Host Ramona Manchini introduces Richard Sutton and frames stress as both a risk and a resource. Richard defines stress as a survival program that upregulates four systems simultaneously: immune, cardiovascular, hormonal, and nervous. In short bursts, this produces energy, focus, stronger defenses, and endurance. The problem is duration. When stress becomes protracted, it harms health and performance. He recommends monitoring sleep quality and heart rate variability as practical markers for overload.

Richard explains the body’s negative feedback loop and why it can fail after chronic pressure or due to genetic variants such as CRH1 and FKBP5. He introduces the “stress off button” via the vagus nerve and brainstem pathways. Slow breathing, meditation, body scans, yoga, and even short bouts of swimming that trigger the dive reflex can deactivate the stress response within minutes.

On burnout, he notes overlapping symptoms with depression and cites brain-derived neurotrophic factor as a biomarker often reduced in burnout. Key workplace drivers include injustice perception, long hours, lack of support, and deadline pressure. To reduce risk, he urges mindset shifts that view stress as a tool, plus proactive support networks that release oxytocin and recalibrate fear circuits.

Richard moves from tactics to strategy: adopt a long-term plan for health and wellbeing, including anti-inflammatory nutrition, sleep, and movement to moderate immune activation. He reframes resilience as a learnable skill supported by optimism, social bonds, and purposeful motivation. Leaders can counter loneliness and low support in hybrid work by combining emotional and instrumental check-ins, shared learning, and clear values that create belonging. At the cultural level, visible vulnerability from senior leaders normalizes help-seeking. Organizations should pair wellness education with ring-fencing people from known stressors, aligning responsibilities and supports. The session closes with Q&A and a reminder that consistency beats occasional fixes.

Richard recounts meeting a CEO who cannot sleep amid rapid, Covid-era disruptions. He links this anxiety to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which was already reshaping how we live, work, buy, and produce. Those shifts were expected to unfold over a decade or more, but the pandemic compressed timelines and made distant risks immediate. That collision creates three primary stress drivers: loss of control, uncertainty and insecurity, and lack of support due to social disconnection.

His prescription is pragmatic. Control what you can by introducing structure to your day. Set defined work blocks and purposeful activities. Rebuild support within smaller units such as family or immediate teams to counter isolation. Address insecurity by using the moment to upskill rather than default to passive entertainment. He encourages targeted learning, online courses, and career-advancing reading to emerge from turbulence with sharper capability, clearer foresight, and stronger relationships. The message is simple. You cannot dictate macro change, but you can tighten daily systems, deepen support, and invest in skills that increase your agency when the storm passes.

 Can our personalities determine our resilience to life’s challenges? Are you an ambitious go-getter at risk of burnout? Tune in as we explore the fascinating links between personality traits, stress management, and achieving peak performance. This episode features Richard Sutton, a resilience and stress management expert who has worked with top athletes to refine the art of thriving under pressure.

His insights are forged in the competitive fires of professional sports, with his work culminating in the release of his compelling book “Thrive: The Power of Resilience.” Prepare to dive deep into the five key personality traits and their impact on our daily lives, how simple changes in behavior can bolster your resilience, and the surprising role nature plays in our psychological well-being.

Richard Sutton dismantles the belief that resilience is only about toughness, offering instead a nuanced view of adaptation and growth, alongside practical tips for facing the symptoms of burnout head-on. Don’t miss this opportunity to rethink resilience and discover strategies to elevate your personal and professional game.