Before we get into the latest and greatest from the podcast, I’d like to give a quick shout to all of you parents out there who are working, teaching, and just trying to hold things together right now. And let’s not forget all of you others without kids who are perhaps headed back into work or working from home. These are weird times, but one thing’s for sure — it’s pushed all of us to either grow stronger or more stressed.
This month I brought on Genella MacIntyre and we talked about her book, Five Steps to Reducing Stress: Recognizing What Works. I figured that there’s no better time than now to have this conversation, considering
what we’re all going through. I hope that you get as much out of it as I did.
The Source of Inspiration
I started the interview by bringing up a particularly interesting point that I noted from her book. She said that “it takes everything you have to survive from one day to the next.” This piqued my interest. I wanted to know how Genella, having experienced overwhelming stress herself, overcame it and helped others by writing this book.
In response, Genella said, “Actually, I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and I realized that people who struggle with severe stress — for whatever reason — are not able to think about theory.” In other words, people (including myself and Genella, and probably many of you who are reading this article) have trouble nailing down what is really going on and how to cope. This led Genella to create micro-strategies that she talks about at length in her book.
Can Stress Be a Good Thing?
Before we dove into the rest of my questions, I wanted to get one thing straight. Is it possible, according to Genella, that stress can be good for us? Genella confirmed what I was thinking, that “when you think about it, you can’t live without stress.” When we move past the occasional traffic hold-up (minor irritation) and move into topics of high stress, such as job performance, she went on to explain that your performance can increase right alongside your stress. This gives you an “edge.”
“However,” Genella explained, “at some tipping point — which is different for everybody for different circumstances — it moves from stress to distress. And we can recognize distress when it gets in the way of being able to function as well as you did previously.”
Identifying Triggers
I was curious about what triggers our stress. How do we know our ultimate trigger? I knew that was a big question, but I figured Genella would have some insight as to how people can identify where the triggers are coming from.
She explained that the first step is to identify the symptoms that you associate with stress. By determining these symptoms, you start to understand yourself. Ask yourself, What happens when I feel stressed? What am I thinking about? And how is my body reacting? We need to do this each time we’re feeling stress come on. That way, we can begin to see patterns in our triggers.
Genella said, “If I start to get, for example, a little irritable, I know that I’m under a low degree of stress because it hits me emotionally first. Then, if I’m under a medium degree of stress, my thoughts become erratic. Finally, when I’m under a high degree of stress, it’s my body that reacts. So I could say I’m fine, but I know that I’ll get hives or a migraine if I don’t take action. So that’s my key.”
The Effects of Stress
Earlier, we talked about how stress could, in some instances, spur us on to better work performance. However, I was curious about how bad stress could affect us long term if we don’t deal with it.
Interestingly enough, our bodies are set up to handle trauma except in extreme cases like post-traumatic stress. But if we’re exposed to stress on a regular basis and over a long period of time, it’s detrimental to our health.
It ages us prematurely, it lowers our immune system, and we become more disposed to any physiological or mental condition.
Everybody copes with stress a little differently, so these long term effects can vary. However, we can be sure that long term stress causes long term effects.
Interrupting the Stress Cycle
Next, we moved on to the topic of the stress cycle. In her book, Genella discusses the ways that we can interrupt the stress cycle physically, mentally, and emotionally. Everyone is different, of course, so we don’t deal with stress in the same ways. In order to figure out how you deal with stress, Genella recommends determining what you do to relax or what you enjoy doing most. Some may say they enjoy fishing, exercising, or spending time with family.
The key to interrupting your stress cycle depends on your answer to these questions. If, for example, you exercise to feel good, then you’re likely going to be able to interrupt your stress cycle with physical activity. The same goes for the emotional. If you, for example, like to set goals and that helps you reduce stress, then you are likely able to interrupt the stress cycle with mental methods.
Stress in the Workplace
Of course, I’m all about leading my team to function smoothly, effectively, and productively. That’s why I wanted to know what steps Genella would recommend that I take as a leader when it comes to team stress.
Genella responded, “I think it’s important to know what motivates and demotivates your employees. For example, if you know that someone is motivated by recognition, then you know how to increase their relaxation response — by giving recognition when they do something well!”
“Interestingly enough,” she added, “all the really good management and leadership principles are things that we, unfortunately, don’t do. And yet they’re vital. Create an environment where stress is managed best because it creates safety, trust, and security. I also recommend open communication and appreciation. Let your team know that what they do matters.”
And what can leaders do to model? They can talk about it. Of course, this will require going deeper than the simple “if you need anything, please let me know.” Rather, leaders should create space in the day for real discussions regarding stress levels. Genella added, “As you know — in leadership and management — it’s not so much what we say, but what we do.”
Learn More
If you’d like to learn more about how to reduce your own stress, pick up a copy of Genella’s book, Five Steps to Reducing Stress: Recognizing What Works, or go to her website at partnersindiscovery.com. And don’t forget to join us when we invite Genella MacIntyre back to discuss her latest book on soft skills. As always, thanks for reading (and listening!), and we’ll see you soon!
Listen to the full interview with Genella MacIntyre: