Management Stress Relief | Stepshift

Management Stress Relief

Stress is an all too common work side-effect that occurs in people at all levels, but particularly those who hold management or leadership positions. The added responsibility and pressure that comes with these roles can bubble up into extreme stress and anxiety, which left untreated, impacts their personal health, their job and ultimately the whole organisation. Someone working under stress is liable to make bad decisions or have difficulty concentrating, and their physical and mental wellbeing is also at risk. Reducing stress levels in your leaders is beneficial for the whole business.

Causes of Management Stress

Common causes of management stress include being responsible for essential outcomes or profits, being expected to perform unreasonable tasks, being responsible for the jobs and running of a large team of people, pressure to meet organisation standards and expectations, and fear of either being laid off or having to lay off staff. Some of these issues can be alleviated through talking to leaders and their teams to see if you can relieve some pressure and evaluate whether the standards they are being held to are realistic or possible. Communication can play a large role in diverting major stress causes. Holding a leadership position, however, means there will always be some pressures they won’t be able to change, so it’s important for leaders to develop adequate skills to address management stress.

Stress Management Strategies for Your Leaders

There are both physical and mental strategies that can be employed to cope with high management stress levels. The particular cause of stress may be as simple as a negative lifestyle choice, such as relying on caffeine or not getting enough sleep or exercise. However, management stress is often more complex, related to inefficiency with organising and managing time or over-committing oneself. It can also be deeply rooted in the leader’s role or unrealistic expectations and pressure from above, signalling more drastic change is necessary. To assess the stress levels of your leaders, executive coaching can help. An executive coach will help pinpoint where the pressure is coming from and can devise tailored coping strategies and resolution methods to benefit the individual and organisation.

Contact us to find out how executive coaching can assist your leaders deal with management stress. If you are suffering from management stress, talk to us confidentially about how we can help you identify and resolve the root causes.

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