How to Make Stress Your Friend, Not Your Enemy

Uncategorized

Your thoughts start racing. Your jaw clenches. An invisible weight settles onto your chest. We’ve all experienced the signs of stress. Recent research by Korn Ferry found that workplace stress has risen nearly 20% in three decades. But, is that good, or bad? Until now, we’ve associated stress as something negative that we must overcome in order to think clearly and produce results. But Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal is mounting evidence that what we think we know about stress is backward. 

Her 2013 talk at TED Global is one of the 20 most popular TED talks of all time. Here are some of her more surprising findings:

Stress is not the enemy. Your beliefs about stress is the enemy.

The University of Wisconsin studied 30,000 adults in the U.S. for eight years. They started by asking participants, “How much stress have you experienced in the last year?” They followed up by asking, “Do you believe that stress is harmful for your health?” The bad news: people who experienced a lot of stress in the past year had a 43% risk of dying. But, that was only true for the participants who believed that stress is harmful for their health. In fact, people who experienced a lot of stress, but did not view stress as harmful, actually had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study, including people who had relatively little stress.

There’s more. The researchers estimated that over the eight years they were tracking deaths, 182,000 Americans died prematurely, not from stress, but from the belief that stress is bad for you. That’s more than 20,000 death a year. “If that estimate is correct,” says McGonigal, “that would make believing stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death [in 2012] killing more than skin cancer, HIV Aids, and homicide.” 

When you change your mind about stress, you can change your body’s response to stress.

Think about the last time you felt stressed. Did you interpret the physiological signs of stress – increased heart rate, faster breathing, sweaty palms – as anxiety or evidence that you weren’t coping well with pressure? “What if,” McGonigal suggests, “you understood that your body was energized, was preparing you to meet this challenge?” That’s what participants were told in a 2011 Harvard University study. Before going through a social stress test, the group was told that the body’s stress response was helpful. That pounding heart? Your body is preparing you for action. Faster breathing? No problem. You’re getting more oxygen to the brain.

In a typical stress response, your heart rate goes up and your blood vessels constrict. This is one of the reasons that chronic stress is associated with cardiovascular disease. But when participants in the Harvard study were told to view their stress response as helpful, their blood vessels stayed relaxed even though their heart was pounding. It turns out at that the relaxation of the blood vessels during stress is the same physiological response to joy and courage.

Believing that your body is helping you think clearly and prepare you for action can mean the difference between a stressed-induced heart attack in your 50’s and living well into your 90’s. Want to learn more? Check out McGonigal’s book, “The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You and How to Get Good At It.” It may just save your life.

Question: Do you know that some people feel stress the same way they do joy? Want to know how they do it?

Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News! 

How to Lead in the Age of Transparency

Uncategorized

“You will work all the time. If you’re very, very lucky you may sleep or eat.”

That’s an actual quote pulled from a review posted on Glassdoor – a site where employees and job candidates can anonymously post pros and cons about your company.

What’s that again?

Like TripAdvisor and RateMyProfessors, Glassdoor is taking advantage of the transparency revolution. It’s a database of company reviews, CEO ratings, and benefits information that lets the world know what it’s like behind the curtain of your organization – from interview to exit.

How big is it? 

If you thought that Glassdoor was a small social media platform for people to complain about their jobs, think again. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor has a current valuation of $1 billion. It’s used by 34% of Fortune 500 companies, and has 30 million members from 190 countries who’ve contributed company reviews, salary reports, and photos for some 500,000 companies.

Why should I care? 

In today’s market, your job prospects are making decisions about whether to work for your organization based on information provided by your current employees. This year’s Edelman Trust Barometer shows that trust has changed profoundly in the past year with “my employer” emerging as the most trusted cohort – far more than traditional authority figures. It’s part of what Bob Corlett of HR Examiner calls the Amazonification of recruiting.

What can I do about it?

First, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Transparency is here to stay. The best employers use Glassdoor as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in the market for top talent.

Second, breathe easy. The average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.3 out of 5, and 66% are positive. Glassdoor requires reviewers to provide both pros and cons, and enforces protocols like no foul language and NO REVIEWS IN ALL CAPS.

Third, you can follow these tips to reinforce your reputation: 

1. Spring for an enhanced profile. With it, you can add customized content like photos, videos, and job postings. It allows you to put your best foot forward in a way that displays your company’s culture and personality.

2. Encourage reviews. It’s better to be proactive than reactive. Ask job candidates to post a review of the interview experience. Encourage employees to write reviews when celebrating milestone anniversaries with your organization.

3. Comment. Employee and candidate reviews are considered opinion, so take them as such, and respond in a kind and genuine way. Here are some best of examples for inspiration.

4. Reflect. If you get a negative review, take some time for the sting to pass, then reflect. As leadership guru, Ken Blanchard says, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” If there is a kernel of truth in the negative comments, use this opportunity to reflect and address the underlying issue.

Finally, provide outlets for employees to vent. If they can speak up at a town hall or on a discussion board, they’ll be less likely to take out their frustrations in public.

Question: What does the concept of transparency mean to you and your organization? Is it feared or embraced?

Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News! 

Great Leaders Get Off Their But

Uncategorized

Have you ever seen what kids can do with a box of crayons, a big, empty cardboard box and an afternoon to kill? They may build a rocket ship and explore Mars. They might build a pirate ship and bury treasure. Kids have boundless imagination. They also have a natural sense of partnering and affirming each other. They instinctively work together to explore ideas that defy time and space.

As we grow up, the time in our lives when afternoons stretched endlessly ahead fades. Play time gets interrupted with the structure of class time. Eventually, we lose even our summers to year round work. Today’s workdays come at dizzying speed and exponential complexity. Creativity is a fundamental requirement for survival. Yet, American workers are experiencing a creativity crisis. Ironically, the creativity that we naturally tapped into as children seems unnatural as adults. As Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

How can leaders help employees get back in touch with their inner kid? Many companies like Google, PepsiCo, and MetLife are turning to improv. As you may have seen on the popular show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the premise of improv is simple. Performers don’t know what will happen on stage until they’re given a prompt. They start with that prompt, making up the story as they go along. Improv draws on the time-honored principle of “yes, and.” Performers accept whatever their scene partners do or say as part of the reality of the scene and then build on it with their own contributions.

Think about our conversations with our own teams. Ever notice how often we say “but?” What happens afterward? The team stops contributing ideas, they physically pull back, the light goes out of their eyes. To truly create, our teams need a safe space where they can generate unique ideas, then combine those ideas into the best result. As soon as we say “but,” the creative process can no longer move forward. Simply put, “but” stops the bus.

Saying “yes, and” tells your team that you are doing two important things. First, you are affirming that you respect the thoughts and ideas of others. That’s big. Second, you are truly listening and are willing to build on the ideas of others. That’s huge.

The more we practice “yes, and,” the better we hone four powerful leadership skills:

1. Listen more respectfully

2. Pick up on subtle cues

3. Demonstrate trust

4. Value opinions

Let’s face it. Not every idea is going to be a home run. But, building creative, collaborative teams is a leadership imperative. Collaborative teams are focused and present in the moment. They affirm one another, think on their feet, and adapt quickly to unexpected demands.

Question: How often do you get off your but and draw out the best from your team?

3 Simple Techniques to Beat Holiday Stress

Uncategorized

Holidays. They really are the best of times and the worst of times.

The end-of-year holidays are certainly a happy time for most of us, but the stress of the season puts many of us on such an edge that we wish it would all just go away. A recent article published in The Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute Letter confirms that the stress you may be feeling this time of year actually causes your brain to function differently.

According to Dr. Ellen Braaten, Director of the Learning and Intelligence Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, “Because the holiday season often requires us to keep track of and pay attention to a greater number of responsibilities than usual, the brain’s prefrontal cortex goes into overdrive. Over time, a high level of demand can decrease memory, halt production of new brain cells, and cause existing brain cells to die.”

This pile-on to an already overloaded calendar can make it difficult to focus on completing even the simplest of tasks. Stress overload can cause us to want to just give up trying to accomplish anything and mainline eggnog until New Year’s Day. Fortunately, there are three simple techniques you can use to rewire your brain when you’re feeling stressed – any time of the year.

1. Practice Gratitude. Don’t let scarce resources distract you from what you already have that brings you joy. Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. Dr. Robert A. Emmons, a leading gratitude researcher at University of California, Davis, has found that gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. From just saying a heartfelt “thank you” to someone who makes your day easier, to downloading a gratitude app, mindfully practicing gratitude is a good first step to beating stress.

2. Be a Giver. We all know that giving helps others. Whether we volunteer, offer emotional support to those around us, or donate to charities. But studies show that giving is also good for the giver – boosting physical and mental health. When researchers from the National Institutes of Health looked at the functional MRIs of subjects who gave to various charities, they found that giving stimulates the mesolimbic pathway, which is the reward center in the brain — releasing endorphins and creating what is known as the “helper’s high.” You don’t have to drain your bank account to be a giver. Chances are, you already know someone who could benefit directly from your time, talent, or treasure. Just think about what giving did for Scrooge!

3. Extend Grace. When we experience stress, the slightest thing can set us off. Coffee spilled on the drive to work. Ugly sweater party email chains. People who run late for your meeting. If you allow these small things to pile up, they can trigger what Emotional Intelligence author Daniel Goleman refers to as an “amygdala hijack.” Don’t let your body run on a cocktail of adrenaline and cortisol. Instead, let go of the little things that annoy you – about yourself and others – and extend grace. Grace goes further than ignoring or forgiving. It’s an attitude that expresses our dignity and affirms the dignity of those around us. Grace allows us to rise above conflict, and helps to establish calm in the swirl of chaos.

This three-part strategy requires minimal time and effort. Gratitude, giving, and grace can be highly effective when used in combination. When practiced mindfully over time, you’ll have the ability to thwart stress overload any time of the year.

Question: What techniques have you practiced to beat stress overload?

Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, subscribe to receive CEE News!