SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: When you and your team get stressed, how well do you put and keep things in perspective?
- Very well — I alleviate all stressors pretty quickly: 8.51%
- Well — I reduce most sources of stress we face: 39.41%
- OK — I reduce some stress but still occasionally get stressed myself: 45.83%
- Poorly — I have a hard time reducing stress for myself and my team: 4.86%
- Very poorly — I get even more stressed out and add to the problem: 1.39%
The calm in the storm. When things get stressful, your team looks to you for how to handle the situation. If you’re calm, that will transfer to team members. If you’re flipping out, they’re likely to panic because if their leader is worried, clearly there’s something they should be worrying about, too. The most critical stress-management skill you can learn as a leader is how to bring perspective to a situation — quickly — and get everyone to decompress and find solutions. If you’re able to help those around you, including yourself, reframe the situation, you can help the team overcome the stressful moment quickly and successfully.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS and author of “One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership.”