You may have a clear opinion about the rider’s actions. It’s easy to judge from a distance, until you find yourself in the same position. Perhaps you can empathize with him, understanding his situation the day before one of the most important races of the year. He was under pressure, and I believe many people can relate to feeling pressured. It seems that, at this moment, we are all under a bit more pressure.
How to recognize an employee under (too much) pressure?
On the eve of the World Road Cycling Championship, Mathieu van der Poel acted in a way he normally would not have. The children in the hotel corridor refused to be quieter, which kept Van der Poel from sleeping due to the noise disturbance.
Uncertain times that cause stress
These are not easy times; they are uncertain times that generate stress and trigger our primal brain to interpret it as danger. In recent years, we’ve often talked about COVID-19, working from home, and whether we could even go on vacation. Now, we are facing financial challenges for nearly every citizen, partly due to the war in Ukraine.
“What do you have to pay extra?” are questions that we didn’t ask each other in the past, but now they seem to be normal conversations among colleagues. Who would have ever thought that we would be discussing energy-saving tips with each other at the coffee machine?
The baker who can barely afford his energy bill
The first painful stories I’ve heard weren’t even about personal situations, but about the baker who can barely pay his energy bill or parents who have paid off their mortgage but can no longer bear these energy costs.
This affects us all directly, and it impacts our collective performance capacity, much more than we may realize. We are under pressure, and many feel uncertain and unsafe. It triggers our primal brain, which prevents us from utilizing our brain’s full capacity. We are seeking safety.
How do you recognize this tension in yourself and others?
Let me start with this statement: “You can only recognize signals if you are able to confront your own.”
When you experience performance energy, you recognize focus, experience flow, and are proactive. Energy that is contagious. Negative energy, however, can be dangerous for yourself and those around you. You can recognize signals in four different dimensions: physical, emotional, mental, and in terms of meaning.
You’ll notice that people who are in the negative energy zone are quicker to become tired and respond irritably. Additionally, an increased heart rate and headaches are clear signals. These are fairly easy to recognize. Uncertainty and tension manifest in cynical jokes, and people become suspicious. Everything feels forced, and they have the constant feeling of running behind. People become reactive.
Building in sufficient recovery moments
If you see even more negative energy in behavior – drinking more, procrastinating, making mistakes, and being sick too often – the energy has really drained, and you won’t fix it with just a pat on the back. It could also be that people lose perspective, become forgetful, and are no longer able or willing to complete anything.
The way to have the right energy and perform well is to build in sufficient recovery moments. As a leader, the responsibility is even greater. After all, people do what you do, not what you say.
Recognizing it is one thing, but addressing it is a lot harder. How do you tackle it? That really deserves a new blog post. But it starts with creating a safe environment, asking your employees questions, and then, most importantly, listening. And let’s be honest, listening is one of the hardest skills to master.
This article was previously published on the platform De Ondernemer. Written by Martin Hersman, former top-speed skater and Managing Partner at Lifeguard, as well as a vitality specialist and member of the Advisory Board at De Ondernemer.
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