So Your Boss is Causing You to Feel Severe Stress at Work
My wife and I were presenting research papers at a psychology conference in Madrid several years ago.
We were fortunate to hear a presentation by Robert Sternberg, a cognitive psychologist and former President of the American Psychological Association.
For me there are moments, anecdotes, conversations and so on that have a lasting effect on my thinking, understanding and even values.
This was one of them.
And I guess you have them too.
Robert's wife was complaining that she didn't enjoy her workplace, was stressed constantly and felt that much of this negative feeling was directly attributable to her boss' behavior and personality.
She had considered her options - put up with her boss, change to another department within her current organization, or seek a job outside her present company.
Notice that all of her solutions were ones that she had to make - none affected her boss.
Robert advised his wife to think differently.
By inverting the strategies, she changed her options.
Why not have her boss leave rather than her? After all, she really liked everything about her job except her boss.
They decided to recommend her boss to a head hunting organization (executive recruitment consultants).
They described the boss' skill set, competencies etc and yes you guessed it - he got a job in another company.
Problem solved.
Stress relieved.
This was a creative solution to stress relief in which all parties gained.
We can't all have such neat solutions to deal with a boss that causes us job stress.
So, what other strategies can we employ to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction? The first strategy is part of my 'tough love' therapy.
Examine yourself closely.
Are you in the right job? Do you have a good skill set for this job? Are you performing well? On time? Efficient? Effective? Giving your best? Is the work environment a good match for you? In an organizational psychology this is called person-environment fit (P-E Fit) analysis.
If the fit is not right and the job can't be changed, you have to change.
Let's imagine that you do have a good P-E fit but the job is still stressful, you are constantly anxious and tired at work, and you're finding work less and less rewarding.
What next? Well, as I'm keeping these articles short and readable, I'll give you more tips for stress relief in the workplace when you have a difficult boss in my next article.
Sorry!
We were fortunate to hear a presentation by Robert Sternberg, a cognitive psychologist and former President of the American Psychological Association.
For me there are moments, anecdotes, conversations and so on that have a lasting effect on my thinking, understanding and even values.
This was one of them.
And I guess you have them too.
Robert's wife was complaining that she didn't enjoy her workplace, was stressed constantly and felt that much of this negative feeling was directly attributable to her boss' behavior and personality.
She had considered her options - put up with her boss, change to another department within her current organization, or seek a job outside her present company.
Notice that all of her solutions were ones that she had to make - none affected her boss.
Robert advised his wife to think differently.
By inverting the strategies, she changed her options.
Why not have her boss leave rather than her? After all, she really liked everything about her job except her boss.
They decided to recommend her boss to a head hunting organization (executive recruitment consultants).
They described the boss' skill set, competencies etc and yes you guessed it - he got a job in another company.
Problem solved.
Stress relieved.
This was a creative solution to stress relief in which all parties gained.
We can't all have such neat solutions to deal with a boss that causes us job stress.
So, what other strategies can we employ to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction? The first strategy is part of my 'tough love' therapy.
Examine yourself closely.
Are you in the right job? Do you have a good skill set for this job? Are you performing well? On time? Efficient? Effective? Giving your best? Is the work environment a good match for you? In an organizational psychology this is called person-environment fit (P-E Fit) analysis.
If the fit is not right and the job can't be changed, you have to change.
Let's imagine that you do have a good P-E fit but the job is still stressful, you are constantly anxious and tired at work, and you're finding work less and less rewarding.
What next? Well, as I'm keeping these articles short and readable, I'll give you more tips for stress relief in the workplace when you have a difficult boss in my next article.
Sorry!
