There is a lot of stress all around us – in our personal and workplace lives.
The war in the Ukraine, inflation, gas prices, groceries, apartment rents, and the mass shootings are a few examples. This stress affects us all in one way or another. It feels as if everything is under some sort of threat. Do we have to make churches, schools, grocery stores, playgrounds, offices, factories and even homes hard targets to try to protect ourselves? Stressors are many – negativity is high.
In previous posts I have talked about the need for situational awareness. This is so important for all of us. It is a first line of defense. We also need to take basic precautions around our homes being sure that we have taken reasonable precautions like having bright, outside lighting, keeping doors locked, picking up packages from our front porches, etc. When we go out to mix in big groups like bars and night clubs, or events, or any gathering, we need to ask ourselves if this is the right thing for us at that time.
When we are at work, we need to be cognizant of everyone that is feeling stress and preoccupied. Things we say or do may be taken in the wrong way. People may have short tempers. Some will be hurrying and careless. We each need to avoid contributing more stress to the situations.
All this stress and preoccupation makes us vulnerable to our own mistakes and errors. I tend to make poorer judgements when I am stressed like another driver and I did recently – we had a fender bender. Fortunately, there were no injuries other than egos being beat up. Preoccupation like this at work can lead to injuries and incidents as well. Perhaps the biggest threat we face is our own impatience and anxiousness.
For me, I need to slow down a little and ask myself what I am doing to be able to do the next task correctly. Do I need to take a deep breath to clear my mind before I do the next thing? Am I centered before starting the next conversation? Am I paying enough attention to what is going on around me so I do not cause problems and get someone hurt? Am I trying to select the correct words for the next conversation so I do not cause unnecessary troubles? Is one of my friends or coworkers feeling stress and do they need some extra kindness from me?
The number of road rage incidents is going up as well as the severity of the violence in these incidents. I need to be more aware of my own behavior. Small things I do may cause someone else to get angry. I need to keep my phone put away. I do not want to be caught up in one of these road rage incidents, so I need to be sure that my speed is appropriate, and I am not driving aggressively. I need to be sure to leave plenty of space between me and other cars and not to crowd people as I give way to my stress and start hurrying.
These are tough times for all of us. Stress levels impact all areas of our lives. We need to be kind to ourselves and others to help relieve the stresses a little.
Signs of Hope
Many of you reading my posts know how highly I value using really good processes for participation in our workplaces, sharing of information, building trust, and helping people to find meaning in their work. (Having meaning in one’s work helps to lessen work stress!) Over the last 50 years of my work in the field of Leadership, I have gradually seen progress in this participative and meaningful way of working. While there are plenty of bad examples of leadership, I am seeing improvements taking place. More people are talking about working this way. Some recent articles in Professional Safety, the journal of the American Society for Safety Professionals, have begun to talk about this. Other business journals are also talking more and more about this.
There is a growing awareness that our traditional top-down management approach is not up to the rapidly changing and more complex world. I have even seen some recent papers indicating that some of the professionals in government are more aware of the need to recognize and use ideas like Ross Ashby’s Requisite Variety, Complexity and Reflexivity so we can lead, learn, and think more clearly and effectively about how work is being done. It is heartening to me to see this participative progress!
I urge all of you to work on expanding your own leadership thinking so that you can also be more effective in your own work, and as you lead others. It has been extremely important for me in my own journey over the last few generations. I urge you (also) to learn about and practice situational awareness – for your safety and for others. If you have questions, please contact me at 716-622-6467 or send me an email.
Remember, it takes Leadership to improve Safety.
It takes being “aware” to notice what’s happening in your surroundings.
It takes de-stressing measures to bring calm to the moment.
In 2001, Jim C. Collins wrote the best-selling management book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t. It described how companies transition from being good companies to great companies and how most companies fail to make that transition. The author found that focused leadership, clear expectations and alignment, and staying true to their field of major competence was key. There were other factors about greatness that showed up too – like Leaders being humble, and high employee engagement – employees being in tune with the company’s purpose, mission, endeavors, goals – not just the business side of things, but on the people side of the enterprise. Line organizations integrated information; people were involved, included and respected – because getting the right people in the right places was deemed as essential too. Entire organizations were communicating, collaborative, and cooperating.
