Management Coaching: 4 stories to manage stress
15 February 2013
Read by 2027 persons
It's not easy for a manager to learn how to manage stress. To achieve this, Marc Roussel, a trainer and coach, offers four stories to remember, and especially advice to apply!
1. Competence, always competence
On a beach, two volleyball teams are facing each other. A woman arrives and asks to play. One of the teams welcomes her unenthusiastically. Yet very quickly, the game turns in her favor: the ball circulates more precisely thanks to the information given by the young woman. And it is this team that wins the game hands down.
What to remember:
Being a professional, that's what makes and will always make the difference. The subjective part of management is undeniable. It remains true, however, that like any profession, it is based on specific values, methods, techniques and tools. It is therefore necessary to know them and to strengthen one's natural aptitudes until they acquire the status of skills. In other words, the more professional a manager is, the more prepared he is for the level of tension and stress of daily life.
2. Stay focused on what works
A group of people is lamenting the loss of their manager. With him, explains one of them, "when the company won, we won too." But one day, this company was bought and the new management changed their way of doing things: no more merit-based rewards, no more group rewards and no more enthusiasm. Today, this company is barely worth selling for half its purchase price.
What to remember:
Do not change the practices of a winning team. There was the implementation of a practical philosophy that consisted of rewarding what worked and not rewarding, or even sanctioning, what did not work. It was simple, fair, and it was the very expression of respect. But despite the obvious common sense of this approach, the new owners completely ignored it and they collapsed. A manager who wants to generate positive stress really needs to stay focused on what works, recognize it, model it and then deploy it.
3. Let people do their job
The new CEO of a company enters a seminar and introduces himself: "We, the managers, are paid to solve problems, so please go ahead. Act, make decisions, solve problems and make mistakes, but please don't hide them when you become aware of them. There's no problem with mistakes as long as they allow us to learn." It's hard to imagine the relief this man, in a few sentences, caused in the group. All high-ranking managers, who, a few minutes earlier, were talking about putting themselves on standby waiting for the new boss's directions and strategy.
What to remember:
It is necessary to let your employees know that they not only have the freedom, but also the duty to solve problems, to dare to make decisions in their sphere of influence, and that they can make mistakes and learn from them. We don't realize how much negative stress is eliminated at the root by granting self-determination to our employees.
4. Believe in the potential of your employees
A man tells how he came to give a presentation in front of 250 people. A few days earlier, he had gone to see his manager to ask him to intervene at the next technical meeting. But the latter made him understand that this type of situation would happen again and that it was time for him to manage them himself. His manager then took care to help him prepare properly. It was, in his words, "the worst but also the most wonderful moment of his life."
What to remember:
It is the manager's responsibility to help the employee learn to solve his or her problems independently. This involves accompanying him or her in each step of this resolution. It is vital work that eliminates a very large amount of stress on both sides, while freeing up time for the manager and increasing the added value of the employees.
Marc Roussel.
Terrafemina.com
Posted online February 15, 2013.
1. Competence, always competence
On a beach, two volleyball teams are facing each other. A woman arrives and asks to play. One of the teams welcomes her unenthusiastically. Yet very quickly, the game turns in her favor: the ball circulates more precisely thanks to the information given by the young woman. And it is this team that wins the game hands down.
What to remember:
Being a professional, that's what makes and will always make the difference. The subjective part of management is undeniable. It remains true, however, that like any profession, it is based on specific values, methods, techniques and tools. It is therefore necessary to know them and to strengthen one's natural aptitudes until they acquire the status of skills. In other words, the more professional a manager is, the more prepared he is for the level of tension and stress of daily life.
2. Stay focused on what works
A group of people is lamenting the loss of their manager. With him, explains one of them, "when the company won, we won too." But one day, this company was bought and the new management changed their way of doing things: no more merit-based rewards, no more group rewards and no more enthusiasm. Today, this company is barely worth selling for half its purchase price.
What to remember:
Do not change the practices of a winning team. There was the implementation of a practical philosophy that consisted of rewarding what worked and not rewarding, or even sanctioning, what did not work. It was simple, fair, and it was the very expression of respect. But despite the obvious common sense of this approach, the new owners completely ignored it and they collapsed. A manager who wants to generate positive stress really needs to stay focused on what works, recognize it, model it and then deploy it.
3. Let people do their job
The new CEO of a company enters a seminar and introduces himself: "We, the managers, are paid to solve problems, so please go ahead. Act, make decisions, solve problems and make mistakes, but please don't hide them when you become aware of them. There's no problem with mistakes as long as they allow us to learn." It's hard to imagine the relief this man, in a few sentences, caused in the group. All high-ranking managers, who, a few minutes earlier, were talking about putting themselves on standby waiting for the new boss's directions and strategy.
What to remember:
It is necessary to let your employees know that they not only have the freedom, but also the duty to solve problems, to dare to make decisions in their sphere of influence, and that they can make mistakes and learn from them. We don't realize how much negative stress is eliminated at the root by granting self-determination to our employees.
4. Believe in the potential of your employees
A man tells how he came to give a presentation in front of 250 people. A few days earlier, he had gone to see his manager to ask him to intervene at the next technical meeting. But the latter made him understand that this type of situation would happen again and that it was time for him to manage them himself. His manager then took care to help him prepare properly. It was, in his words, "the worst but also the most wonderful moment of his life."
What to remember:
It is the manager's responsibility to help the employee learn to solve his or her problems independently. This involves accompanying him or her in each step of this resolution. It is vital work that eliminates a very large amount of stress on both sides, while freeing up time for the manager and increasing the added value of the employees.
Marc Roussel.
Terrafemina.com
Posted online February 15, 2013.
