We’ve all experienced stress before, and I’m sure most of you would love some ways to deal with it. Here are some of Candace Webb’s great thoughts on stress that can benefit everyone! Enjoy!

When problems exist, anxiety increases; leaders direct the focus of anxiety upon themselves to enable those around them to prosper. Unfortunately, when leaders cannot direct anxiety, anxiety influences them and impairs their cognitive state. Followers find it is hard to work in this state. This can come out in many ways, such as watching people too closely, directing anger, messing up things or ineffectively using resources at hand.

When we think of intelligence, we think “smart”, yet smart is very subjective. If one were measured by school achievement, they could appear intelligent in a broad range of theories, but relatively impaired when asked to do a specialized task. If someone were specialized in one task, we could look at them with disdain if we needed them for the same broad range. However, when we see someone effectively do one thing, it is easier to stand behind that person, so long as the task is related to it. This implies that people are usually effective leaders when they are capable of voiding the stress of those underneath them; simply by making something look easier, morale increases.

So how do we decide what stress is for those underneath us? This is the hardest part of leadership assessment. People underneath their leaders have different concepts of stress. Some may not be able to use equipment effectively, while others excel. Others may communicate effectively while others don’t. Situations are also not clear-cut and stress is inevitable for anyone. So, if becoming an effective leader means voiding stress and stress is inevitable, what does that mean?

Leaders will attempt to speak, understand and do. It is a leader’s role to make sure that they are alleviating the stress of their team, in the best way they can, at the time of the challenge. They essentially have to do two jobs: make work easier for themselves and their team. The way to make those lives underneath you easier can be done by understanding how stress is compromising them. Appearing at the core of the stress can help the team in more ways than one.

People naturally fill voids when stress occurs. They mutter words or “um” when they speak, they lash out when they are angry, cry when they are overtaken, and undermine others if they feel threatened. They become less productive when they are overworked and productive when they can interact with things and get things done. Coordinate efforts at the beginning and end of the day, understand where your team is at and plug any project gaps. If you believe you are incapable of fixing something, encourage your followers to explain what they need to complete a task and take it into account. At times, they may be held back by not knowing what your limitations are and what they can do. Weigh their method to yours and define your boundaries. Doing so will ease the burden of second-guessing. It is important to foster a non-judgmental appearance; otherwise you effectively cut off true communication.

Candice Webb is a leading social media expert with 10 years of experience in human resource management. 

She is a major collaborator in the site Degree Jungle, a resource for college bound students.

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