Denis Sartain - Under Pressure

Copyright 2011 Denis Sartain & Maria Katsarou

First published in 2011 by Marshall Cavendish Business

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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

eISBN 978-981-4346-74-0

Cover design by OpalWorks

Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by CPI William Clowes

CONTENTS

Why there is so much pressure to deal with, why now, and how it escalates

The process of becoming stressed, the symptoms of stress, and the price we pay for neglecting its presence in our lives

How different personality types are stressed by different stimuli, and how self-awareness can be developed

The realities of trying to create a positive, productive workplace

Techniques for mastering your internal condition and your responses to stressful situations

A practical guide to reducing stress on a day-to-day basis

How to prevent stress in your organization, and what to do when it arises

Where to find professional helpfrom financial advisors to HR to doctorsand what they can do for you

How to take charge of, and stay committed to, your lifelong well-being

In our job we see a lot of stressed people. Whether in seminars, courses, clinic settings, or through HR, we have met many bright, ambitious, hardworking people, from all over the world, who reveal to us the pressures and stress they face in the workplace. The pressures stem from many sourcesself-perception, problems with bosses or colleagues, guilt arising from making people redundantand are not confined to the self, but extend to the communities these people operate in.

Over the past ten years, war, natural disasters, and economic fallouts have become more frequent. The year 2009 saw the severest winter in 30 years in the UK; massive snow storms in the United States, resulting in a significant number of deaths; floods in the Philippines; mudslides in Brazil; and huge fires in Greece, Australia and California. In 2010, we have already witnessed the earthquake in Haiti and the devastating floods in Pakistan. The financial crisis produced severe unemployment and hardship for many and seems set to continue to do so as governments worldwide introduce austerity packages to reduce their deficits.

These events affect our mood and sense of reality. While we may not be directly or immediately affected by them, we know that we may well be eventually. We know that there are some things we can do to helphumanitarian aid, environmental protection, etc.and at the same time we also realize that there are things which are beyond our control.

So too with our personal and professional lives. There are things we can affect, and things we cant. However, we arent able to think about these things in as orderly a mannerbecause its personal.

As we go about our daily lives, we have good days and bad days; sometimes we are more successful at dealing with the bad days than others, and some people appear to be better at dealing with pressure than others, while some people simply arent able to cope with pressure at all. The consequences can be devastating.

The people on our pressure-management programmes work incredibly hard in their jobs and are very loyal employees. They attend our programmes to find out how they can manage pressure while trying to maintain their own high standards of work, be more effective with their team mates, and continue to be high contributors to their companys success. Such conscientiousness comes at a price: Those most likely to suffer stress-related illness and complaints are a companys biggest assettheir most conscientious people.

How is this so? Conscientiousness can be defined as the trait of being painstaking and careful. If the following concepts describe you quite accurately then you are probably highly conscientious: self-disciplined; taking care in what you do; thorough; highly organized; tending to think carefully before acting; motivated by achievement; hardworking; reliable.

Thinking about these, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (1=Low, 10=High) for conscientiousness. People who rate themselves below 5, i.e., those on the less conscientious end of the scale, are less likely to suffer from stress. On all our pressure-management programmes, whether voluntary or prescribed, we hardly ever encounter anyone who rates himself below 6.

So an organizations most conscientious employees are the most likely to suffer from the negative effects of pressure. Luckily the ones we meet are also conscientious enough to take the initiative to manage that stressand you too, by choosing this book, have also taken that step.

This book is about learning to live and work under pressure; or more specifically, it is about managing the negative aspects of pressure, because not all pressure is negative. Some pressures can be extremely pleasurable and rewardingmarriage, relocation, outstanding achievementsand without any form of pressure we might never achieve anything. But even positive pressure, when there is too much of it, can have harmful consequences to the unknowing.

In this book we take the view that individualsonce they understand their own relationship to and capacity for handling pressuremust themselves assume responsibility for managing the challenge it presents, and have the courage to seek advice or guidance if they need to. We believe at the same time that leaders in all organizations must take responsibility for recognizing when someone is feeling overwhelmed to the point of exhaustion or paralysis, and to understand that this is only a response, and not a failing or weakness. We need to encourage a culture that views managing pressure as being as important as servicing a carvital to keep it operating smoothly and reliably.