SKILL LEARNING

Our goal in this chapter is to help you manage two

fostered. We provide some guidelines for achieving
personal challenges—one is a major inhibitor of ef-
extraordinary personal effectiveness by focusing on
fective management, and one is a key facilitator of
well-being enhancements.
effective management. The first part of the chapter
highlights a common and serious problem for us all—
experiencing negative stress. It is difficult to flourish
in our activities when we are facing major stressors in Managing negative Stress
Managing stress is and
a crucial management
our lives such as overload, anxiety, conflict, tension skill in a competent manager’s repertoire. Here is
Fostering Well-
in relationships, uncertainty, failure, and regret—all why: The American Psychological Association (2009)
sources of stress. We highlight ways in which stress estimates that the problem of stress on the job siphons
can be minimized or eliminated; in the process, we
highlight ways in which personal well-being can be
off more than $500 billion from the nation’s economy. at high speed. The driver took the corners as fast
More than 50 percent of workers admit to being
less productive at work because of stress, and the
median number of days missed at work due to stress
is 25—significantly above the six days missed due to
illness or accident. Between 75 and 90 percent of all
visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related
complaints or disorders. And, things are getting worse.
The percentage of workers feeling “highly stressed”
has more than quadrupled in the last two decades.
Name any other single factor that has produced
such a devastating and costly effect on workers, man-
agers, and organizations. When we experience stress,
it is difficult to pay attention to almost anything else.
Research on the physiological effects of stress
shows widespread and devastating effects, including
negative impact on the cardiovascular system, the
respiratory system, the endocrine system, the
gastrointestinal tract, the female reproductive system,
reproductive hormones, male reproductive
functioning, immunodepression, neurological
disorders, addictions, malignancy immune functions
with HIV-1, dental pathology, pain, and anxi- ety
disorders (Hubbard & Workman, 2002). Almost no
part of life or health is immune from the effects of
stress. As an illustration of the effects of job-
related stress, consider the following true story
reported in
Baltimore, Maryland:

The job was getting to the ambulance atten-

dant. He felt disturbed by the recurring trag-
edy, isolated by the long shifts. His marriage
was in trouble. He was drinking too much.
One night it all blew up.
He rode in back that night. His partner
drove. Their first call was for a man whose
leg had been cut off by a train. His
screaming and agony were horrifying, but
the second call was worse. It was a child-
beating. As the attendant treated the
youngster’s bruised body and snapped bones,
he thought of his own child. His fury grew.
Immediately after leaving the child at the
hospital, the attendants were sent out to help
a heart attack victim seen lying in a street.
When they arrived, however, they found not
a cardiac patient but a drunk—a wino passed
out. As they lifted the man into the ambu-
lance, their frustration and anger came to a
head. They decided to give the wino a ride
he would remember.
The ambulance vaulted over railroad tracks
 as he could, flinging the wino of it as the product of a “force field” (Lewin, 1951).
from side to side in the back. To Kurt Lewin suggested that all individuals and
the attendants, it was a joke. organizations exist in an environment filled with
Suddenly, the wino began reinforcing or oppos- ing forces. These forces act to
having a real heart attack. The stimulate or inhibit the performance desired by the
attendant in back leaned over individual. As illustrated in Figure 2.1, a person’s level
the wino and started shouting. of performance in an or- ganization results from factors
“Die, you sucker!” he yelled. that may either comple- ment or contradict one
“Die!” another. Certain forces drive or motivate changes in
He watched as the wino behavior, while other forces restrain or block those
shuddered. He watched as the changes.
wino died. By the time they According to Lewin’s theory, the forces affecting
reached the hospital, they had individuals are normally balanced in the force field.

LEARNIN
their stories straight. Dead on
arrival, they said. Nothing they
could do.
The attendant, who must
remain anony- mous, talked about
that night at a recent coun- seling
session on “professional
burnout”—a growing problem in
high-stress jobs.

As this story graphically illustrates,

when we face substantial stress in our
lives, normal behavior and normal
decision making are frequently set aside,
and we suffer debilitating effects
(Auerbach, 1998; Contrada & Baum,
2011; Staw, Sandelands, & Dutton, 1981;
Weick, 1993b). Consequently, we spend
the first part of this chapter highlighting
the major types of negative stress that we
all encounter, and then we show ways to
both cope with and minimize negative
stress as well as highlight ways in which
personal well- being and resiliency can
be enhanced.
We begin our discussion by presenting
a frame- work for understanding stress and
identifying the strat- egies to cope with it.
This model explains the major types of
stressors, the primary reactions to stress,
and the reasons some people experience
more negative reactions than others.
Then we provide specific ex- amples and
behavioral guidelines for eliminating and
reducing the negative effects of stress and
enhancing psychological and social well-
being and resilience.

Major Elements of Stress

One way to understand stress is to think
Figure 2.1 Model of Force Field Analysis

Current Level of Functioning

Stressors Coping Mechanisms

Driving force A Restraining force A

Driving force B Restraining force B

Driving force C Restraining force C

Driving force D Restraining force D

ambulance driver, for example, multiple stressors

The strength of the driving forces is exactly matched
by the strength of the restraining forces. (In the figure,
longer arrows indicate stronger forces.) Performance
changes when the forces become imbalanced. That is,
if the driving forces become stronger than the restrain-
ing forces, or more numerous or enduring, change oc-
curs. Conversely, if restraining forces become stronger
or more numerous than driving forces, change occurs
in the opposite direction, or people become more and
more resistant to change.
Think of stress as represented as driving forces in
the model. That is, they exert pressure on the
individual to change present levels of performance
physiologically, psychologically, and interpersonally.
Unrestrained, those forces can lead to pathological
results (e.g., anxiety, heart disease, and mental
breakdown).
However, most people have developed a certain
amount of resiliency—represented by the restraining
forces—to counter stressors and inhibit pathological
results. These restraining forces include behavior pat-
terns, psychological characteristics, and supportive
social relationships. Strong restraining forces lead
to low heart rates, good interpersonal relationships,
emotional stability, and effective stress management.
An absence of restraining forces leads to burnout.
Of course, stress produces positive as well as
negative effects. In the absence of any stress, people
feel completely bored and lack any inclination to act.
Stress is needed to motivate action. However, we
are discussing only negative, unproductive stressors
in this chapter. Even when high levels of stress are
experienced, equilibrium can be restored quickly
if there is sufficient resiliency. In the case of the
overpowered the available restraining forces and
burnout occurred.
Figure 2.2 identifies the major categories of
stress- ors (driving forces) that managers
experience as well as the major attributes of
resiliency (restraining forces) that inhibit the
negative effects of stress. Each of these forces is
discussed in this chapter so that it will become clear
how to identify stressors, how to eliminate them,
how to develop more resiliency, and how to cope
with stress on a temporary basis.

COPING WITH STRESS

In managing stress, using a hierarchy of approaches
has been found most effective (Eliot, 2010; Kahn
& Byosiere, 1992; Lehrer, 1996). First, the best
way to manage stress is to eliminate or minimize
stressors with enactive strategies. These create,
or enact, a new environment for the individual that
does not con- tain the stressors. The second most
effective approach is for individuals to enhance their
overall capacity to handle stress by increasing their
personal resiliency. These are called proactive
strategies and are de- signed to initiate action that
resists the negative effects of stress. Finally,
developing short-term techniques for coping with
stressors is necessary when an immediate response
is required. These are reactive strategies, they are
applied as on-the-spot remedies to reduce
temporarily the effects of stress.
Individuals are better off if they can eliminate
harmful stressors and the potentially negative
effects of frequent, potent stress reactions. However,
because most individuals do not have complete
control over their environments or their
circumstances, they can
Figure 2.2 A General Model of Stress

EXPERIENCING STRESS

Stressors Reactions
•
Anticipatory • Physiological
•
Encounter • Psychological
•
Time
•
Situational

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Resiliency
• Psychological
• Social
• Wellbeing

MANAGING STRESS

Enactive Strategies Proactive Strategies Reactive Strategies

Purpose
Eliminate Develop resiliency Learn temporary
Effects stressors strategies coping mechanisms

Approach Permanent Long term Short term

Time Enactive Proactive Reactive
Required
Long time Moderate time Immediate

seldom eliminate all harmful stressors. Their next-best strategies, relying on repetitive reactive strategies can
alternative, therefore, is to develop a greater capacity create a vicious or addictive cycle.
to withstand the negative effects of stress and to mobi- It takes more effort to develop proactive resiliency
lize the energy generated by stressors. This is done by strategies and the effects are more long lasting. But,
enhancing personal resiliency and well-being. Finally, resiliency strategies can take time to implement, so
on a temporary basis, individuals can respond to a neg- the payoff is usually not immediate. The best and most
atively stressed state by using constructive strategies permanent strategies are those that eliminate negative
such as temporary relaxation techniques and contem- stressors altogether. They require the longest time to
plative practices. These reactive strategies can also fos- implement, but because stress is abolished, the payoff
ter resiliency and enhance well-being if used properly. is enduring (Stranks, 2013).
Unfortunately, most people reverse the order of
these three coping strategies. They rely first on tem-
porary reactive methods to cope with stress because
✪ MyManagementLab: WATCH IT East Haven Fire Department
Apply what you have learned about management. If your instructor has assigned
these actions can be implemented immediately. But
reactive strategies have to be repeated whenever
stressors are encountered because their effects are
short-lived. Moreover, some common reactive strate-
gies, such as drinking, taking sleeping pills, or letting
off steam through anger can become habit-forming
and harmful in themselves. Without more long-term
 Managing Stressors Each of these stressors results from some kind
of conflictual interpersonal encounter. Our own
Table 2.1 lists the four main types of stressors illus-
research has revealed that encounter stressors in
trated in the story of the ambulance driver. The first,
organizations have significant negative effects on pro-
time stressors, generally result from having too
ductivity and satisfaction (Cameron, 1994; Cameron,
much to do in too little time. These are the most
Whetten, & Kim, 1987), and encounter stressors
common and most pervasive sources of stress faced
have been found by other researchers to be at
by managers in corporations (Eliot, 2010; Kahn &
the very heart of most organizational dysfunction
Byosiere, 1992; Stalk & Hout, 1990; Vinton, 1992).
(Likert, 1967; Peters, 1988; Pfeffer, 1998; Thoits,
As might be expected, significant relationships exist
1995). Differences have also been discovered among
between the presence of time stressors and job dis-
national cultures with regard to encounter stress-
satisfaction, tension, perceived threat, heart rate,
ors (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 2004) in that
cholesterol levels, skin resistance, and other factors
egalitarian cultures that emphasize interpersonal
(Contrada & Baum, 2011).
relationships as a way to accomplish work (e.g., the
As mentioned in the first chapter on self-awareness,
United States, Norway, Ireland, and Finland) and
time stressors are experienced differently in different
country cultures emphasizing affectivity, or the pub-
national cultures (Trompenaars, 1996; Trompenaars &
lic display of emotions (e.g., Iran and Mexico rather
Hampden-Turner, 1998), so some cultures such as
than China and Japan), have more encounter stress
those in the Philippines, the United States, Ireland,
in the workplace.
Brazil, India, and Australia experience more time stress
The third category of stressors, situational
because of their emphasis on a short time horizon. In
stressors, arises from the environment in which a
cultures with a longer time horizon (e.g., Hong Kong,
person lives or from an individual’s circumstances.
Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, and Portugal), the
One of the most common forms of situational stress
immediacy of time demands is less prevalent.
is unfavorable working conditions. For the ambulance
Encounter stressors are those that result from
drivers, these included continual crises, long hours,
interpersonal interactions. Most people have expe-
and isolation from colleagues.
rienced the debilitating effects of a quarrel with a
One of the well-researched links between situ-
friend, roommate, or spouse; of trying to work with
ational stressors and negative consequences involves
an employee or supervisor with whom there has been
rapid change, particularly the effects of changes in life
an interpersonal conflict; or of trying to accomplish a
events (Hobson et al., 1998; Holmes & Rahe, 1970;
task in a group divided by lack of trust.
Wolff, Wolf, & Hare, 1950). The Social Readjustment
Rating Scale (SRRS) tracks the number of changes in-
Table 2.1 Four Key Sources of Stress dividuals have experienced over the past 12 months.
Time Stressors Since changes in some events are more stressful than
others, a scaling method is used to assign weights to
• Work overload
each life event. Hobson and colleagues (1998) revised
• Lack of control the SRRS so that the weightings of individual items
Encounter Stressors have been updated to match the modern environ-
ment, and we included the revised instrument in the
• Role conflicts Assessment section of this chapter. More than 3,500
• Issue conflicts studies have been published just since 1995 among a
• Action conflicts
variety of cultures, age groups, and occupations using
this SRRS instrument (Goldberger & Breznitz, 2010).
Situational Stressors (You will note that two different versions of the SRRS
• Unfavorable working conditions are reproduced in the Assessment section—one for
adults, and one for nonadults. You should have com-
• Rapid change
pleted the appropriate version(s) of the instrument in
Anticipatory Stressors the Assessment section.)
• Unpleasant expectations Statistical relationships between the amount of
life-event change and physical illness and injury have
• Fear
been found consistently among a wide variety of
individuals. For example, in the general population,
scores of 150 points or below results in a probability
of less than 37 percent that a serious illness or injury Table 2.2 Management Strategies for
will occur in the next year, but the probability in- Eliminating Stressors
creases to about 50 percent with scores of 150–300.
Those who score over 300 on the SRRS have an 80 TYPE OF STRESSOR ELIMINATION STRATEGY
percent chance of serious illness or injury (Holmes Time Effective time management
& Rahe, 1967; Kobasa, 1979; Miller & Rasmussen, Efficient time management
2010). High scores are strongly associated with ill-
ness and/or injury, whereas low scores are much less Encounter Building community
likely to experience illness or injury. Contributing

LEARNIN
Several studies have been conducted using col-
Emotional and social intelligence
lege and high school athletes to determine if life-event
change is related to injury as well as to illness. One Situational Work redesign
study found that college athletes with the lowest
Anticipatory Goal setting
scores on the SRRS had a rate of injury (they missed
three or more practices) of 35 percent. Those with Small wins
medium scores had an injury rate of 44 percent, and
those with high scores were injured at the rate of 72
percent. Another study showed an athlete injury rate
five times as great for high scorers on the SRRS as for Eliminating Stressors
low scorers. Still another study found a significant
increase in minor physiological symptoms such as Because eliminating stressors is a permanent stress
headache, nausea, fever, backache, eyestrain, and reduction strategy, it is by far the most desirable.
so forth among high scorers on the SRRS (Andersen Although it is impossible, and even undesirable, for in-
& Williams, 1999; Bramwell, Masuda, Wagner, & dividuals to eliminate all the stressors they encounter,
Holmes, 1975; Coddington & Troxell, 1980; Cordes they can effectively eliminate those that are harmful.
and Dougherty, 1993). Table 2.2 outlines several ways to eliminate each of
We must caution, of course, that scoring high on the four types of stressors.
the SRRS does not necessarily guarantee that a person
is going to become ill or be injured. A variety of cop-
ing skills and personal characteristics may counteract ELIMINATING TIME STRESSORS
those tendencies. The point is that situational stress- THROUGH TIME MANAGEMENT
ors are important factors to consider in learning to As pointed out earlier, time is usually the greatest
manage stress skillfully. source of stress for managers. With a literal explosion
Anticipatory stressors, the fourth category, of time management books, organizers, consultants,
include potentially disagreeable events that threaten efficiency enhancers, and technological time savers,
to occur—unpleasant things that have not yet hap- you’d expect most of us to be pretty good at manag-
pened, but might happen. Stress results from the ing our time. We certainly have all the gadgets and
anticipation or fear of the event. In the case of the advice we can use. The trouble is, most of us are
ambulance drivers, the constant threat of anticipat- getting worse. Just look around you. Whom do you
ing having to witness one more incident of human know who is a terrific time manager, who isn’t over-
suffering or death served as an anticipatory stressor. loaded, or who doesn’t complain about being stressed
Anticipatory stressors need not be highly unpleasant because of time?
or severe to produce stress. Investigators have induced It’s no surprise that time stress is escalating
high levels of stress by telling individuals that they because of the rapidity of change and the overwhelm-
would experience a loud noise or a mild shock or ing amounts of information that people encounter in
that someone else might become uncomfortable the twenty-first century. In one study, two-thirds of
because of their actions (Milgram, 1963). Fear of the respondents indicated a desire to put more em-
failure or fear of embarrassment in front of peers is a phasis on “having free time” (Davidson, 1995). Time
common anticipa- tory stressor. Anxieties about losing stress is an almost universal complaint of practicing
a job or not being accepted or liked by colleagues have managers who face between 237 and 1,073 separate
been identified as common stress producers as incidents a day.
well.
 Two sets of skills are important for effectively the objectives; and (4) we have a reason not to feel
managing time and for eliminating time stressors. guilty when we must say “no.”
One set focuses on efficiently using time each day. A number of time management experts have
The other set focuses on effectively using time over pointed out the usefulness of a “time management
the long term. Because the effectiveness approach matrix” in which activities are categorized in terms of
to time management serves as the foundation for their relative importance and urgency (Covey, 1989;
the efficiency approach, we explain it first. Then we Lakein, 1989). Important activities are those that
review some techniques for achieving efficiency in produce a desired result. They accomplish a valued
time use. end, or they achieve a meaningful purpose. Urgent
activities are those that demand immediate attention.
Effective Time Management They are associated with a need expressed by some-
Almost everyone suffers now and then from a perva- one else, or they relate to an uncomfortable problem
sive feeling of time stress. Somehow, no matter how or situation that requires a solution as soon as possible.
much time is available, it seems to get filled up and Figure 2.3 outlines this matrix and provides examples
squeezed out. Currently, the most commonly pre- of types of activities that fit in each quadrant.
scribed solutions for attacking problems of time stress Activities such as handling employee crises or
are to use calendars and planners, generate to-do customer complaints are both urgent and important
lists, and learn to say “no.” Almost all of us have (Cell 1). A ringing telephone, the arrival of emails,
tried such tactics but continue to experience texts, or unscheduled interruptions might be exam-
enormous time stress. This is not to say that calendars, ples of urgent but potentially unimportant activities
lists, and saying “no” are never useful. They are, (Cell 2). Important but nonurgent activities include
however, ex- amples of an efficiency approach to time developmental opportunities, innovating, planning,
management rather than an effectiveness approach. and so on (Cell 3). Unimportant and nonurgent activi-
In eliminat- ing time stressors, efficiency without ties are escapes and routines that people may pursue
effectiveness is fruitless. but which produce little valuable payoff: for example,
Managing time with an effectiveness approach small talk, daydreaming, shuffling paper, or arguing
means that (1) we spend our time on important mat- (Cell 4).
ters, not just urgent matters; (2) we are able to distin- Activities in the Important/Urgent quadrant
guish clearly between what is important versus what (Cell 1) usually dominate our lives. The trouble is,
is merely urgent; (3) results rather than methods are these activities require us to merely react. They are

Figure 2.3 Types of Activities That Determine Time Use

URGENCY

High Low

1 3
Developmental opportunities
High
Crises Innovating
Customer complaints Planning
IMPORTAN

2 4
Email or texts Escapes
Low
Ringing telephone Routines
Unscheduled interruptions Arguments
usually controlled by someone else, and they may or objectives, ensuring that important priorities got the
may not lead to a result we want to achieve. greatest amount of his time.
The problem is even worse in the Unimportant/
Urgent quadrant (Cell 2). Demands by others that
may meet their needs but serve only as deflections Priorities and Core Values
or interruptions to our agenda only escalate a sense The question still remains, however: How can we
of time stress. Because they may not achieve results make certain that we focus on activities that are
that are meaningful, purposeful, and important feel- important, not just urgent? To help you clarify your
ings of overload and loss of control can be guaranteed. important priorities, consider the following questions:
When these time stressors are experienced over an
What do I stand for? What am I willing to die

LEARNIN
extended period of time, we often try to escape into ❏
Nonimportant/Nonurgent activities (Cell 4) to relieve (or live) for?
the stress. We escape, put everything on hold, and, ❏ What do I care passionately about?
in so doing, often exacerbate our time stress. ❏ What legacy would I like to leave? What do
A more effective alternative is to focus on ac- I want to be remembered for?
tivities in the Important/Nonurgent quadrant (Cell 3).
❏ What do I want to have accomplished 20
Activities that are Important/Nonurgent might be
labeled opportunities instead of problems. They are years from now?
oriented toward accomplishing high-priority results. ❏ If I could persuade everyone to follow a few basic
They prevent problems from occurring rather than principles, what would they be?
just reacting to them. Preparation, preventive main-
tenance, planning, personal development, and orga- Answering these questions can help you create a
nizing are all “non-have-to” activities that are crucial personal principles statement. This is an articulation of
for long-term success. Because they are not urgent, the criteria you use for evaluating what is important
however, they often get driven out of our schedules. in your life. Other people generally help determine
Important/Nonurgent activities should be the top what is urgent. But judging importance must be done
priority on the time management agenda. By ensuring in relation to a set of personal principles and values.
that these kinds of activities get priority, the urgent Table 2.3 presents two different types of personal
problems encountered can be reduced. Time stressors principles statements. They are provided as examples
can be eliminated. of the kinds of principles statements you can write for
yourself.
One of the most difficult, yet crucially important
decisions you must make in managing time effectively Basing time management on core principles that
is determining what is important to you and what is serve to judge the importance of activities is also the
urgent. There are no rules for dividing all activities, key to being able to say “no” without feeling guilty.
demands, or opportunities into those neat categories. When you have decided what it is that you care
Problems don’t come with an “Important/Nonurgent” about passionately, what it is you most want to
tag attached. In fact, every problem or time demand is accomplish, and what legacy you want to leave, you
important to someone. But if you let others determine can more easily say “no” to activities that aren’t
what is and is not important, you will never effectively congruent with those principles. Effectiveness in time
manage your time. management, then, means that you accomplish what
you want to accomplish with your time. How you
Barry Sullivan, former CEO at First Chicago, for
achieve those accomplishments relates to efficiency of
example, reorganized the way he manages his time.
time use, to which we now turn.
Instead of leaving his appointments calendar in the
control of his secretary, he now decides what activi-
ties he wants to accomplish, then he allocates specific Efficient Time Management
blocks of time to work on those activities. Only then In addition to approaching time management from the
does he make his calendar available to his secretary to point of view of effectiveness (i.e., aligning time use
schedule other appointments. with core personal principles), it is also important to
Jan Timmer, former CEO of Philips Electronics, adopt an efficiency point of view (i.e., accomplishing
assigned an auditor to keep track of the way he used more by reducing wasted time). Many techniques are
his time. He reported quarterly to the entire company available to help managers utilize more efficiently the
the percent of his time he spent on key company time they have each day.
 Table 2.3 Examples of Personal Principles can get in the way of efficient time management and
Statements increase time stressors unless individuals are aware of
them and their possible consequences.
FROM MAHATMA GANDHI To help you identify your own time management
practices and to help you determine the efficiency
Let then our first act every morning be to make
the following resolve for the day: with which you use your time, we included in the
Assessment section an instrument to help you diag-
• I shall not fear anyone on earth. nose your time management competency: The Time
• I shall fear only God. Management Survey. The principles in the survey
have all been derived from research on time manage-
• I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
ment, and the scoring information will show you how
• I shall not submit to injustice from anyone. well you manage your time compared to others. The
• I shall conquer untruth by truth. rules set forth below correspond to the item numbers
in the assessment survey.
• And in resisting untruth I shall put up with all suffering.
Of course, no individual can or should imple-
FROM WILLIAM ROLFE KERR ment all of these time management techniques at
Prime Personal and Professional Principles: once. It would be overwhelming. Therefore, it is
best to select just a few of these techniques that will
• Succeed at home first. lead to the most improvement in your use of time.
• Seek and merit Divine help. Saving just 10 percent more time or using an extra
30 minutes a day more wisely can produce
• Never compromise with honesty.
astounding results over months and years, in addition
• Remember the people involved. to reducing your time stress.
• Plan tomorrow today.
Rule 1 Read selectively. Most reading should be
• Develop one new proficiency a year. done the way you read a newspaper, that is, skim most
• Attain visibility by productivity. of it, but stop to read what seems most important. If
you underline or highlight what you find important,
• Hustle while I wait.
you can review it quickly when you need to.
• Facilitate the success of my colleagues.
Rule 2 Make a list of things to accomplish today.
• Pursue excellence in all my endeavors. Focus on what you want to achieve, not just on what
• Be sincere and gentle yet decisive. you want to do.
• Be a creative and innovative person. Rule 3 Have a place for everything, and keep
• Don’t fear mistakes. everything in its place. Letting things get out of place
robs you of time in two ways: you need more time
• Concentrate all abilities on the task at hand. to find something when you need it, and you are
• Obtain the counsel of others. tempted to interrupt the task you are doing to do
• Defend those who are absent. something else.

• Listen twice as much as I speak. Rule 4 Prioritize your tasks. Each day you should
focus first on important tasks, and then deal with
• Be orderly in work and person.
urgent tasks.
• Maintain a positive attitude and sense of humor.
Rule 5 Do one important thing at a time but several
trivial things simultaneously. You can accomplish a lot
by doing more than one thing at a time when tasks are
routine, trivial, or require little thought.
One way to enhance efficient time use is to be
alert to your own tendencies to use time inefficiently. Rule 6 Make a list of some 5- or 10-minute dis-
The list of propositions in Table 2.4 shows general cretionary tasks. This helps use the small bits of time
patterns of behavior for most individuals in their use almost everyone has during his or her day (waiting
of time. In many situations, these tendencies may rep- for something to begin, between meetings or events,
resent appropriate responses. In others, however, they talking on the telephone, etc.).
 Table 2.4 Typical Patterns of Time Use
• We do what we like to do before we do what we don’t like to do.
• We do the things we know how to do faster than the things we do not know how to do.
• We do the things that are easiest before things that are difficult.
• We do things that require a little time before things that require a lot of time.
• We do things for which the resources are available.
• We do things that are scheduled (e.g., meetings) before nonscheduled things.

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• We sometimes do things that are planned before things that are unplanned.
• We respond to demands from others before demands from ourselves.
• We do things that are urgent before things that are important.
• We readily respond to crises and to emergencies.
• We do interesting things before uninteresting things.
• We do things that advance our personal objectives or that are politically expedient.
• We wait until a deadline before we really get moving.
• We do things that provide the most immediate closure.
• We respond on the basis of who wants it.
• We respond on the basis of the consequences to us of doing or not doing something.
• We tackle small jobs before large jobs.
• We work on things in the order of arrival.
• We work on the basis of the squeaky-wheel principle (the squeaky wheel gets the grease).
• We work on the basis of consequences to the group.

Rule 7 Divide up large projects. This helps you avoid best time management strategies. Write down how you use
feeling overwhelmed by large, important, urgent tasks. your time each hour over a sustained period.
Rule 8 Determine the critical 20 percent of your
tasks. Pareto’s law states that only 20 percent of the
work produces 80 percent of the results.
Rule 9 Save your best time for important mat-
ters. Do routine work when your energy level is low,
your mind is not sharp, or you aren’t on top of
things. Reserve your high-energy time for
accomplishing the most important and urgent
tasks.
Rule 10 Reserve some time during the day when oth-
ers don’t have access to you. Use this time to
accomplish Important/Nonurgent tasks, or spend it
just thinking.
Rule 11 Don’t procrastinate. If you do certain tasks
promptly, they will require less time and effort than if
you put them off.
Rule 12 Keep track of your time. This is one of the
Rule 13 Set deadlines. Work always
expands to fill the time available, so if
you don’t specify a termi- nation time,
tasks tend to continue longer than they
need to.
Rule 14 Do something productive while
waiting. Try reading, planning, preparing,
rehearsing, review- ing, outlining, or
memorizing.
Rule 15 Do busy work at only one set
time during the day. Reserve your best
time for nontrivial tasks.
Rule 16 Reach closure on at least one
thing every day. Finishing a task, even a
small one, produces a sense of relief and
releases stress.
Rule 17 Schedule some personal time.
You need some time when no
interruptions will occur, when you can
get off the “fast track” for a while and
be alone.
Rule 18 Allow yourself to worry only
at a speci- fied time and avoid dwelling on
a worrisome issue at other times.
Rule 19 Write down long-term objectives. You can Rule 12 Go to subordinates’ offices for brief meet-
be efficient and organized but still accomplish nothing ings if it is practical. This helps you control the length
unless you have a clear direction in mind. of a meeting by being free to leave when you choose.
Rule 20 Be on the alert for ways to improve your Rule 13 Don’t overschedule the day. You should stay
management of time. Read a list of time in control of at least some of your time each workday.
management hints periodically.
Rule 14 Have someone else answer telephone calls
and scan email, or set your computer filters so that you
Efficient Time Management do not receive irrelevant messages.
for Managers Rule 15 Have a place to work uninterrupted.
The second list of rules applies to managers at work. This helps guarantee that when a deadline is near,
The first nine rules deal with conducting meetings, you can concentrate on your task and concentrate
since managers report that approximately 70 percent uninterrupted.
of their time is spent in meetings (Cooper & Davidson,
Rule 16 Do something definite with every piece of
1982; Mintzberg, 1973; Panko, 1992).
paperwork handled. Sometimes this means throwing
Rule 1 Hold routine meetings at the end of the day. it away.
Energy and creativity levels are highest early in the day
Rule 17 Keep the workplace clean. This minimizes
and shouldn’t be wasted on trivial matters. Further-
distractions and reduces the time it takes to find things.
more, an automatic deadline—quitting time—will set
a time limit on the meeting. Rules 18, 19, and 20 Delegate work, identify the
amount of initiative recipients should take with the
Rule 2 Hold short meetings standing up. This tasks they are assigned, and give others credit for
guarantees that meetings will be kept short. their suc- cess. These rules all relate to effective
Rule 3 Set a time limit. Identify when the meet- delegation, a key time management technique. These
ing will end at the beginning of every meeting and last three rules are also discussed in the Empowering
appointment. and Engaging chapter. Remember that these
techniques for managing time are a means to an
Rule 4 Cancel meetings once in a while. Meet- end, not the end itself. If trying to implement
ings should be held only if they can achieve a specific techniques creates more rather than less stress, they
objective. should not be applied. However, research has
Rules 5, 6, and 7 Have agendas, stick to them, indicated that managers who use these kinds of
and keep track of time. Keep track of assignments so techniques have better control of their time, accom-
that they are not forgotten, that follow-up and ac- plish more, have better relations with subordinates,
countability occur, and that everyone is clear about and eliminate many of the time stressors most man-
expectations. agers ordinarily encounter (Davidson, 1995; Lehrer,
1996; Turkington, 1998). Saving just 30 minutes a
Rule 8 Start meetings on time. Starting on time day amounts to one full year of free time during your
rewards people who are prompt rather than waiting working lifetime. That’s 8,760 hours of free time!
for laggards. You will find that as you select a few of these hints to
Rule 9 Prepare minutes of the meeting and fol- apply in your own life, the efficiency of your time
low up. Commitments and expectations made public use will
through minutes are more likely to be fulfilled. improve and your time stress will decrease.
Rule 10 Insist that subordinates suggest solutions to
problems. This eliminates the tendency toward upward ELIMINATING ENCOUNTER
delegation, or for subordinates to pass along their STRESSORSTHROUGH
prob- lems to you and it allows you to choose among COMMUNITY, CONTRIBUTION,
subordi- nates’ alternatives rather than generate AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
your own.
Dissatisfying relationships with others, particularly
Rule 11 Meet visitors in the doorway. It is easier to with a direct manager or supervisor, are prime causes
keep a meeting short if you are standing in the door- of job stress among workers. (This topic is discussed in
way rather than sitting in your office. more depth in Chapter 4.) Encounter stressors result
directly from abrasive, conflictual, nonfulfilling
relationships.
Even though work is going smoothly, when Walter Reed Army
encounter stress is present, everything else seems
wrong. It is dif- ficult to maintain positive energy when
you are at odds with someone, when you feel
offended, or when feel- ings of acceptance and
amiability aren’t typical of your important
relationships at work.

Community
One important factor that helps eliminate encounter
stress is a closely-knit group or community. When
people feel a part of a group, or accepted by someone
else, stress is relieved. For example, it was discovered
35 years ago by Dr. Stewart Wolf that in the town of
Roseto, Pennsylvania, residents were completely free
from heart disease and other stress-related illnesses.
He suspected that their protection sprang from the
town’s uncommon social cohesion and stability. The
town’s population consisted entirely of descendants
of Italians who had moved there 100 years ago from
Roseto, Italy. Few married outside the community,
the firstborn was always named after a grandparent,
conspicuous consumption and displays of superiority
were avoided, and social support among community
members was a way of life.
Wolf predicted that residents would begin to
display the same level of stress-related illnesses as
the rest of the country if the modern world intruded.
It did, and they did. Residents in Roseto purchased
Cadillacs, ranch-style homes, produced mixed mar-
riages, new names, competition with one another, and
a rate of coronary disease the same as any other town’s
(Farnham, 1991). They had ceased to be a cohesive,
collaborative clan and instead had become a commu-
nity of selfishness and exclusivity. Self-centeredness, it
was discovered, was dangerous to health.
A similar discovery resulting from the Vietnam
and the Persian Gulf wars related to the strength as-
sociated with small, primary work teams. In Vietnam,
unlike the Persian Gulf, teams of soldiers did not stay
together and did not form the strong bonds. The con-
stant injection of new personnel into squadrons and
the constant transfer of soldiers from one location to
another made soldiers feel isolated, without loyalty,
and vulnerable to stress-related illnesses. In the
Persian Gulf War, by contrast, soldiers were kept in
the same unit throughout the campaign, brought home
together, and given lots of time to debrief together
after the bat- tle. Using a closely knit group to provide
interpretation of, and social support for, behavior was
found to be the most powerful deterrent to post-battle
trauma. David Marlowe, chief of psychiatry at
Institute of Research, indicated that “Squad One of the most important ways to make deposits
members are encouraged to use travel into the emotional bank account is by making contri-
time en route home from a war zone to butions to the well-being of others. This principle can
talk about their battlefield experience. It be illustrated by studies conducted at the University of
helps them detoxify. That’s why we Michigan.
brought them back in groups from Desert
Storm. Epistemologically, we know it
works” (Farnham, 1991). Contribution
Developing close relationships with In one study, Crocker and Park (2004) followed
others is a powerful deterrent to entering freshmen at the university for a year. At the
encounter stress. One way of developing beginning of the first semester, students were asked
this kind of relationship is by applying to identify their goals for the year. Students identi-

LEARNIN
a concept described by Stephen Covey fied goals that could be categorized into two types.
(1989)—an emotional bank account.
Covey used this metaphor to describe the
trust or feeling of security that one person
develops for another. The more “deposits”
made in an emotional bank account, the
stronger and more resil- ient the
relationship becomes. Conversely, too
many “withdrawals” from the account
weaken relationships by destroying trust,
security, and confidence.
“Deposits” are made through
treating people with kindness, courtesy,
honesty, and consistency. The emotional
bank account grows when people feel they
are receiving love, respect, and caring.
“Withdrawals” are made by not keeping
promises, not listening, not clarifying
expectations, showing irritation, or not
allowing choice. Because disrespect and
autocratic rule devalue people and destroy
a sense of self-worth, relationships are
ruined because the bank account
becomes overdrawn.
The more people interact, the more
deposits must be made in the emotional
bank account. When you see an old friend
after years of absence, you can often pick
up right where you left off, because the
emotional bank account has not been
touched. But when you interact with
someone frequently, the relationship is
constantly fed or depleted. Cues from
everyday interactions are interpreted as
either deposits or withdrawals. When the
emotional account is well stocked,
mistakes, disap- pointments, and minor
abrasions are easily forgiven and ignored.
But when no reserve exists, those
incidents may become creators of distrust,
contention, and stress.
Most people possess both kinds of goals, but one or and higher levels of satisfaction in work than the pre-
the other type tends to predominate. One type of dominance of the word “I.” Overcoming encounter
goal is called achievement goals. This is an emphasis stress, in other words, can occur by shifting our focus
on achieving desired outcomes, obtaining rewards, from achievement to contribution. We make deposits
accomplishing something that brings self-satisfaction, in the emotional back account of relationships when
enhancing self-esteem, or creating a positive self-image we focus on offering contributions to others well-being
in the eyes of others (e.g., good grades, making the rather than focusing mainly on getting what we want.
team, and being popular).
The other type of goal focused on providing a
Social and Emotional Intelligence
benefit to others or on making a contribution. This
type of goal centers on what individuals can give com- As we mentioned in Chapter 1, emotional intelli-
pared to what they can get (assisting others, helping gence has become the catch-all phrase that incorpo-
to make something better, fostering improvement in rates multiple intelligences—for example, practical
something). Contribution goals are motivated more intelligence, abstract intelligence, moral intelligence,
by benevolence than by a desire for acquisition. The interpersonal intelligence, spiritual intelligence, me-
researchers found that goals focused on contributing chanical intelligence, and social intelligence (Gardner,
to others produced a growth orientation in individuals 1993; Mayer, Roberts, & Barsade, 2008; Sternberg,
over time, whereas self-interest goals produced a prov- 1997). Emotional intelligence consists of a recognition
ing orientation over time (Crocker, et al., 2006). and control of one’s own emotions (personal) and the
These students were monitored for one academic recognition and appropriate response to the behaviors
year in terms of how well they got along with room- and responses of others (social). Not surprisingly, emo-
mates, how many times they missed class, how tional and social intelligence represent important skills
many minor physiological symptoms occurred (e.g., in helping people manage the stresses that arise from
head- ache, nausea, cramps), how many leadership interpersonal encounters (Cantor & Kihlstrom, 1987;
positions they attained, their grade point averages, and Goleman, 1998; Halberstadt, Denham, & Dunsmore,
so forth. On every outcome, contribution goals led to 2001; Saarni, 1997).
higher performance than achievement goals. The study The social aspect of emotional intelligence refers
found that contribution goals led to significantly more to the ability to effectively manage relationships with
learn- ing and development, higher levels of other people. It consists of four main dimensions:
interpersonal trust, more supportive relationships, and
1. An accurate perception of others’ emotional
less stress, depression, and loneliness than did
and behavioral responses.
achievement or self-interest goals (Crocker et al.,
2. The ability to cognitively and emotionally
2006).
under- stand and relate to others’ responses.
These findings are reinforced by a study by Brown
3. Social knowledge, or an awareness of what is
and colleagues (2003, 2006) of patients on being
appropriate social behavior.
treated with kidney dialysis machines. The study fo-
4. Social problem solving or the ability to manage
cused on two different factors. One was the extent to
interpersonal difficulties.
which the patients were receiving love, support, and
encouragement from others (such as family members). The most common form of intelligence with which
The other was the extent to which the patients were most people are familiar is IQ, or cognitive intelligence.
providing love, support, and encouragement to others. By and large, cognitive intelligence is beyond our con-
Even though they were immobile and could not physi- trol, especially after the first few years of life. It is a
cally respond, patients enjoyed better health when prod- uct of the gifts with which we were born or our
they felt they were contributing to the well-being of genetic code. Above a certain threshold level, the
others through support, love, and encouragement correlation between IQ and success in life (e.g.,
compared to when they were receiving these things. achieving high occupational positions, accumulated
Contribution-focused goals produced significantly wealth, luminary awards, satisfaction with life,
more mental, emotional, and physiological benefits performance ratings by peers and superiors) is
than achievement-focused goals. essentially zero. Very smart peo- ple have no greater
In studies of the language that people use to likelihood of achieving success in life or of achieving
describe their work experiences, Pennebaker (2002) personal happiness than people with low IQ scores
found that a predominance of the word “we” was asso- (Goleman, 1998; Spencer & Spencer, 1993;
ciated with less stress, more meaningful relationships, Sternberg, 1997). On the other hand, social and
emotional intelligence have strong positive relationships Socially and emotionally intelligent managers affect the
to success in life and to reduced encounter stress. success of their employees as much as they affect their
For example, in a study at Stanford University, own success and encounter stressor will diminish.
four-year-old children were involved in activities that
tested aspects of their emotional intelligence. In one
study, a marshmallow was placed in front of them, and ELIMINATING SITUATIONAL
they were given two choices: eat it now, or wait
until the adult supervisor returned from running an
STRESSORSTHROUGH WORK
errand, then the child would get two marshmallows. A REDESIGN
follow- up study with these same children 14 years For decades, researchers in the area of occupational

LEARNIN
later, upon graduation from high school, found that health have examined the relationship between job
students who demonstrated more emotional strain and stress-related behavioral, psychological, and
intelligence (i.e., con- trolled their own desires and physiological outcomes.
postponed gratification in the marshmallow task) A review of this research suggests that the single
were less likely to fall apart under stress, became less most important contributor to stress that arises from
irritated and less stressed by interpersonally the job is lack of freedom (Adler, 1989; French &
abrasive people, were more likely to accomplish Caplan, 1972; Greenberger & Stasser, 1991). In a
their goals, and scored an average of 210 points study of administrators, engineers, and scientists at the
higher on the SAT college entrance exam (Shoda, Goddard Space Flight Center, researchers found that
Mischel, & Peake, 1990). The IQ scores of the individuals provided with more discretion in making
students did not differ significantly, but the emo- tional decisions about assigned tasks experienced fewer time
intelligence scores were considerably different. stressors (e.g., role overload), situational stressors (e.g.,
Consistent with other studies, emotional and social in- role ambiguity), encounter stressors (e.g.,
telligence predicted success in life as well as the ability interpersonal conflict), and anticipatory stressors (e.g.,
to handle encounter stress for these students. job-related threats). Individuals without discretion and
In another study, when managers were able to participa- tion experienced significantly more
accurately identify others’ emotions and respond to stress.
them, they were found to be more successful in their In response to these dynamics, Hackman,
personal lives as well as in their work lives (Lusch & Oldham, Janson, and Purdy (1975) proposed a model
Serpkenci, 1990; Rosenthal, 1977), and were evalu- of job redesign that has proved effective in reducing
ated as the most desired and competent managers stress and in increasing satisfaction and productivity.
(Pilling & Eroglu, 1994). A detailed discussion of this job redesign model is pro-
If social and emotional intelligence are so im- vided in Chapter 5. The model identifies ways to de-
portant, how does one develop them? The answer is sign work so that people flourish and avoid situational
neither simple nor simplistic. Each of the chapters in stress. It consists of five factors—skill variety (the
this book contains some suggested answers to this opportunity to use multiple skills in performing work),
question. The skills we hope to help you develop task identity (the opportunity to complete a whole
are among the most important competencies that task), task significance (the opportunity to see the
comprise social and emotional intelligence. In other impact of the work being performed), autonomy (the
words, by improving your abilities in the management opportunity to choose how and when the work will
skills covered in this book—e.g., self-awareness, prob- be done), and feedback (the opportunity to receive
lem solving, supportive communication, motivating information on the success of task accomplishment).
self and others, managing conflict, empowering oth- That is, to eliminate situational stressors at work,
ers, teambuilding, and so on—your social and emo- foster these five factors in these ways:
tional competence scores will increase.
This is important because a national survey of Combine Tasks When individuals are able to
workers found that employees who rated their man- work on a whole project and perform a variety of relat-
ager as supportive and interpersonally competent had ed tasks (e.g., programming all components of a com-
lower rates of burnout, lower stress levels, lower in- puter software package), rather than being restricted
cidence of stress-related illnesses, higher productivity, to working on a single repetitive task or subcomponent
more loyalty to their organizations, and more efficiency of a larger task, they are more satisfied and committed.
in work than employees with nonsupportive and Form Identifiable Work Units Building on the
interpersonally incompetent managers (NNL, 1992). first step, when teams of individuals performing
related
tasks are formed and can decide how to complete the Evidence that these practices are effective has
work, stress decreases dramatically (for example, assem- been reported in several studies that found productiv-
bling an entire component from start to finish, rather ity increases, less absenteeism, fewer errors, and lower
than doing separate tasks as on an assembly line). levels of stresses experienced by managers as a result
Work- ers learn one another’s jobs, rotate of job redesign (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Oldham,
assignments, and experience a sense of completion 2012; Singh 1998).
in their work.
Establish Customer Relationships One of the
most enjoyable parts of a job is seeing the consequenc- ELIMINATING ANTICIPATORY
es of one’s labor. In most organizations, people who STRESSORSTHROUGH
do the work are not given a chance to interact with PRIORITIZING, GOAL SETTING,
customers or end users, but they perform much better AND SMALL WINS
if they do so (Oldham, 2012).
Anticipatory stressors are experienced by almost
Increase Decision-Making Authority Being everyone. We have all been worried about a presenta-
able to influence the what, when, and how of work tion, an upcoming exam, an important interview, or
increases an individual’s feelings of control. Cameron, what the future will bring. This kind of stress can be
Freeman, and Mishra (1991) found a significant de- good for us by increasing our alertness and prepara-
crease in experienced stress in firms that were down- tion. But sometimes it can be almost paralyzing.
sizing when workers were given authority to make How can we eliminate or minimize the negative
decisions about how and when they did the extra effects of anticipatory stress? Two simple practices
work required of them. can help.
Open Feedback Channels A major source of Goal Setting Establishing a short-term goal can help
stress is not knowing what is expected and how task eliminate or minimize anticipatory stressors by
performance is being evaluated. As managers commu- focusing attention on an immediate action or
nicate their expectations more clearly and give timely accomplishment instead of on a fearful future. To be
and accurate feedback, subordinates’ satisfaction and effective, certain action steps are needed if short-term
performance improve and stress decreases. Providing goals are to lead to achievement and the elimination of
more information to people on how they are doing stress (Locke & Latham, 1990). Figure 2.4 outlines the
always reduces stress. four-step pro- cess associated with successful short-
term goal setting.

Figure 2.4 A Model for Short-Term Planning and Goal Setting

1
Establish a goal

2
4 Specify actions
Identify criteria of success and
and a reward behavioral requirements

3
Generate accountability
and
reporting mechanisms
 The first step is easy: just specify a desired goal In addition to announcing to coworkers, friends,
or objective. The best goals are characterized by five and a church group that she would lose the 100
well-known attributes summarized by the acronym pounds, our friend renegotiated her work contract
SMART: so that she would take a cut in salary if she did not
achieve her goal. Her doctor registered her for a hos-
S = specific (not general) pital stay at the end of the 12-month period, so that
M = measurable (not subjective) if she did not achieve the goal on her own, she was
A = aligned (not deflecting) to go on an intravenous feeding schedule in the
R = realistic (not fantasy) hospital to lose the weight, at a cost of over $250 per
T = time bound (not open-ended) day. She made it more difficult and more costly to

LEARNIN
fail than to succeed.
Unfortunately, this first step alone is not likely to Step 4 involves establishing an evaluation and
lead to goal achievement or stress elimination. Most reward system. This means identifying the evidence
of us identify New Year’s resolutions, for example, but that the goal has been accomplished and the benefits
never follow through. Step 2, therefore, is to that will be produced with success. This step is crucial
identify, as specifically as possible, the activities and because many desirable goals—such as being a bet-
behaviors that will lead toward accomplishing the goal. ter leader, a more empathetic friend, a more patient
The prin- ciple is: The more difficult the goal is to parent—are not achieved without specific indicators
accomplish, the more rigorous, numerous, and specific of success. How do I know I have achieved the goal?
should be these behaviors and activities. Identify objective indicators of success.
Several years ago, prior to bariatric surgery, a The purpose of this short-term planning model
friend approached us with a problem. She was a won- is to eliminate anticipatory stress by establishing a
derfully sensitive, caring, competent single woman focus and direction for activity. The anxiety associated
in her late 20s who was experiencing a high degree with uncertainty and potentially negative events is
of anticipatory stress because of her size. She had dissipated when mental and physical energy are con-
weighed well over 350 pounds for more than 10 centrated on purposeful activity. (By the way, the last
years. She was afraid of both the health consequences time we saw our friend, her weight was below 200
and the social consequences of not being able to lose pounds.)
weight. With the monitoring of a physician, she set
a goal to lose 100 pounds in the next 12 months Small Wins Another principle related to elimi-
(Step 1). Because it was to be such a difficult goal to nating anticipatory stressors is the small-wins strat-
reach, however, she asked us for help in achieving her egy (Weick, 1984). By “small win,” we mean a tiny
ambitious objective. but definite change made in a desired direction. Be-
We first identified a dozen or so specific actions gin by changing something that is easy to change.
and guidelines that would facilitate the attainment Then, change a second thing that is easy to change,
of the goal (Step 2). These action steps included, for and so on. Although each individual success may be
example, never shopping alone or without a menu, relatively modest when considered alone, the mul-
never carrying more than 50 cents in her purse (in tiple small gains eventually mount up, generating a
order to avoid the temptation to buy a doughnut), sense of momentum that creates movement toward
exercising with friends each day at 5:30 P.M., a desired goal.
forgoing TV at night to reduce the temptation to When we focus on a small, concrete outcome—
snack, keeping a food log, and going to bed by 10:30 giving us a chance to enjoy visible success—we
P.M. The behav- iors were rigid, but the goal was so develop heightened confidence and optimism which
difficult that they were necessary to ensure motivates the pursuit of another small win. By itself,
progress. a small win may seem unimportant. A series of wins
Step 3 involves establishing accountability. If no at seemingly insignificant tasks, however, reveals a
one else will know if the goal was achieved, chances pattern that tends to attract allies, deter opponents,
are it will not be. The key principle is: “Make it more and lower resistance to further action. The fear as-
difficult to stay the same than to change.” This is sociated with anticipatory change is eliminated as
done by involving others in ensuring accountability we build self-confidence through small wins. We
for adherence to the plan, establishing a social support also gain the support of others as they see progress
network to obtain encouragement from others, and being made.
instituting penalties for nonconformance.
 In the case of our overweight friend, one key of which individuals cope well with stress and which
was to begin changing what she could change, a experience well-being is the amount of resiliency that
little at a time. Tackling the loss of 100 pounds all at they have developed. In this section, we highlight
once would have been too overwhelming a task. But several key factors that help individuals develop and
she could change the time she shopped, the time she enhance personal resiliency and find ways to thrive in
went to bed, and the menu she ate for breakfast. the presence of stressful situations.
Each suc- cessful change generated more and more
momentum that, when combined, led to the larger
change that she desired. Her ultimate success was a LIFE BALANCE
product of multiple small wins. The wheel in Figure 2.5 represents the key activities
In summary, the rules for instituting small wins that characterize most people’s lives. Each segment
are simple: (1) identify a small, easy-to-change activ- in the figure identifies an important aspect of life that
ity that is under your control; (2) change it in a way must be developed in order to achieve resiliency and
that leads toward your desired goal; (3) find another well-being. The most resilient individuals are those
small thing to change, and change it; (4) keep track who have achieved a certain degree of life balance.
of the changes you are making; and (5) maintain the They actively engage in activities in each segment of
small gains you have made. Anticipatory stressors are the circle so that they achieve a degree of balance in
eliminated because the fearful unknown is replaced by their lives.
a focus on immediate successes. For example, assume the center of the figure
represents the zero point of involvement and the
outside edge of the figure represents maximum in-
Now thatDeveloping
we have examined various causes of stress
Resiliency volvement. Shading in a portion of the area in each
and outlined a series of preventive measures, we turn of the seven segments would represent the amount
and Well-Being
our attention to a second major strategy for managing of attention paid to each area. (This exercise is in-
negative stress as shown in Figure 2.2, the develop- cluded in the Skill Practice section.) Individuals who
ment of resiliency to handle the stress that cannot be are best able to cope with stress would shade in a
eliminated. This means not only developing the capac- substantial portion of each segment, indicating they
ity to effectively manage the negative effects of stress, have spent time developing a variety of dimensions of
to bounce back from adversity, and to endure difficult their lives. Overemphasizing one or two areas to the
situations (Wright, Masten, & Narayan, 2013), but it exclusion of others often creates more stress than it
also means finding ways to thrive and flourish even eliminates. Life balance is key (Hill, Hawkins, Ferris,
in difficult circumstances—that is, the enhance well- & Weitzman, 2001; Lehrer, 1996; Murphy, 1996;
being (Diener, Porath, et al., 2011; Spreitzer, et al., Rostad & Long, 1996; White, Hill, McGovern, Mills,
2005;). The Flourishing Scale in the Assessment sec- & Smeaton, 2003).
tion of this chapter measures the level of your personal This prescription, of course, seems counterin-
well-being or the extent to which you are flourishing tuitive. Generally, when we are feeling stress in one
in life. Flourishing provides the resilience you need to area of life, such as an overloaded work schedule,
cope effectively with stress. we respond by devoting more time and attention to
The first studies of resiliency emerged from it. While this is a natural reaction, it is
investigations of children in abusive, alcoholic, pov- counterproductive for several reasons. First, the
erty, or mentally ill parent circumstances. Some of more we concentrate exclusively on work, the more
these children surprised researchers by rising above restricted and less cre- ative we become. We lose
their circumstances and developing into healthy, perspective, cease to take fresh points of view, and
well-functioning adolescents and adults. They were become overwhelmed more easily. That is why several
referred to as highly resilient individuals (Masten & major corporations send se- nior managers on high-
Reed, 2002). adventure wilderness retreats, foster volunteer
We all differ widely in our ability to cope with community service, or encourage engagement in
stress. Some individuals seem to crumble under pres- completely unrelated activities outside of work.
sure, while others appear to thrive. A major predictor Second, refreshed and relaxed minds think bet-
ter. A bank executive commented recently during an
executive development workshop that he gradually
has become convinced of the merits of taking the
 Figure 2.5 Balancing Life Activities

Ideal Level of Development

Spiritual
Physical activities
activities
Family

LEARNIN
activities

Cultural
activities

Social
activities
Work
activities Intellectual
activities

weekend off from work. He finds that he gets twice

as much accomplished on Monday as his colleagues PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCY
who have been in their offices all weekend. Psychological resiliency refers to the ability of a person
Third, the cost of stress-related illness decreases to return to the original condition after experienc-
markedly when employees participate in well-rounded ing trauma, challenge, or threat. It is the ability to
wellness programs. A study by the Association for bounce-back or withstand negative stressors. In mate-
Fitness in Business concluded that companies receive rials science this capacity is referred to as “tensility.”
an average return of $3 to $4 on each dollar invested Psychological resiliency also includes the idea of flour-
in health and wellness promotion. AT&T, for example, ishing in the presence of negative stress. This is similar
expects to save $72 million in the next 10 years to as “post-traumatic growth,” or excelling as a result
as a result of investment in wellness programs for of facing negative or difficult conditions. Psychological
employees. resiliency has been the focus of a great deal of research
Well-developed individuals, who give time and (for example, see Reich, Zautra & Hall 2010; Sutcliffe
attention to cultural, physical, spiritual, family, social, & Vogus, 2003; Wadey, Evans, Hanton, & Neil, 2012),
and intellectual activities in addition to work, are and the prescriptions for developing psychological
more productive and less stressed than those who resiliency are relatively consistent across studies and
are workaholics (Adler & Hillhouse, 1996; Hepburn, populations (Ungar, 2008). They include access to
McLoughlin, & Barling, 1997; White, Hill, McGovern, supportive, loving relationships; development of self-
Mills, & Smeaton, 2003). A great deal of literature is awareness, self-confidence, and self-efficacy; involve-
available on physical fitness, spiritual development, ment in spiritual or religious activities; and the estab-
strengthening families, and so forth, so in this section, lishment of personal goals (Bandura, 2012; Maddi,
we concentrate on just two common areas of well- 2013; Masten & Obradovic, 2006).
being: the development psychological resiliency and These topics are all addressed earlier and in other
social resiliency. These are not competencies that can chapters in this book, but here we highlight three prac-
be accomplished by lunchtime or by the weekend. tices that have been found to produce resiliency as well
Rather, achieving life balance and resiliency requires as flourishing in the presence of stress. They include
ongoing commitment and continuous effort. meaningfulness in work, reciprocity, and gratitude.
Meaningfulness in Work in management, higher levels of commitment to the
A well-established relationship exists between en- organization, less conflict, more satisfactory relation-
gaging in meaningful work and positive outcomes ships with coworkers, and higher levels of satisfaction
including reductions in stress, depression, turnover, with the tasks themselves compared to those with
absenteeism, dissatisfaction, and cynicism, as well as career or job orientations (Wrzesniewski, McCauley,
increases in well-being, resiliency, commitment, effort, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997; Cook & Wall, 1980;
engagement, empowerment, happiness, satisfaction, Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979; Taylor & Bowers,
and a sense of fulfillment (see Chen, 2007). One 1972). Moreover, significantly higher levels of orga-
way to foster resiliency, therefore, is to identify the nizational performance were detected in health-care
profound purpose and meaningfulness of the work (or organizations when a sense of calling predominated
activity) in which you are engaged. among employees (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, in press;
Wrzesniewski (2003, 2012) found in her research Wrzesniewski & Landman, 2000).
that individuals typically associate one of three kinds of In especially enlightening studies of the effects
meaning with their work. They define their work as of meaningfulness in work, Grant et al. (2007, 2008)
a job, as a career, or as a calling. Those who see work conducted investigations of telephone solicitors
as a job do their work primarily for the financial or (mostly students working in part-time jobs). The task
material rewards it provides. They gain no particular of these students was to place calls to university
personal satisfaction from the work, and they pursue alumni re- questing donations. These callers
their interests and passions in nonwork settings. Work experienced almost universal rejection from the
is a means for obtaining financial or other resources to recipients of their calls and had little motivation to
engage in some other activity (e.g., “Give me the as- produce inasmuch as they were required to read a
signment, and I’ll do it. This job helps me make my standardized script and received little information
car payments”). about the impact of their work. The voluntary
Other individuals have a career orientation. They turnover rate among the callers was approxi- mately
are motivated by accomplishment and success. They 350 percent.
work to achieve the prestige, power, recognition, In the study, half of the callers were exposed
and advancement that come from performing their for just five minutes to a scholarship student who
work well. They desire to be distinguished members benefited from the solicitations. This student simply
of their organizations, and they use work to acquire thanked the callers for their efforts and explained
promotion, notoriety, title, or advancement. Work is that he or she would not have been able to attend
a means for achieving personal growth, recognition, the university had these solicitors not raised the
and capability development (e.g., “I want to reach a money that provided the scholarship funds. The fact
senior leadership position in this organization; I want that they were raising money for scholarships had
to improve my skills”). made a pro- found difference in his or her life. The
The third orientation, the sense of work as a other half of the callers were not exposed to a
calling, characterizes individuals who are driven by scholarship student and received no such message.
the meaning associated with the work itself. The The results of the studies were startling (Grant,
actual tasks involved in their work provide intrinsic 2007; 2008; Grant et al., 2007). Student callers
motivation and profound purpose. They consider exposed to a scholarship student increased their pro-
their work inherently fulfilling, and they seek for a ductivity (number of calls made) and effectiveness
greater good, regardless of the material rewards of- (amount of money raised) by a factor of three com-
fered by the work. Their work possesses a sense of pared to callers who received no information about
meaning that reaches beyond personal benefit or the meaningfulness. The results not only were seen im-
acquisition of reward (e.g., “I care deeply about what mediately after the intervention (a week later), but
I am doing at work”). the consequences could be seen more than a month
High levels of meaningfulness in work not only later. As illustrated in Figure 2.6, even in a negative,
relieve stress but are associated with positive out- stressful, boring job, identifying the meaningfulness as-
comes and extraordinary individual and organizational sociated with the work produced dramatically higher
performance (Grant, 2008). For example, workers performance.
with a calling orientation reported fewer negative It is important to remember that a sense of
effects of stress, higher levels of trust and confidence calling is not dependent on the type of work per-
formed. Rather, it is associated with the positive
Figure 2.6 Productivity of Workers One Month Later

300
Contact with
Scholarship
Student

Minutes on phone per

200

No exposure

LEARNIN
100
2 Weeks before 1 Month after
intervention intervention

meaning inherent in the work (Bellah et al., 1985; produce significantly higher performance and engage-
Wrzesniewski, 2003). Any kind of work—even that ment in the organization.
typically thought of as physically, socially, or morally Some companies, for example, Medtronic, regu-
tainted—can be reframed in a positive light (Ashforth larly invite patients whose lives have been trans-
& Kreiner, 1999). Put another way, exactly the same formed by the medical devices they manufacture to
task may be viewed as a job or as a calling give speeches at employee gatherings. Google posts
depending on the perspective of the individual. Even comments from customers, some of them indicating
the most noxious and unpleasant of tasks can be the life-changing benefits of using Google, on its com-
reinterpreted as a calling that has a profound pany website. Huffy manufacturing employees visit
purpose (Pratt & Ashforth, 2003). customers to observe how people use their products
Work is associated with meaningfulness when and how these products affect their lifestyles.
it possesses one or more of four key attributes sum- (2) The work is associated with an important
marized in Table 2.5: virtue or a personal value (Bright, Cameron, & Caza,
(1) The work has an important positive impact 2006; Weber, 1992). Certain values tend to be univer-
on the well-being of human beings (Brown et al., sal, for example, caring, helpfulness, frugality, compas-
2003; Grant, 2008; Grant et al., 2007). Individuals sion, and assisting the disadvantaged. Attaching the
who can see the effects of their work on others— work to such values tends to enhance its meaningful-
who were aware of the contributions they made to ness for individuals.
the welfare of people—have a significantly higher
For example, Jeff Schwartz, CEO at Timberland,
sense of meaningfulness, experience higher well-
decided to substantially increase the percentage of
being, and
organically grown cotton in the clothes the company
manufactures in order to reduce exposure to carcino-
gens by migrant workers who pick corporately grown
Table 2.5 Enablers of Meaningfulness cotton. Even in the absence of any customer demand
in Work or regulatory encouragement, and at a substantial ex-
1. The work has an important positive impact on
pense to the company’s bottom line, Schwartz’s inten-
the well-being of human beings. tion was to provide a benefit to a disadvantaged group
of individuals who would likely never be customers
2. The work is associated with an important virtue or a
personal value.
but whose lives could be made better by Timberland’s
change in policy (Schwartz, 2001).
3. The work has an impact that extends beyond (3) The work has an impact that extends be-
the immediate time frame or creates a ripple
effect.
yond the immediate time frame or creates a ripple
effect (Cameron & Lavine, 2006; Crocker, Nuer,
4. The work builds supportive relationships and fosters Olivier, & Cohen, 2006). A number of authors such
generalized reciprocity.
as Lawrence and Nohria (2002) and Covey (2004) experiences of soldiers captured during World War II
suggested that a basic human need is to create a and the Korean and Vietnam wars. When it was pos-
legacy and to extend influence beyond the immedi- sible for prisoners to form permanent, interacting
ate time frame. Rather than to seek for immediate groups, they maintained better health and morale
personal benefit or self-aggrandizement, these authors and were able to resist their captors more effectively
highlighted the benefits of having an effect on long- than when they were isolated or when groups were
term consequences, including flourishing in stressful unstable. Indeed, the well-documented technique
circumstances. used by the Chinese during the Korean War for break-
Cameron and Lavine (2006) documented this ef- ing down soldiers’ resistance to their indoctrination
fect in studying the cleanup of the Rocky Flats Nuclear efforts involved weakening group solidarity through
Arsenal—60 years ahead of schedule, $30 billion planting seeds of mistrust and doubt about members’
under budget, and 13 times cleaner than required by loyalty.
federal standards. Union members had to be willing to Developing strong interpersonal relationships is
work themselves out of a job as quickly as possible—a the topic of Chapter 4, but in addition, this chapter
stance completely contradictory to the fundamental describes an important technique for building support-
purposes of unions—while maintaining high levels ive relationships in connection with stress reduction
of morale and safety among remaining workers. This and fostering well-being. The technique centers on
remarkable performance occurred because employees generalized reciprocity.
found profound meaningfulness in what they believed Generalized reciprocity occurs when a person
to be a multigenerational impact of their efforts. The contributes something to another person that is not di-
fact that a dangerous location would be removed but rectly connected to receiving something in return that
also that it would become a wildlife refuge—the only is personally beneficial. The contribution occurs be-
such site on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, cause it will be good for someone else. This principle
and a safe environment for a thousand years to is illustrated by former Prudential CEO Jim Mallozzi
come—was a driving force in motivating the sacrifices as a way to foster more resiliency in his firm.
that were required to succeed. During Mallozzi’s first meeting as CEO of his
Creating a ripple effect means that some behav- firm with 2,500 sales personnel in a large auditorium,
iors create a repetitive action. When, for example, a he asked participants to take out their iPhones and
person displays a virtuous behavior—assisting some- Blackberries and turn them on instead of turning them
one in need, expressing thanks, displaying kindness, off. He requested that each person text or email one
showing courage—the tendency is for other people to great idea for how to get a new client, how to close a
follow suit. They tend to repeat the virtuous actions sale, or how to keep a customer for life. The
themselves, so kindness begets kindness, love fosters objective was to help someone else in the company
love, gratitude leads to thankfulness, and so forth. be more successful. More than 2,200 ideas were
(4) The work builds supportive relationships shared, and Mallozzi reported that these ideas were
and fosters generalized reciprocity (Baker, 2012, still being actively used 15 months later.
2013; Polodny, Khurana, & Hill-Popper, 2005). In One practice for fostering generalized reciproc-
almost every aspect of life, social support makes things ity is contained in the Skill Practice section of this
easier. Physically people are healthier, live longer, chapter. It was introduced by Wayne Baker at the
handle stress better, perform at higher levels, and University of Michigan and helps identify new ideas
function better cognitively when they experience and previously unrecognized resources among in-
supportive relationships with others (Cameron, dividuals (see www.humaxnetworks.com). A reci-
2013; Dutton, 2003; Heaphy & Dutton, 2006). A recent procity network is created when each individual
meta-analytic review of 148 scientific studies in a group makes a request. These can be personal
representing more than 300,000 individuals requests (“I need a person to feed my dog while I’m
concluded that interpersonal relationships are a better out of town”) or they can be work-related requests
predictor of mortality rates, cardio vascular disease, (“I would like to know how to motivate my sales
cancer, and various infections than was smoking, team”). Other individuals in the group then respond
excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, and lack of to these requests with resources, knowledge, or con-
physical exercise (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, nections that may provide value. A network is created
2010). when people with requests are linked up to people
Poignant testimony to the value of social support with resources or assistance.
systems during periods of high stress comes from the
 As it turns out, human beings have an inherent about their lives as a whole; were more optimistic
tendency toward reciprocity. If I give someone some- about the coming week; had higher states of alertness,
thing and he or she does not reciprocate, or at least say attentiveness, determination, and energy; reported
“thank you,” we label that person selfish, insensitive, fewer hassles and less stress in their lives; engaged in
and inappropriate. All economic and exchange sys- more helping behavior toward other people; experi-
tems are based on the principle of reciprocity. Taking enced better sleep quality; and had a sense of being
something from a store without giving something in more connected to others. In addition, they were
return is called stealing. Not only have we all been absent and tardy less often and had higher grade point
taught that our social order is based on reciprocity. averages. Feelings of gratitude had significant impact
“Generalized reciprocity” occurs when the ten- on student classroom performance as well as on their

LEARNIN
dency to give back or to contribute is not directly con- personal lives (Emmons, 2008).
nected to the direct receipt of something beneficial. Figure 2.7 illustrates one reason such positive
Contribution occurs because it will be good for some- results occur. Individuals experiencing gratitude dem-
one or something else. It is important to note that onstrate a more consistent and healthy heart rhythm
we tend to rate others as more effective leaders, than individuals experiencing frustration. Physiological
more desirable friends, and higher performers at work health, cognitive functioning, and performance at work
when they contribute to others unselfishly (Putnam, are substantially higher when gratitude is fostered, at
2013). least partly because of the harmonious pattern adopted
by the body. Emmons (2008) also found that expres-
Gratitude sions of gratitude by one person tended to motivate
others to express gratitude, so a self-perpetuating,
Another seemingly simple but powerful tool for build- virtuous cycle occurred when gratitude was expressed.
ing resiliency and personal well-being is the practice of Gratitude elicited positive behavior on the part of other
gratitude. Feelings and expressions of gratitude have people (e.g., they were more likely to loan money or
dramatic effects on individuals and groups. For ex- provide compassionate support) as well as reciprocal
ample, Emmons (2003) induced feelings of gratitude behavior. For example, a handwritten “thank you” on
in students by assigning them to keep journals as part a restaurant bill by the server elicited about 11 percent
of a semester-long experiment. Some of the students higher tips, and visits by case workers and social work-
were required to keep “gratitude journals” on a daily ers were 80 percent higher if they were thanked for
or weekly basis. They wrote down events or incidents coming (McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002).
that happened during the day (or week) for which Engaging in gratitude visits (e.g., simply visiting
they were grateful. Other students were assigned to another person in order to express gratitude), writing
write down events or incidents that were frustrating, gratitude letters (e.g., sharing feelings of thanks with
and still other students were assigned to write down another person), keeping gratitude journals (e.g., writing
events or incidents that were merely neutral. down three things daily for which you are grateful),
The students who kept gratitude journals, com- and distributing daily gratitude cards (e.g., handing out
pared to frustrated students and neutral students, had some written expressions of appreciation to coworkers
higher levels of well-being; experienced fewer physical each day) all have been shown in empirical
symptoms such as headaches and colds; felt better investigations to

Figure 2.7 Heart Rhythms in Gratitude and Frustration Conditions

Changing Heart Rhythms

FRUSTRATION APPRECIATION
90
80
HEART

70
60

1 50 100 150 200 1 50 100 150 200

TIME (SECONDS) TIME (SECONDS)

SOURCE: McCraty & Childre, 2004

produce important impacts on individuals and A variation of muscle relaxation involves deep
organiza- tions (see Seligman, Steen, Park, & breathing. This is done by taking several successive,
Peterson, 2005). Despite being easy to implement, their slow, deep breaths, holding them for five seconds, and
effects are power- ful and significant in fostering exhaling completely. You should focus on the act of
resiliency and helping to enhance well-being. breathing itself, so that your mind becomes cleared
for a brief time while your body relaxes. After each
deep breath, muscles in the body should consciously
Thus far, we have emphasized
Temporary eliminating sources of
Stress-Reduction be relaxed.
stress and developing resiliency to stress. These are A third technique uses imagery and fantasy
Techniques
the most desirable stress-management strategies because to eliminate stress temporarily by changing the fo-
they have a permanent or long-term effect on your cus of your thoughts. Imagery involves visualizing
well- being. However, the occurrence of stressors is an event, using “mind pictures.” An increasingly
sometimes beyond your control so it may be impossible common practice for athletes is to visualize success-
to eliminate them. Moreover, developing resiliency ful performance or to imagine themselves achieving
often takes time, so on occasion we must use their goal. Research has confirmed both the stress-
temporary reactive mecha- nisms in order to maintain reduction advantages of this technique as well as the
equilibrium. Although in- creased resilience can buffer performance enhancement benefits (e.g., Andersen &
the harmful effects of stress, we must sometimes take Williams, 1999; Deepak, 1995).
immediate action in the short term to cope with the In addition to visualization, imagery also can
stress we encounter. include recollections of sounds, smells, and textures.
Implementing short-term strategies reduces stress Your mind focuses on pleasant experiences from the
temporarily so that longer-term stress-elimination or past (e.g., a fishing trip, family vacation, visit with rela-
resiliency strategies can be implemented. Short-term tives, or day at the beach) that can be recalled
strategies are largely reactive and must be repeated vividly. Fantasies, on the other hand, are not past
whenever stressors are encountered because, unlike memories but make-believe events or images. It is
other strategies, their effects are only temporary. On especially well known, for example, that children
the other hand, they are especially useful for immedi- often construct imaginary friends, make-believe
ately calming feelings of anxiety or apprehension. You occurrences, or spe- cial wishes that are comforting
can use them when you are asked a question you can’t to them when they encounter stress. Adults also use
answer, when you become embarrassed by an unex- daydreams or other fantasy experiences to get them
pected event, when you are faced with a presentation through stressful situ- ations. The purpose of this
or an important meeting, or almost any time you are technique is to relieve anxi- ety or pressure
suddenly stressed and must respond in a short period temporarily by focusing on something pleasant so that
of time. Although more than 150,000 books are other, more productive stress-reducing strategies can
avail- able from on temporary stress-reduction be developed for the longer term.
techniques since 1990, we review only four of the This is similar to various forms of meditative prac-
best-known and easiest to learn techniques here. The tices including, for example, loving kindness medita-
first two are physiological; the last two are tion. Loving kindness meditation is a well-developed
psychological. contemplative practice that focuses on self-generated
Muscle relaxation involves easing the tension in feelings of love, compassion, and good will toward one-
successive muscle groups. Each muscle group is tight- self and others. Essentially, people focus on their feel-
ened for five or ten seconds and then completely ings of positive regard for people close to them. Similar
relaxed. Starting with the feet and progressing to the practices include writing and contemplating gratitude
calves, thighs, stomach, and on to the neck and face, journal entries, engaging in personal prayer, and pon-
one can relieve tension throughout the entire body. All dering spiritual inspiration. These practices, essentially,
parts of the body can be included in the exercise. One put people in a reflective and peaceful condition.
variation is to roll the head around on the neck several The results of recent research on these kinds of
times, shrug the shoulders, or stretch the arms up practices are compelling. Studies show that engaging in
toward the ceiling for five to ten seconds, then release contemplative practices diminishes stress-related corti-
the position and relax the muscles. The result is a state sol, insomnia, symptoms of autoimmune illnesses, PMS,
of temporary relaxation that helps eliminate tension asthma, falling back into depression, general emotional
and refocus energy. distress, anxiety, and panic. It helps control blood sugar
in type 2 diabetes, detachment from negative reactions,
self-understanding, and general well-being. Links have resiliency that individuals have developed for coping
also been uncovered with heart rate, oxytocin, vagal with stress. The best way to manage stress is to elimi-
nerve tone, blood pressure, obesity, incidence of nate it through effective and efficient time manage-
cancer, heart disease, various infections, and, ment, fostering community and making contributions,
surprisingly, the actual cortical thickness of the brain enhancing emotional and social intelligence, work
(Fredrickson, et al., 2008; Hozel, et al., 2010; Kok, et redesign, prioritizing, goal setting, and small wins.
al., 2014). This strategy has permanent consequences, but it often
The fourth technique is called rehearsal. Using takes an extended period of time to implement.
this technique, people work themselves through poten- The next most effective stress management
tially stressful situations, trying out different scenarios strategy is improving one’s resiliency. Physiological

LEARNIN
and alternative reactions. Appropriate reactions are resiliency is strengthened through increased
rehearsed, either in a safe environment before stress cardiovascular con- ditioning and improved diet.
occurs, or “off-line,” in private, in the middle of a Psychological resiliency, hardiness, and personal well-
stressful situation. Removing oneself temporarily from being are improved by focusing on meaningfulness in
a stressful circumstance and working through dialogue work, reciprocity, and gratitude. These strategies
or reactions, as though rehearsing for a play, can help produce long-term ben- efits, but they often cannot be
one regain control and reduce the immediacy of the implemented on the spot. They are medium-term
stressor. strategies that enhance hardiness over time.
When circumstances make it impossible to apply
Summary longer-term strategies for reducing stress, short-term
relaxation techniques can temporarily alleviate the
We began this chapter by explaining stress in terms of symptoms of stress. These strategies have short-term
a relatively simple model. Four kinds of stressors— consequences, but they can be applied immediately
time, encounter, situational, and anticipatory—cause and repeated over and over again.
nega- tive physiological, psychological, and social
reactions in individuals. These reactions are
moderated by the

Behavioral Guidelines
Following are specific behavioral guidelines for improving your stress management skills
and fostering personal well-being.

1. Address stress by first trying to eliminate the stressors, then focus on developing
resiliency and personal well-being to create hardiness in stressful situations, and
finally learn temporary stress coping methods to reduce stress in the short-term.
2. Use proven time management practices. Make sure to use time effectively as
well as efficiently by generating your own personal mission statement. Make
sure that low-priority tasks do not drive out time to work on high-priority
activities. Make better use of your time by using the guidelines in the Time
Management Survey in the Assessment Section. Give important activities prior-
ity over urgent ones.
3. Build collaborative relationships with individuals based on mutual trust, respect,
honesty, and kindness. Make “deposits” into the “emotional bank accounts” of
other people. Form close, stable relationships among those with whom you work.
4. Consciously work to improve your emotional intelligence by learning and
practicing the principles discussed in other chapters of this book.
5. Reaffirm priorities and short-term goals that provide direction and focus to
activities. Make your goals SMART.
6. Increase your psychological resiliency through life balance, especially by
consciously engaging in physical, intellectual, cultural, social, family, and spiritual
 activities.
7. Increase your resilience by implementing a small-wins strategy. Identify and
celebrate the small successes that you and others achieve.
 8. Learn at least one relaxation technique and practice it regularly.
9. Increase social resiliency by forming an open, trusting, sharing relationship with
at least one other person. Facilitate a mentoring relationship with someone
who can affirm your worth as a person and provide support during periods
of stress.
10. Identify the meaningfulness of your work that is more important than your own
personal reward.
11. Establish some contributions goals that make a difference to those around you,
and give contribution goals at least as high priority as achievement goals.
12. Implement at least one gratitude practice such as a gratitude journal, gratitude
visits, or gratitude cards.

PRACTIC
SKILL PRAcTIcE

EXERCISES FOR LONG-TERM

AND SHORT-RUN STRESS
MANAGEMENT AND WELL-BEING

In this section, we provide five exercises to help you practice good stress management.
We strongly urge you to complete the exercises with a partner who can give you feed-
back and who will monitor your progress in improving your skill. Because managing
stress is a personal skill, most of your practice will be done in private. But having a
partner who is aware of your commitment will help foster substantial improvement. The
reciprocity exercise requires that you perform it in a group.

The Small-Wins Strategy

An ancient Chinese proverb states that long journeys are always made up of small
steps. In Japan, the feeling of obligation to make small, incremental improvements in
one’s work is known as kaizen. In this chapter the notion of small wins was explained
as a way to break apart large problems and identify small successes in coping with
them. Each of these approaches represents the same basic philosophy—to recognize
incremental successes—and each helps an individual build up psychological resiliency
to stress.

Assignment
Answer the following questions. An example is given to help clarify each question, but
your response need not relate to the example.
1. What major stressor do you currently face? What creates anxiety or discomfort for
you? (For example, “I have too much to do.”)

2. What are the major attributes or components of the situation? Divide the major
problem into smaller parts or subproblems. (For example, “I have said ‘yes’ to too
many things. I have deadlines approaching. I don’t have all the resources I need to
complete all my commitments right now.”)

3. What are the subcomponents of each of those subproblems? Divide them into yet
smaller parts. (For example, “I have the following deadlines approaching: a report
due, a large amount of reading to do, a family obligation, an important presenta-
tion, a need to spend some personal time with someone I care about, a committee
meeting that requires preparation.”)

Attribute 1:

Attribute 2:

Attribute 3:

And so on:

4. What actions can I take that will affect any of these subcomponents? (For example,
“I can engage the person I care about in helping me prepare for the presentation.
 I can write a shorter report than I originally intended. I can carry the reading
mate- rial with me wherever I go.”)

5. What actions have I taken in the past that have helped me cope successfully
with similar stressful circumstances? (For example, “I have found someone else
to share some of my tasks. I have gotten some reading done while waiting, riding,
and eating. I have prepared only key elements for the committee meeting.”)

6. What small thing should I feel good about as I think about how I have coped or
will cope with this major stressor? (For example, “I have accomplished a lot when
the pressure has been on in the past. I have been able to use what I had time to
prepare to its best advantage.”)

Repeat this process when you face major stressors. The six specific questions may
not be as important to you as (1) breaking the problem down into incremental parts and
then breaking those parts down again, and (2) identifying actions that can be done that
will be successful in coping with components of the stressor.

Life-Balance Analysis

PRACTIC
The prescription to maintain a balanced life seems both intuitive and counterintuitive.
On the one hand, it makes sense that life should have variety and that each of us
should develop multiple aspects of ourselves. Narrowness and rigidity are not highly
valued by anyone. On the other hand, the demands of work, school, or family, for
example, can be so overwhelming that we don’t have time to do much except respond to
those demands. Work could take all of our time. So could school. So could family. The
temptation for most of us, then, is to focus on only a few areas of our lives that
demand our attention and leave the other areas undeveloped. This exercise helps you
discover which areas those might be and which areas need more attention.

Assignment
Use Figure 2.9 below to complete this exercise. In responding to the four items in the
exercise, think of the amount of time you spend in each area, the amount of
experience and development you have had in the past in each area, and the extent to
which develop- ment in each area is important to you.

1. In Figure 2.9, shade in the portion of each section that represents the extent to
which that aspect of your life has been well developed. In other words, rate how
satisfied you are that each aspect is adequately cultivated.
Figure 2.9 Life-Balance Analysis Form

Ideal Level of Development

COMPLETELY COMPLETELY
DEVELOPED SATISFIED

Spiritual
Physical activities
activities
Family
activities
UNDEVELOPED

Cultural
activities
DISSATISFIED
Social
activities
Work
activities Intellectual
activities

2. Now write down at least one thing you can start doing to improve your develop-
ment in the areas that need it. For example, you might do more outside
reading to develop culturally, invite a foreign visitor to your home to develop
socially, engage in regular prayer or meditation to develop spiritually, begin a
regular exercise program to develop physically, and so on.

3. Because the intent of this exercise is not to add more pressure and stress to your
life but to increase your resiliency through life balance, identify the things you
will stop doing in various areas that will make it possible to achieve better life
balance.

4. To make this a practice exercise and not just a planning exercise, do something
today that you have on your list for items 2 and 3 above. Write down specifically
what you’ll do and when. Don’t let the rest of the week go by without implement-
ing something you’ve written.
Deep Relaxation
To engage in deep relaxation, you need to reserve time that can be spent concentrat-
ing on relaxation. Cognitive control and physiological control are involved. By focus-
ing your mind, you can positively affect both your mental and physical states (Davis,
Eshelman, & McKay, 1980). This exercise describes one technique that is easily
learned and practiced.
The deep-relaxation technique presented below combines key elements of several
well-known formulas. It is recommended that this technique be practiced for 20 minutes
a day, three times a week. Reserve at least 30 minutes to engage in this exercise for
the first time.
Find a quiet spot with a partner. You may want to do this in the classroom itself the
first time. Have that person read the instructions below. Do not rush through the instruc-
tions. Allow time between each step to complete it unrushed. When you have finished,
switch roles. (Since you will be practicing this exercise later in a different setting, you
may want to make a tape recording of these instructions. Alternatively, agree to do the
exercise regularly with a friend or a spouse.)

Assignment
Step 1: Assume a comfortable position. You may lie down. Loosen any tight clothing.
Close your eyes and be quiet. Slow down and let go.
Step 2: Focus on your body and on relaxing specific muscles. Tune out all other
thoughts. Assume a passive attitude.
Step 3: Now tense and relax each of your muscle groups for five to ten seconds each.
Do it in the following order:
Forehead. Wrinkle your forehead. Try to make your eyebrows touch your hairline
for five seconds, then relax.

PRACTIC
Eyes and nose. Close your eyes as tightly as you can for five seconds, then relax.
Lips, cheeks, and jaw. Draw the corners of your mouth back and grimace for
five seconds, then relax.
Hands. Extend your arms in front of you. Clench your fists tightly for five seconds,
then relax.
Forearms. Extend your arms out against an invisible wall and push forward for
five seconds, then relax.
Upper arms. Bend your elbows and tense your biceps for five seconds, then relax.
Shoulders. Shrug your shoulders up to your ears for five seconds, then relax.
Back. Arch your back off the floor for five seconds, then relax.
Stomach. Tighten your stomach muscles by lifting your legs off the ground about
two inches for five seconds, then relax.
Hips and buttocks. Tighten your hip and buttock muscles for five seconds, then relax.
Thighs. Tighten your thigh muscles by pressing your legs together as tightly as you
can for five seconds, then relax.
Feet. Bend your ankles toward your body as far as you can for five seconds, then
point your toes for five seconds, then relax.
Toes. Curl your toes as tightly as you can for five seconds, then relax.
Step 4: Focus on any muscles that are still tense. Repeat the exercise for that muscle
group three or four times until it relaxes.
Step 5: Now focus on your breathing. Do not alter it artificially, but focus on taking long,
slow, deep breaths. Breathe through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Concentrate exclusively on the rhythm of your breathing until you have taken at least 45
breaths.
Step 6: Now focus on the heaviness and warmth of your body. Let all the energy in
your body seep away. Let go of your normal tendency to control your body and mobilize
it toward activity.
Step 7: With your body completely relaxed, relax your mind. Picture a person
for whom you have loving feelings, feelings of gratitude, or feelings of reverence.
Concentrate fully on the person and on your feelings for him or her for at least three
minutes without letting any other thoughts enter your mind. Begin now.
Step 8: Now open your eyes, slowly get up, and return to your hectic, stressful,
anxiety-ridden, Type-A environment better prepared to cope with it effectively.

Monitoring and Managing Time

Time management is the most often identified problem faced by managers and business
school students. Most people feel overwhelmed at least part of the time with having
too much to accomplish in too little time. It is interesting, however, that even though
people may be extremely busy, if they feel that their time is discretionary—that is, it
can be used in any way that they choose, such as in recreation, playing with friends or
family, or by themselves—they feel less stress. Increasing discretionary time, therefore, is
a key to effective time management.
This exercise helps you identify and better manage your discretionary time. It takes
one full week to complete. It requires that you record how you spend your time for
the next seven days. Virtually every executive who is a good time manager has
completed this exercise and, in fact, regularly repeats this exercise.

Assignment
Complete the following five steps, then use a partner to get feedback and ideas for
improving and refining your plans.
Step 1: Beginning today, keep a time log for one full week. Record how you spend
each 30-minute block in the next seven 24-hour periods. Using the following format,
record the log in your own notebook, diary, or journal. Simply write down what you did
during the 30-minute period. If you did multiple things, record them one above the other.

REQUIRED/ PRODUCTIVE/
TIME ACTIVITY DISCRETIONARY UNPRODUCTIVE
12:00–1:00
1:00–1:30
1:30–2:00
2:00–3:00
.
.
.
23:00–23:30
23:30–24:00
Step 2: Beneath the heading “Required/Discretionary,” write whether the time spent in
each 30-minute block was required by someone or something else (R) or was
discretionary (D). That is, to what extent did you have a choice about whether or not
you would engage in this activity? You don’t have a choice about a certain amount of
sleep, for example, or attending class. But you do have a choice about watching TV or
spending time socializing.
Step 3: Beneath the heading “Productive/Unproductive,” rate the extent to which
each activity was productive. That is, identify the extent to which the activity achieved
what it was intended to achieve. To what extent did the activity accomplish your own
goals or lead to improvements of some kind? Use the following scale for your rating:
4 Time was used productively
3 Time was used somewhat productively
2 Time was used somewhat unproductively
1 Time was used unproductively
Step 4: Draw up a plan for increasing the amount of discretionary time you have
during the week. Refer to the Time Management Survey in the Assessment Section for
suggestions. Write down the things you will stop doing and start doing.
Step 5: Identify ways in which you can use your discretionary time more productively,
especially any blocks of time you rated 1 or 2 in step 3. What will you do to make sure
the time you control is used for more long-term benefit? What will you stop doing that
impedes your effective use of time?

Generalized Reciprocity
Creating a reciprocity network requires that you form a group or that are a member of a
participating organization. The network is formed among members of this group. The pur-
pose of the exercise is to enhance relationships, provide a way for you to contribute to one

PRACTIC
another, and build a network of resources, relationships, and good will (see Baker, 2012).
Reciprocity networks are created among individuals in a group by having members
identify needs or requests and then having others in the group respond to those needs or
requests with resources or contacts. Building a reciprocity network occurs in four steps:
Step 1: Write down the names of each of the people in the group in a row at the top
of a board. This could be done across the top of a white board or on flip chart pages. Post
the pages containing the names on a wall.
Step 2: Each individual in the group writes down a specific request, a need, or an issue
with which he or she needs help. These issues may be personal or work-related. The
requests must have characteristics described as SMART, which are:

S – Specific: A resource or resolution to the request must be available.

M – Meaningful: It is not trivial or irrelevant but refers to something important.
A – Action-oriented: There must be action that can be taken in response to the
request.
R – Real need: The request must be tied to a genuine need.
T – Time bound: A time frame is given for when the request is needed.

Examples of work-related requests might be: “I need to find an expert that can assist
me with some Excel spreadsheets;” “I need a new IT software system to streamline our
inventory control;” “I need to become more recognized as a potential leader in my orga-
nization;” “I need to determine how to downsize my unit by 15 percent.”
 Examples of personal requests might be: “I need tickets to the game in two weeks;”
“I need to get in better physical shape;” “I need to find a great gift for my spouse;”
“I need help with my statistics class.”
Step 3: The individual stands up and publicly describes the request to his or her col-
leagues and posts it below his or her name. An easy way to do this is to write the request
on a Post-it Note.
Step 4: Colleagues listen to each person’s verbalized request. Each colleague writes
down a resource, a contact, or some assistance that might address these requests. Again,
this can easily be done on a Post-it Note. Be sure that each person writes his or her name
on the Post-it Note so that follow-up connections can be reached. Group members will
not be able to respond to every request, but the more responses each person can make
the better. Two kinds of contributions may be made. One kind of contribution is that
you have the resource, such as knowledge, information, expertise, budget, product,
emotional support, and so forth. Another kind of contribution is that you have contacts,
such as someone you know who has the resource. You can provide a referral so that the
requestor can connect to this person.
Step 5: After taking time to write contributions on separate notes, each person takes
time to publicly explain his or her contribution to the requests for which he or she can
add value. Each response is posted below the note containing the request. Sharing aloud
these contributions tends to stimulate the thinking of others who may also realize some
additional resource or contribution.
Step 6: After each person has had a chance to explain aloud his or her contributions to
the requests with which he or she can help, provide time for each person to connect with
each resource provider associated with his or her request. The network is formed when
requesters and resource providers connect and exchange valuable information.
An important outcome of this practice is to uncover new ideas and new resources
that were previously unknown or unrecognized. Baker (2012) found that individuals
who offer the most contributions tend to be rated as more competent leaders, more
interpersonally effective, and higher performers in their organizations than others. That
is, people who are willing to demonstrate generalized reciprocity—to contribute without
expecting a personal benefit in return—are more successful leaders.
2.2.