Psychological stress at work

How bad leadership affects your results

Mental health issues are on the rise again.

Photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash

Surveys clearly show that mental health is more important than ever for organisations (Source: Gallup). The impact of mental health issues on society and the organisations’ situation is severe (Source: OECD).

Multi-project environment, new IT implementations, a global pandemic, new products and marketing approaches, significant changes in sales, marketing, purchasing, supply chain, communication, projects about digitisation, automation — this list is endlessly long.

While the war for talent is going on and no positive change for organisations happened during the crisis, it is time to face the fact that the approach chosen so far is neither sustainable nor leads to future-proof results.

How do you want to ensure that your company, your organisation, your business unit is ready to deliver results without creating mental health issues for your employees?

Facts

When we look at the facts, we have to discuss stereotypical and generalising judgements towards younger people. No, young people are not too weak. No, young people are not unable to handle pressure. No, it cannot be acceptable to apply a new version of Social Darwinism in a company.

Work-Life-Balance is in the focus of a new generation entering the job market. This aspect is a widely accepted fact. It does not mean that people do not want to work. They probably do not want to work for specific organisations. Maybe they do not prefer to work for organisations that have an on-site-only work culture. Also, perhaps they do not accept that the label “traditional industry” became an excuse for disrespectful behaviour. Maybe they want to work, but they do not want to work for you. I know this feels uncomfortable to hear, but we must first question our behaviour before criticising others.

We need results, productivity, the right people and the best talents to accomplish these goals.

Leadership

Leadership is situative and motive-oriented. It is of no relevance through which hard times you had to go, how many crises you survived or how hard your former mentor was. Stop trying to copy yourself onto other people. Doing so is the opposite of good leadership. You invade someone else’s privacy and personality by doing so.

How to do it better?

First, you need to know that there is never a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. Do not expect people to adapt to you as a leader. It is your task to adapt to them. The method of Servant Leadership means that you see yourself as a service to empower and enable people to live their full potential and contribute the most significant benefit, derived from their skills, to the organisation. Of course, ego-driven leaders do not want to serve. Again, please accept that it is not about you.

Some may now claim that it is hard to figure out by which motives people are driven. That is correct. It will take some time, empathy and good leadership communication skills. In many cases, people will prefer to open up in a naturally happening informal setting. Value their trust, adapt your leadership style and receive the rewards from it for a very long time.

Decisions

You may have heard of the phrase, “No one is forced to have a career.”. This statement is, without any doubt, true. Still, it hardly ever is respected in daily leadership practice. I, the author, feel with any leader, as I was in the same situation, how desperate situations could be when you have great talent on staff, but someone is not interested in a career.

Even when someone accepts tasks for a while, putting pressure upon them will never generate a sustainable solution. People need to volunteer for a career. They must decide that they want to work more and most likely harder in your organisation under your leadership.

Phrases like “diamonds are created under pressure” are a mixture of embarrassing motivational-inspirational one-liners and anecdotal pseudo-evidence.

Deliver excellent leadership, adapt your style to the people, understand their motives and offer opportunities. Too much pressure will create mental health issues in your organisation with severe negative impacts on the people, the organisation, and you.

Decide to go for a way that works with the people, their talents and ambitions. It will pay off quicker than you imagine.

More about Psychological pressure
in this week’s podcast: click here to listen and learn.

Handling pressure well and
delivering excellent leadership is important for you?
Let’s talk: NB@NB-Networks.com.