Stress: It's The Little Things That Get You

Leadership in business management is not of epic proportions most of the time. Movies would have us think of business leaders doing heroic and super-human feats of courage. In fact, the very best of business leaders grow right out of the ranks of management, tending to the everyday humdrum gnitty-gritties that make up the bulk of most business days.

Good leaders are almost always aware of the stresses being experienced by the people they lead and whose work they manage. What are those stresses these days? How can the business leader be helpful without compromising productivity and profit? Here are a few items to consider. There are many more.

The stress of schedule. Consider: workers today have children to be picked up or taken to school and everywhere else. Workers also have spouses, parents, relatives and friends who sometimes need looking after, who sometimes throw parties and do celebrations, who often enough engage in shared projects such as building, painting or remodeling and who sometimes provide after-hours part time employment for your workers.

You can help reduce the stress of schedule by encouraging a flexible approach. When workers need to be late, miss half a day because of a school event, or leave early they should know in advance that they have your blessing.

The stress of money woes. Very few workers have too much money! Most can barely make ends meet. With gasoline prices inching towards $4 per gallon half of our country is approaching nervous breakdowns. Anger is rising. People feel helpless and angry as they get ripped off. Yes, it is only a few dollars. But yes, it is the little things that make for stress. The little things hit so close to home.

You can help by encouraging your workers to talk it over. Who could share rides? Who could pick up a needed item for a co worker on the way to or from school or the store? How could the miles travelled collectively be pared down by teaming up and thinking strategically?

The stress of credit. Without credit ANY minor emergency becomes major. It might be a medication, a dental emergency, a minor traffic accident, a broken window, a tax bill. It might be any unexpected expense, any necessary purchase, any financial surprise. Credit at this point in time is tightening. Money is not so easy to come by. Credit cards are expensive. Even a small financial worry constitutes a large stress because it never goes away. Some of your employees might also have large financial worries such as foreclosure, divorce or bankruptcy staring at them.

You can help. Help your employees get credit. Encourage and provide for financial management discussions that focus on where employees are, be that a need for understanding, a need for skills, a need for encouragement or a need to say out loud what is stressful, just to get the feedback and relief of knowing they are not the only ones. More significantly, never miss a chance to develop savings, bonus incentives, profit sharing, 401-K plans and any other type of financial advancement that would benefit your workers.

Medicine, gasoline, utility bills, house payments and mortgages, health care, insurance, credit, food and the future: it is a fairly safe bet that many if not all of the people in your company are VERY stressed about these things. There may be some who have lost loved ones in the ongoing military actions, others whose loved one is serving overseas.

Nobody expects you to solve their problems. But you can make it easier or more difficult for those you lead. Make it easier by thinking up ways to support and encourage your people as they search for solutions. No acting or pretending: be genuine, use some imagination and encourage others to do the same. And keep your word. There is more to business than production and maximum profit. Remember, you are a leader, not a slave driver.