Review Opportunity #2

The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions - And What To Do

About It


San Francisco, CA - May 12, 2010 - In THE STRESS EFFECT, leadership expert Thompson

argues that stress is often the real culprit behind poor decision processes and decisions. When leaders'

stress levels become sufficiently elevated-whether in the boardroom, on the front lines of daily business, or in congressional meeting rooms-their ability to effectively use their emotional intelligence and cognitive ability in tandem to make wise decisions is significantly impaired. Stress also reduces our ability to process information.



For example: An MIT study found people who were given too much information in making
stock decisions did not perform as well as people who received less information. When given too many options, our brains become overloaded and we feel forced to choose an option which
might not be the best decision for the situation.


Until now, experts have argued that increasing your emotional intelligence will help you cope

with and manage stress. This book suggests that stress actually blocks access to your emotional

intelligence as well as your cognitive ability, two critical components in the decision-making process.


The ability to make sound and timely decisions is the mark of a good leader. But when leaders

with otherwise strong track records suddenly begin making poor decisions-as seen in the recent corporate scandals that rocked the business world-the impact can be widespread. THE

STRESS EFFECT addresses the following things:



-Shows how stress adversely affects the performance of even the most savvy leaders

-Reveals the truth about one of the prime factors behind the current failure of leadership

-Offers a solid prescription for building a "stress resilient system" and arms leaders with best practices for managing specific stressors that take the biggest toll on decision making.

A groundbreaking and insightful resource for leaders, THE STRESS EFFECT shines new light
on stress, its affect on decision making, and what to do about it.



About the book:

The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions-And What To Do About It by

Henry Thompson PhD

ISBN: 978-0-470-58903-8

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, an Imprint of Wiley

Date of publish: May 2010

Pages: 336

S.R.P.: $26.95



About the author:

Henry L. (Dick) Thompson, Ph.D., is an award-winning organizational psychologist and
leadership consultant, researcher, and author. He is the founder and CEO of High Performing
Systems, Inc. (HPS), a leadership solutions provider for a worldwide roster of Fortune 500
companies, government agencies, and more. Clients include Apple, Inc., Mohawk Industries, TD

Ameritrade, Watson Pharmaceuticals and Blue Cross Blue Shield. He is an established partner of Multi-Health Systems, Inc. (MHS), publisher of two well-known EI intelligence instruments: the BarOn EQ-i® and the MSCEIT. He is the creator of the Leadership Potential Equation, author of Jung's Function-Attitudes Explained and The CommunicationWheel: A Resource Book and co-editor of the Handbook for Developing Emotional and Social Intelligence (Pfeiffer 2009).


Note: Review copies of this book are available. Send mailing address along with the title of the book and author to ops@bostickcommunications.com