Read all the books you want; consult psychological theories and the experts. Typically, what you’ll find is lots of advice by “experts” in behavioral psychology, always sporting a PhD and ready to tell you how YOU can subdue the stress in YOUR life. Problem; they don’t and most often have never lived in your world or walked in your shoes. They, the experts, have trouble relating so, in the absence of solid, experience based data, they rely on theories…theories expounded more “experts” who preceeded them.
Think for a moment, do you suppose Sigmund Freud would be able to relate to the working environment of a modern day manager? Do you really? I don’t.
So, what we get is a series of directives telling us how the human mind works and what goes wrong, usually based on how we were “imprinted” as kids, our early experience and behavioral conditioning, without PRACTICAL ways with which to correct the problems leading to excess and unmanageable stress.
Who has time or the inclination for counseling? Few managers I know.
With the full understanding that I’m no “expert”, I’ll suggest an Rx for managing the unavoidable stress in today’s business world. Sure, it’s somewhat general but I know it helps because it worked for me and for others with whom I’ve consulted. The most practical way to deal with natural stress is to maximize SELF-CONTROL. Figurative and literal control of your time and your life.
“Can’t be done,” you say? I’ve done it; so can you.
First, and this is the gutsy one, you must determine that you and only you will decide who you are today and how you’ll spend the rest of your working life. Doing this means going through a bit of self-analysis. No, you don’t need a shrink! You must identify those things driving you nuts. I’m talking about the “put offs”, things you have decided you must do because you can’t trust others and which you simply don’t feel comfortable doing. Do it, the sky won’t fall and your business won’t fail.
What things are really important to you? Simply put, if you identify what is most important in your life, things and people, and find you are consistently upset and “stressed” by other things and people, you have to decide to clean up the list! You are going to focus on the important and work to dump the others.
What I’m saying is, if you want to control stress, you must control youself..and that means manging the things, people and activities in your life.
I apologize for the sermon. I’ve been at this a while and made every mistake there is to make. So, I’ve learned by suffering the slings and arrows of living a phony existance. And, thankfully, I learned how to make it better. Believe me, rich or poor, it’s better being yourself!
Now, let’s get practical for a moment. “How”, you ask, “can I do it and run my business at the same time?” How can I escape the people issues, customer problems and details? Quick answer, re-engineer your organization.
Re-engineer? Rebuild? Reorganize? Yep! All three. Recently, I worked with a small business owner on the west coast who was drowning in a sea of details and activities that were driving him crazy but which he felt he was bound to manage. Because he came from the old school…”If you want it done right you do it yourself”, he really trusted noone but himself. And he had himself boxed in. He had no time for things he really felt great doing.
I understand, I am over-simplifying a more complex process but, bloggers are impatient. In a sentence, I prevailed upon the manager to sit back, analyze his time and re-focus on his skills. Surprised as he was, we were able to establish a plan for delegating the less essential tasks, tasks that were tying him up on a daily basis and let him breathe!
Result; as the manager’s day focused more and more on the “A” items, so vital to his business and let the “B” and “C” items go to subordinates, he relaxed. You can do the same. you will now spend time where you can add the greatest value. And, you be a happier manger…with far less stress.
Bonus; you now have a process for building the skills and abilities of the next wave of mangers. Succession planning now will become an integral part of your team building culture. And, you will have found a tool for stress reduction…no PhD, no couch required!
Again, I do apologize for the grossly underdetailed explanation above. My point is simply to encourage managers to stop feeling that suffering is a job requirement and plan a system that works for you!
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