Understanding the ways stress manifests itself in you — and your employees — is key to helping you lead through challenging times.
The stress hormone, or cortisol, the evolutionary tool that gives us our fight or flight response. It helps us react very quickly (useful for when our ancestors had to run from bears), but in modern times, it builds up in our bodies and causes all sorts of problems.
When your body’s stress response is activated too much, it creates medical, physical, psychological and mental problems. You might know that when you get stressed, you don’t think clearly, but inside so much more is happening: your thyroid function is suppressed, your ability to fight illnesses is diminished by lower immunity and your abdominal fat can even increase. This is just some of what chronic stress does to you.
You probably cannot do too much to control the pressure running a business causes you, but you can become attuned to the warning signs you’re getting stressed and act. Some of the common signs are arthritis, hunger, hostility, tunnel vision, migraines, sleep deprivation, chronic fatigue and depression.
You might get a bad headache while one of your employees experiences sleepless nights or another checks out completely. Stress has everything to do with how you and your team show up.
Think about the last year of your life, what major events happened, both the exciting and challenging things. They build up and create a baseline that comes with you to work each day.
Reflect on what could be influencing your stress level. These events could be a divorce or a significant change in your partner’s health. It could be a company reorganization or a windfall of cash. Maybe you borrowed money for a major purchase or you defaulted on a loan. Your son or daughter may have left home or you might have won a big industry award.
Taken together, such events predict low or high susceptibility to stress-induced illness.
Dysfunction from too much stress in your office can look like employees and colleagues arguing. One member of your team might have outburst or leave the office fuming. Another becomes ill, tired or distant.
Even so, some stress is good — while most of us might not be running from bears, cortisol can also help us meet a work deadline. If you’re worried, though, that your stress level is so high it is causing more problems than it’s helping, Workplace Harmony can help you assess the stressors in your life, or the ones impacting your employees’ productivity, and infuse your team with resources.
In the meantime, tune into the signs of stress in yourself and your employees. And ask: Do we need additional support?
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#f4f4f4″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https://workplaceharmonyhr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/LaurenBio.jpg” title_text=”LaurenBio” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” border_radii=”on|300px|300px|300px|300px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1em” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]Lauren Williams, Founder & Principle Consultant
Lauren Williams utilizes her 20-years of expertise in the HR field to support companies by improving and enhancing their people skills/operations, which maximizes a company’s full potential. With care and passion, she focuses intently on the employee experience and how to leverage a solid community-based company culture that encourages organic employee engagement, retention, and empowerment.
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