It’s no surprise to me that becoming a resilient, adaptable leader who can effectively embody “psychological flexibility” is part and parcel of what describes highly sensitive people!! That’s on a surface level. On a deeper dive it’s not likely that all highly sensitive people possess the level of evolved skill sets to bring these qualities to bear on a regular or consistent basis.

Allow me to explain. It’s one thing to have an innate toolkit containing deeper processing, keen sensitivity to subtleties, empathy, and emotional responsiveness, but quite another to have developed those aspects of ourselves as active parts of how we function in our everyday lives, especially for leaders.

Developing psychological flexibility entails a high level of self-awareness, cognitive and creative adaptability (one might say a curiosity about the problem and possible solutions), and a willingness to externally reflect rationality in the face of chaos. Many HSPs may still be on the journey to developing those qualities or skill sets. Many more have no desire to lead in a traditional sense, preferring instead to quietly tend their own inner gardens of reflection, contemplation, and calm.

High sensation seeking highly sensitive people (HSS/HSPs) may defy the above in that HSS/HSPs are geared toward seeking out new and novel stimuli, bringing our capacities for creativity to bear, and using the multiple inputs of problem-solving as grist for reflection and processing. HSS/HSPs differ markedly from HSPs lower in sensation seeking through a ready willingness to engage in the new and novel, perhaps even to take on the challenging and difficult. It’s through the repeated exposures to challenging circumstances and situations that HSS/HSPs may potentially enjoy personality growth and development fostering greater self-actualization over a lifetime.

As we now know, HSS/HSPs are up to half of the total HSP population and more discussions need to take place on crucial topics like psychological flexibility and resilience. Luckily for anyone who is interested we have an upcoming HSS/HSP workshop focusing on developing just these capacities!! Join us Nov. 1st!