High Performance Leadership

  Not all stress is bad. Some stress (eustress is the Greek word for it) creates the kind of tension that prompts you to do better; to achieve important goals. We do need some stress. Any stress can be positive if you use it as motivation to do better. Who is that up to? Yep, that's completely up to you. -- doug smith  

How big of a deal is stress in your life? We all endure a certain amount of stress. Depending on what's going on in your work and in your life, you may be going thru more stress than you want. Not all stress is bad (setting an ambitious goal, for example, adds a kind of good stress) but too much stress can slow you down. How much of your stress are you choosing? Certainly, not all of your stress, but could you admit that some of it is the result of you doing too much worrying, or waiting too long to work on that big goal, or taking what the boss said too personally, or procrastinating when you knew the deadline was going to be tough? You know as well as anyone else the answer to what to do about the stress you cause yourself: let it go. Stop it. Relax, breathe, focus, and then get to work. When we do that, when we control the stress that we can control, when we choose "no" to a piece of self-selected stress, it makes handling the tough unchosen stress much, much e...

Is the stress in your life trying to tell you something? Do you know what that is? Maybe it's that you're working too hard. Maybe it's that you are working on the wrong things. Maybe it's simply that you need to find time for more laughter and fun. It's worth paying attention to stress, mainly because it seldom goes away on its own. It begs for intervention. It asks for decisive action. What you do is up to you. Stress compels us to do something productive. Something productive like finding a better way to get through the tough work faster. Finding a way to balance our workload and our workflow. Finding a way to make work fun. And, most importantly - working on what we love. Sure, it's easier said than done - but if stress is pushing you around, don't you think it's time to push back? -- Doug Smith Front Range Leadership: High performance leadership training doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Is your team under stress? Yes, it's every leader's task to help the team to produce at its highest level. That will at times put some people under stress. Eustress, or positive stress, can help to energize, motivate and activate people. But too much stress -- distress -- can send people into polarizing tailspins and produce counter-productive effects. That's not what you want. If you constantly place your people under stress don't be surprised if they are less than their best. Sometimes, reduce the stress.  Show some patience. Forgive a lost deadline if its not mission-critical. Laugh more, forgive often, empathize constantly. When leaders balance their strength with their compassion they become even more effective. What can you do to relieve your team of some piece of stress? Are you willing to do that? -- Douglas Brent Smith