Managing Stress in the Workplace

In this module, we will look at identifying and supporting workplace stress. When we talked about Resilient Leadership we acknowledged that in order to lead others and create the right climates of psychological safety for our teams we must first be able to look after ourselves.

So the approach to this module will as ever be inviting you to explore the module subject from a personal perspective first. This approach builds awareness, understanding and authenticity into anything that we then look to implement for the benefit of others.

We ourselves should feel psychologically safe and so there is a requirement for our employers to create the conditions for this. But this may be lacking, and as leaders squeezed in the centre we may have to assume responsibility for the action we must take to meet our emotional needs and accepting the situation as less than ideal. We must also then use wisdom and objectivity to set ourselves and go on to create the climates that our teams may need in order to mitigate the impacts of stress and to thrive.

So in this module we will explore psychological safety, what it is and also the three types of action in more detail – the shielding, sensing and supporting actions. Once we are clear on what we need and what action to take as leaders and individuals we will explore our role as managers and what others need from us.