As leaders, we sometimes make ourselves unnecessarily anxious by focusing too much on negative thoughts that lead to “all or nothing” conclusions. We can also be prone to over-generalization of situations, which prevents us from seeing opportunities and solutions.

LaRae Quy spent over 20 years as an FBI undercover and counterintelligence agent, primarily exposing foreign spies and flipping them to work for America. She describes four common anxiety traps that can hobble our effectiveness, then shares specific strategies for dealing with them.

As the role of educational administrators becomes increasingly stressful, these helpful ideas may provide exactly the tool you need to survive.