As we at MOR work with leaders across the country, a theme is the rising sense of stress among leaders and their teams. Specifically, the distress of uncomfortable and threatening feelings created by factors such as increased workload, decreased resources, organizational changes, the enrollment cliff, funding, and other uncertainties. In a recent Tuesday Reading survey, only 3% of those responding observed a decrease in distress among colleagues in recent months, with the vast majority noting an increase.
High levels of distress are associated with a host of negative outcomes, including decreased job satisfaction and performance, increased absenteeism and turnover, and even psychological and physical health concerns. High levels of distress impact us both as organizations and as individuals. As leaders, we have a collective opportunity of leading in distressing times and to be even more intentional in creating the conditions that reduce distress within our teams and organizations. Here are some ideas to consider. They have surfaced during recent MOR workshops and are research-supported in their effectiveness:
Specific Recognition
Feedback is a gift. Feedback to staff about their great work helps affirm the great work being done while setting the implicit expectation of what kind of work is valued. This creates certainty. Certainty reduces distress. Be specific in that recognition. “Great job” is much less helpful than something like “Your presentation today was key in influencing the team to adopt that new practice.” We need to be careful with recognition, recognizing people the way they want to be recognized. For example, someone who doesn’t like public recognition may become more distressed by the shout-out during a town hall, rather than the intended opposite impact.
Meaningful Autonomy
One of the most fundamental of motivators is a sense of autonomy. Where are your staff able to exercise their discretion and judgement in the work to be done? This often takes the form of articulating “what” is to be done and “why” and leaving it to them to determine the “how.” Increased autonomy helps one to feel in control, which decreases distress.
Clear Expectations
Many studies and common experiences find that one of the greatest sources of distress and uncertainty in the workplace is not having a clear sense of expectations from a supervisor. A person cannot be expected to be successful if what they are expected to do is unclear. The work to be done evolves over time and so do expectations. Expectation-setting is not a one-time event but an ongoing process.
Routine Check-ins
Clear expectations on an ongoing basis are one reason for routine check-ins. Other reasons include reducing the opportunity for rumination and the associated distress, and ensuring a healthy relationship where team members feel understood and supported.
Consistent Fairness
Not knowing what to expect and not feeling treated equitably compared to others can be significant sources of distress. We live in uncertain times. As a result, there will be a degree of unpredictability in our work. However, where can you create certainty? What routines and rituals can you establish or strengthen to help ground your team and organization? This includes routines related to the tasks at hand as well as routines that bolster relationships. Fairness matters. Even more important to lessening distress is the perception of fairness. This underscores the importance of open and transparent communication. Say what you’re doing and do what you’re saying. Even if it is a process with a high degree of confidentiality (for example, many HR processes), sharing the overview of a fair process helps people perceive the fairness. And, if it’s not a fair process, how do you change it and communicate those changes?
Nurturing Mindfulness
Being present and grounded calms the mind and provides resilience from many of the physiological impacts associated with distress. Different approaches to mindfulness will resonate with different individuals. How do you provide the space for each team member to become more mindful and grounded? If you’re looking for ideas, examples include writing daily gratitudes in a journal, slowing yourself down to observe activities in more detail, single-tasking, or intentionally taking more pauses.
Regular Breaks
As humans, we are meant to move between periods of work and periods of rest. Both small-scale and large-scale. During the course of a workday, this means breaks. During the course of a year, this means larger periods of time off. What can you do as a leader to encourage those small and large periods of rest and recovery for your team? Role-modeling those breaks matters. So does respecting the break times so that they truly are break times. Even though we may be consciously taking a break, breaks are also an important time for our subconscious to continue to process our day. Latent learning and growth can occur in these spaces.
Conclusion
As leaders, we help to create the environments where our teams can thrive. A common thread through these suggestions is creating the psychological safety that helps build resilience from a sense of distress and enables team members to move toward being fully present as themselves. Creating that environment is not a single event. It is a choice we make each day. What is one step you can take today? Tomorrow? Next week? Small steps consistently made over time move us great distances in leading during distressing times. You can always reach out to a MOR coach for a conversation. We are always invested in you and your success.
What’s your observation of your colleagues’ level of stress over the last month compared to usual?
Last week, we asked if you believe the use of AI by those around you has diminished the strength of relationships.
- 46% Agree
- 30% Neutral
- 24% Disagree
Almost half of us feel AI has diminished the strength of relationships with those around us. Wow! Reflecting on this week’s article about what leaders can do to help teams through distress, perhaps another opportunity to decrease distress is through strengthening relationships and relying a bit less on AI?
Dr. David Sweetman is a Leadership Coach and Senior Consultant with MOR Associates. You can reach David at [email protected] or via LinkedIn.