Leadership Skills in the Workplace

Maintaining Gains Made

LEADERSHIP BRIEFS

04 Relaxation

Objective

Pay attention to your physical and mental health

Learn to deal more effectively with the stress that often comes with a leadership role

Lesson

In our downsized organizations many Americans find themselves working harder and harder for longer hours than ever before. We pay a price for this busy-ness in diminished productivity and personal health issues. Research has found, for example:

1. If you work more than 20-30 minutes without a pause of at least 5-10 seconds it takes you up to five times as long to solve a problem.

   
   

2. One group of people was given a lecture on having a positive attitude. Another group was taught to relax every muscle in their bodies. Both groups then took an achievement test. The group that learned to relax scored 25% higher.

Questions for Group Discussion

1. What do these results say about working under pressure, especially working long hours and extensive overtime?

   
   

2. Describe your own performance when you are under pressure?

   
   

3. What results do you think you and your team could achieve at work with increased relaxation?

Group Brainstorm
Make a list of ways to increase relaxation at work while maintaining or improving productivity.

Which ones of these can you implement in your setting? Get your own team or department involved in this. Try to choose one idea that will work for you and put it into practice. Experiment and watch the improvements you generate.

How can you measure and track improvements in this area?

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