Renewal

Everyone needs downtime and renewal. In his timeless book, The 7 Habits of Highly Influential People¹, Steven Covey identified renewal as one of seven vital habits; he called it “Sharpen the Saw.”  The habit comprises four dimensions: “Physical (Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management), Social/Emotional (Service, Empathy, Synergy, Intrinsic Security), Spiritual (Value Clarification & Commitment, Study & Meditation) and Mental (Reading, Visualizing, Planning and Writing).” ^{1 (p. 288)}

Leaders need to institute some or all of these practices in their routines in order to be effective and to avoid the breakdowns related to stress. It is common for the daily grind of work life to consume leaders in a succession of meetings, deadlines, challenges and problems with no apparent means of escape. And, as time passes, it becomes more difficult to rise above these ongoing and evolving work issues.

Stress, “an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures,” ^{2 (p. 595)} can have positive and/or negative consequences in organizations. Some believe that lower levels of stress are best, but this is untrue in organizational situations. In fact, if job stress is too low, motivation is reduced. Alternatively, if stress is too high, performance deteriorates because it can overwhelm and dominate.^{2 & 6} As such, a balanced stress level, when stress is not too high or low, can lead to higher performance.  “As the leader’s stress level increases, performance level also increases until she reaches the optimal performance level relative to stress.” ^{6 (p. 134)} Because the leader’s role is by definition stressful, it is necessary for him or her to occasionally detach and find an equilibrium in order to maintain a top level of performance.

Excessive stress can have both personal and organizational costs. Physiologically, stress can lead to “headaches, high blood pressure and heart disease.” ^{2 (p. 597)}  Psychologically, stress can produce “anxiety and depression.” ^{2 (p. 597)} Stress also restrains organizational results by reducing job satisfaction and, in turn, causing negative effects on “productivity, absenteeism and turnover,” ^{2 (p. 597)} including the possibility of undesirable trends in organizational citizenship behavior, customer satisfaction, loyalty, and workplace deviance.

Stress does not have the same effect on everyone. How a given person reacts can be influenced by temperament, indoctrination to stress as a child, perception of control over situations, and self-confidence.²   Leaders need to gain an awareness of how he/she personally responds as well as how assigned workers might respond. This information enables the leader to craft an appropriate set of actions and preventative measures.

Leaders have a degree of control over the organizational causes of stress: task demands (type and set-up of work), role demands (pressures associated with the job itself) and interpersonal demands (the organization’s climate of relationships and support).²  For example, the leader may be able to install a more supportive team, creating the conditions for reduced personal stress.  Leaders can also alter stress levels for subordinates. For example, leaders can increase freedom and independence, variables that can benefit motivation.⁵ A leader can also balance role demands – all too often leaders pile work on subordinates without considering the consequences. In one situation, a team of leaders was asked to prioritize the many projects in progress, but the end result was that management forced several #1 priorities – thus, more than one project was on top. The final message was to get it all done, rendering prioritization pointless.

As described, there are real consequences to excessive stress and some may push people to devote vast amounts of energy to their job, especially for those who are obsessive. For example, one leader felt the need to work from 6 a.m. until 10 or 11 p.m. daily and was also consumed on the weekends; the leader applied this same expectation on subordinates. This flies in the face of research that states an optimal day for sustained performance is about 8 hours.³ Nevertheless, organizations tend to drive knowledge workers to at least 10-hour days.

So what is the solution? One step is to follow Covey’s formula of “sharpening the saw” along with its prescribed activities.¹ In addition, developing work habits that are more efficient and effective can also reduce stress. For example, research confirms that a messy desk creates a sense of disorganization.³ Meditation and other relaxation techniques can be beneficial as well. ² 

Prioritization is also a key issue. Unfortunately, most organizations attempt to do everything, even when focus and restraint is more appropriate for the long-term. Sustained success requires pinpoint attention to a chosen strategy for not only the economic health of the organization but also the human factors. “Strategy involves focus and, therefore, choice. And choice means setting aside some goals in favor of others.” ^{4 (p. 59)}

Further, without the people, nothing would be happening, and it is up to the leaders to optimize the stress levels in the organization such that it is not too high or low.

Renewal is an important habit. Without it, stress can overwhelm, causing performance to be suboptimal. Leaders need to renew to stay fresh and in the game, and they need to cause their organizations and those that work there to keep stress under control. An organization cannot do everything; pick your battles.

Comments are welcome.

References

¹ Covey, S.R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon & Schuster.

² Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2013). Organizational Behavior (15th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

³ Mackenzie, R.A. (1972). The Time Trap: How to Get More Done in Less Time. McGraw-Hill.

⁴ Rumelt, R. (2011). Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. New York: Crown Business.

⁵ Pink, D.H. (2009). Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Riverhead Books.

⁶ Thompson, H.L. (2010). The Stress Effect: Why Smart Leaders Make Dumb Decisions – And What to Do About It. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.