Patricia Wheeler

How’s your stress level? If you’re like many workers today, not so good. There are some who say our stress level, with the rate of change and economic challenges, is higher than ever, with no end in sight. <br />
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The Canadian based Hans Selye Foundation monitored worker health during the first quarter of 2009. They found there has been a 23% increase in generalized anxiety disorders reported as well as a 29% increase in insomnia related complaints. (Note: the foundation is named for the esteemed physician who discovered that change produces stress whether we view the change as positive or negative.)<br />
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Won’t this all just go away when the economy gets better? The short answer is no. We have known for some time that the effects of stress have a long tail. Many of you are familiar with the Stressful Events Scale developed by Holmes and Rahe. The scale lists 43 life events with point values assigned to each; the more stressful the event, the higher the point value. They found that individuals who accumulated a significant number of “stress points” within a two year period of time showed increased vulnerability to serious illness for the two years following the stress. That’s right…two whole years after the stress is over.<br />
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My client Ron, like most leaders today, is no stranger to stress. A successful Vice President, he took a promotion that moved him from one coast to the other. Since his daughter had less than two years until graduation, the family decided they would not join Ron until then. Ron’s new team had its own cultural challenges. The team had been tactical, risk-averse and discouraging of new ideas and their current need was to become more strategic and innovative. <br />
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Four months into his new position, his company faced significant market challenges and a downsizing, during which Ron lost several members of the team he inherited. In my role as his coach, we worked together on navigating these changes, building the capacity of his remaining team and delivering good results. But even though he was dealing with a difficult situation very well, Ron confided that for the first time in many years he was feeling anxious and sleeping poorly. <br />
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As Ron found, the culture and performance of a team affects the stress of its members. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reported a Finnish study that studied the effect of team culture on the health of team members. They asked people to rate their workplace environment on a number of items. The scale included team behaviors such as “supportive of new ideas,” “prejudiced and conservative” and “quarrelsome and disagreeing.” The authors found that those who experienced a poor team climate were significantly more likely to report and be treated for depression and anxiety.<br />
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Connected to this is the fact that we tend to remember incomplete and unsatisfying outcomes far longer and in greater detail than we remember completions and successes. We’re actually hard-wired for this. So if that’s our neurological “default setting,” what’s the antidote? The good news is that science is beginning to point us in some helpful directions.<br />
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Dr. Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania is perhaps the world’s leading expert in the field known as positive psychology, which is basically the science of how to increase our level of well-being. Among his prescriptions is a simple exercise he taught me that I have recommended to a number of my clients to increase their resilience during difficult times.<br />
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The rationale for this exercise is that most of us spend more time thinking about how to correct something that’s gone wrong, or that they fear may go wrong, than they do basking in what has gone right. We tend to think especially hard when we feel thwarted. This tendency minimizes life satisfaction and can maximize anxiety and stress. Building the practice of becoming more attuned to what goes well in our lives makes sure that we do not take them for granted, and promotes the development of optimism. <br />
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Here’s how the exercise goes: <br />
For the next two months, before you go to bed, write down three things that went really well that day. It doesn’t matter if these things seem relatively small (“I had a great scoop of ice cream on the way home from work”) or relatively significant (“I had the best performance review I’ve ever received.”) Does it have to be work-related? Absolutely not! Enjoying a tasty lunch or a pleasant interchange with your son or daughter could make the list as well. Want to supercharge the exercise? Take a moment to fully remember each of your items and savor them. That’s all there is to it. But you have to do it daily.<br />
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Does it sound too simple to be effective? That’s what Ron thought. I encouraged him to try the exercise for two months. He agreed and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Not only did he begin sleeping better, but he had more energy during the work day to face his challenges. Most importantly, he found he was less focused on the sorrow of missing his family and more attuned to the positives in their video chats and phone calls. In other words, he felt more resilient and able to respond proactively to the stresses he experienced. The exercise worked well enough for him that he decided to make counting his blessings a regular part of his life. <br />
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Copyright 2009, Leading News<br />
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Patricia Wheeler is an executive and team coach who helps smart people become better leaders. As Managing Partner in the Levin Group LLC, she has spent 15 years consulting to organizations and coaching senior leaders and their teams. You may contact Patricia by E-mail at Patricia@TheLevinGroup.com or by telephone at 404 377-9408.</span><br />