words, when you interpret those sweaty palms and racing heart as signs that you’re energized and ready—as opposed to signs you’re failing—your body and mind actually handle the situation more effectively.

I worked with a newly promoted VP who was intimidated by presenting to the board. She would get anxious for days beforehand, convinced that any slip-up would reveal her as not “C-suite material.” We used a coaching technique to reframe her perspective: what if her nerves were actually a sign that she cared deeply and that adrenaline could sharpen her performance? We also identified that her fear was tied to a desire to be perfect. Through coaching conversations, she shifted her mindset to focus on the message and how it could help the company, rather than on herself. She went into the next board meeting telling herself, “I’m excited to share our vision,” instead of “I’m terrified to mess up.” Not only did she feel more confident, but her passion came through more genuinely to the board. She turned that anxiety into a kind of excitement. This reframing reduced her public speaking anxiety from an 8/10 to a manageable 3/10. Over time, she came to crave those high-pressure presentations as a proving ground for her team’s ideas, rather than dreading them.

Mindfulness in the moment is another powerful strategy for managing anxiety. Mindfulness isn’t about sitting on a cushion for an hour; it can be as quick as a few seconds of focused breathing or awareness, even in the heat of the moment. The practice of mindfulness trains you to observe your thoughts and feelings without getting hijacked by them. For a leader, this could mean the difference between blowing up at a colleague in a tense negotiation or calmly steering the discussion back to the facts. One technique I often share with clients is the “STOP” method: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, Proceed. When stress hits hard, literally pause (Stop) for a beat, inhale and exhale slowly (Take a breath), notice what’s going on in and around you (Observe your bodily sensations, emotions, and the situation objectively), then carry on (Proceed) with a bit more calm and clarity. This can be done in 15 seconds silently during a meeting. It’s a mini-reset that prevents stress from snowballing into something worse.

For instance, a director I coached had a tendency to get flustered and reactive when meetings went off-agenda. He implemented a mindful pause: whenever he noticed that rising panic (“We’re off track!”), he’d subtly lean back in his chair and take a slow breath while others debated. That tiny action gave him the mental space to recalibrate. He might then say, “Let’s summarize where we are,” instead of barking “We’re wasting time!” This shift kept meetings productive and collegial, and it certainly lowered his own blood pressure. Several of his peers later commented on how composed he’d become, even under chaotic circumstances. That’s the visible impact of mindfulness at work.

Another reframing tool is to focus on controllables vs. uncontrollables. Anxiety often comes from fixating on things outside our control (market forces, other people’s decisions, the past). A coach will often draw a literal circle and have the leader list what’s inside their control and what’s outside. It’s a simple exercise that externalizes worries. As an executive, you might not control a sudden regulatory change (outside circle), but you can control how your company adapts and how you communicate to your team (inside circle). Pouring energy into the latter reduces feelings of helplessness. I encouraged a client, the head of a rapidly scaling startup, to do this during a particularly turbulent quarter. He listed “investor sentiment” and “competitor moves” outside his circle, and “our product roadmap” and “team morale” inside. By visibly seeing that he was investing too much worry in externals, he redirected his focus to motivating his team and refining the roadmap – concrete actions that not only eased his anxiety but actually improved their competitive position.

In practice: The next time a crisis hits (because it will, inevitably), remember that how you frame that crisis in your mind will greatly influence your effectiveness. Ask yourself, “What is this challenge teaching me or asking of me as a leader?” and “What’s in my control right now?” These questions push your brain out of the panic zone and into problem-solving or learning mode. They ground you in reality and in the present moment – which is usually far more manageable than the catastrophic future our anxiety might be projecting. Reframing stress isn’t about denying difficulties; it’s about meeting them with a mindset that keeps you steady, clear-headed, and proactive. That is the hallmark of a resilient leader.

5. Seeking Support and Outside Perspective

Leadership can be lonely. There’s a reason nearly two-thirds of CEOs operate without an external sounding board or advisor , even as they navigate immense pressure. Too many leaders shoulder the burdens of stress and anxiety in isolation, either out of a sense that “I should handle this myself” or simply because they don’t know where to turn. A powerful antidote is to seek support – not as a last resort, but as a proactive strategy for well-being. In my years of coaching senior executives, I’ve observed that those who build a strong support network around themselves are far more adept at weathering storms and maintaining perspective.

Support can take many forms. It might be a fellow executive friend you can call after a brutal week to vent and swap advice. It could be a mentor or former boss who has been in your shoes and can share how they handled similar challenges. Increasingly, leaders are also turning to professional Executive Coaching or formal Leadership Development programs as a confidential space to process stress and develop coping strategies. In fact, executive coaching has emerged as a go-to resource for senior leaders seeking an edge in resilience. Many top CEOs openly acknowledge working with coaches, and studies show 78% of CEOs proactively seek coaching to help them grow and manage the demands of the role . What was once stigmatized (“You need a coach? What’s wrong?”) is now seen as smart leadership practice.

Engaging with an executive coach provides a uniquely safe harbor amid the chaos. In coaching sessions, everything can be put on the table—your fears, frustrations, doubts—without judgment or consequence. A good coach serves as a neutral sounding board and can help you unpack stressful situations to find clarity. One tech industry CEO I worked with likened our coaching calls to “stepping into a stress-free zone where I can actually hear myself think.” By talking things out loud, he often arrived at his own solutions for problems that had been keeping him up at night. Beyond just listening, a coach will also gently challenge you, holding up a mirror to your blind spots. Are you perhaps contributing to your own stress in certain ways? Are there assumptions you’re making that a fresh perspective could overturn? This kind of external insight can be invaluable. As the saying goes, “it’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle.” A coach helps read your leadership “label,” revealing patterns you might miss on your own.

Moreover, a coach or mentor can provide accountability for your well-being goals. It’s one thing to tell yourself you’ll disconnect on weekends; it’s another to have someone ask you, “Did you follow through this week?” Just as you hold your team accountable to goals, having someone hold you accountable to sticking to that gym routine or taking that mental health day can make a real difference. During a leadership development program, a VP of operations once confessed to our coaching group that he hadn’t taken a single day off in months. With some collective prodding, he committed to unplugging for a long weekend. We not only helped him plan for it (delegating tasks, notifying colleagues) but also debriefed after. He returned visibly recharged and, importantly, saw that the business didn’t collapse without him. That experience fundamentally changed his attitude—he began leveraging his team more and freeing himself from the Superman mentality. Sometimes it takes an outside voice to give you “permission” to do what you logically know is right.

Additionally, consider tapping into peer support. Many executives find relief in confidential peer forums or leadership circles (like Vistage, YPO, or industry-specific roundtables) where they can share challenges and hear “me too” from others. Realizing that other accomplished leaders also struggle with anxiety, imposter syndrome, or work-life balance can be a huge relief. It normalizes the experience and opens the door to sharing coping strategies. In these settings, I’ve witnessed a CFO openly discuss panic attacks and hear three other peers say they’ve experienced the same—followed by a candid exchange of what helped, from therapy to meditation apps to better delegation. The takeaway? You are not alone in feeling this way, not by a long shot. Senior leaders around the world are grappling with similar stressors, especially in our volatile, always-connected age.

Finally, don’t hesitate to leverage professional resources for mental well-being. High-performing executives sometimes benefit from therapists or counselors to work through deeper anxiety or chronic stress. Coaching and therapy are complementary; coaching tends to focus on goals and forward action, while therapy might help heal past or more entrenched emotional patterns. If you’re ever in doubt of where the line is, a seasoned executive coach can help guide you — part of our role is knowing when a client might need additional support beyond coaching, such as clinical counseling, and encouraging them to get that help. Taking care of your mental health is a strength, not a weakness.

Remember: Great leaders surround themselves with great support. Even the lone-wolf visionary types (the Steve Jobs or Elon Musk personas) have quietly leaned on close confidants, coaches, or advisors behind the scenes. There’s immense value in an outside perspective that’s invested in your success but not tangled in your day-to-day politics. Whether it’s through a service like Tandem’s Executive Coaching, a trusted mentor, or a peer network, make sure you have outlets to talk through the pressure. Sometimes just articulating what’s causing you stress can diminish its power and reveal a path forward. In the words of a client, “Having someone in my corner who isn’t part of the company, but is 100% on my side, that’s been game-changing.” You don’t have to carry the weight alone—and acknowledging that is itself a sign of wise leadership.

Conclusion

Stress and anxiety may be ever-present companions in the executive suite, but they do not have to dominate you. By treating well-being as a strategic priority, cultivating self-awareness, establishing healthy habits, reframing challenges, and seeking support, you can lead with resilience and clarity. The coaching strategies we’ve explored here aren’t theoretical; they’re battle-tested in the real world with leaders who have used them to conquer overwhelm and perform at their best. As you apply these ideas, notice what works best for you—everyone’s recipe for stress management will be a little different. The key is to be proactive and intentional. High-achieving leaders plan for growth and profits; it’s just as important to plan for your well-being.

I encourage you to take a moment and reflect: Which one of these practices can I start (or strengthen) this week? Maybe it’s as simple as penciling in a 30-minute walk three times on your calendar, or practicing a mindful pause before your next tough conversation. Small steps accumulate into significant change. Share your plan with someone you trust, or even with your team—authenticity is powerful, and acknowledging that you’re working on managing stress sets a positive example. It can spark a broader conversation about well-being in your organization, showing that it’s okay to be human at work.

Above all, remember that you don’t have to navigate the pressures of leadership alone. As an executive, investing in your own development and support system is one of the wisest decisions you can make. Whether through a mentor or a professional Executive Coaching engagement, getting an outside perspective can keep you grounded and growing. Sometimes the simple act of talking something out with a coach or advisor can illuminate a solution that was eluding you in isolation. As an executive coach, I’ve seen the relief in a leader’s eyes when they realize they have a partner in their corner solely dedicated to their success and well-being. That kind of partnership builds confidence and calm that permeate every aspect of their leadership.

In closing, managing stress and anxiety is an ongoing journey, not a one-time fix. The business landscape will continue to throw curveballs—market swings, crises, global events—testing even the strongest leaders. By applying the strategies discussed and treating your well-being as an integral part of your leadership, you’ll be far better equipped to handle whatever comes your way. You’ll lead not by burning yourself out, but by bringing out your best. And as you do, you’ll foster a healthier, more vibrant workplace for everyone around you. After all, when you take care of the leader within, you empower the entire organization to thrive.

If reading this sparked some ideas or if you’re curious how a coaching conversation could work for you, consider reaching out for an outside perspective. Sometimes a brief conversation is all it takes to chart a new path toward well-being and sustained success.