{"id":19125,"date":"2022-02-18T14:03:01","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T08:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/?p=19125"},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T09:27:20","slug":"5-things-leaders-do-that-unknowingly-stress-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/5-things-leaders-do-that-unknowingly-stress-employees.html","title":{"rendered":"5 things leaders do that unknowingly stress employees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5-things-leaders-do-that-unknowingly-stress-employees-header\"<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a manager or a leader, you probably know the influence you have on your team. But do you understand the power it holds?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tomas Chammoro Premuzic in an <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> says,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven well-meaning bosses may inadvertently contribute to high anxiety levels in their employees and have a limited capacity to correct and improve their behavior\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is a leader\u2019s job to provide clarity, direction, and most importantly, hope. So how do we bridge the gap that exists evidently?<\/span><\/p>\n

Start by considering 5 things that are unknowingly stressing your employees right now:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

1. Keeping the team in the dark<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u2018Keeping your employees in the dark is the most detrimental thing you can do to your workplace culture.\u2019 Without clear communication, your employees are likely to lack a purpose and stay anxious most of the time. From closed-door meetings to unclear priorities to withholding information, it only worsens if the communication is unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"_Keeping-the-team-in-the-dark-2\"<\/p>\n

As an effective leader you must –\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Not hide a negative situation or assume a reaction beforehand<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Be open to transparent communication and stick to facts.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Engage, communicate and set clear expectations<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Help remove suspicions and fear from the working environment<\/span><\/li>\n
  • And most importantly, trust your employees can handle the truth<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    <\/h3>\n

    2. Constantly changing their mind<\/b><\/h3>\n

    If you keep introducing 5-page revisions to a month’s work and negating the expectations you had set a month ago, it\u2019s time you stop. Flip-flopping your decisions, priorities, and expectations can get infuriating for people working to make sure your expectations are met every time. But you are not doing it purposely – so what can help?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Constantly-changing-their-mind--1\"<\/p>\n

    Here are 4 quick tips to consider-\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Research information and gather your thoughts on the project.<\/li>\n
    • Assure you have all your bases cleared before initiating the final communication.<\/li>\n
    • Focus on the target rather than the tactics.<\/li>\n
    • And if you still need to change your mind at some point, make sure to communicate the why before the what!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      <\/h3>\n

      3. Taking the stress out on employees<\/b><\/h3>\n

      Being vulnerable is good but passing on everything that comes from the top to your team might not be the best tactic.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"Taking-the-stress-out-on-employees-1\"<\/p>\n

      In such a situation, here are a few must-follow things you can do-<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Become the shock-absorber in the situation<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Refrain from impulsive actions based on the blow<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Translate the tough news into a goal that must be achieved<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Break the goal down into actions\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Assign actionable tasks to each employee<\/span><\/li>\n
      • It\u2019s best to sleep over a bad day before facing the team.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        <\/h3>\n

        4. Frequently rescheduling meetings – even worse, missing them!<\/b><\/h3>\n

        Frequently missing\/ rescheduling meetings (especially important ones like reviews\/ feedback) not only disrupts your employee\u2019s schedule but also makes them worried and get into an anxiety cycle!<\/span><\/p>\n

        \"Frequently-rescheduling-meetings---even-worse,-missing-them!-1\"<\/p>\n

        To avoid that, follow the two golden rules –\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Resist the urge to schedule such meetings towards the fag end of the day – the probability of unavoidable delays cropping up keeps increasing.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. And if you still have to reschedule, make sure you inform your team about it, beforehand and not halfway through the waiting period.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          <\/h3>\n

          5. Using \u2018negativity\u2019 and \u2018pessimism\u2019 as the default approach\/reaction<\/b><\/h3>\n

          Sure, pessimism is not all that bad. It can help leaders detect potential threats, avoid arrogance and minimise risks in making decisions. But when used as a default approach to any situation, it can become a liability that demotivates others. And in stressful situations, it can further go on to push high-stress levels to higher anxiety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

          \"Using-\u2018negativity\u2019-and-\u2018pessimism\u2019-as-the-default-approach-reaction--1\"<\/p>\n

          Here are certain things that you can consider to keep yourself in check-<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          • Avoid using words like \u2018horrific\u2019, \u2018dangerous\u2019, \u2018undesirable\u2019, etc that triggers anxiety.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Talk more about \u2018hope\u2019, \u2018improvements\u2019, \u2018learnings\u2019 to reassure confidence.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Even if you have no reasons to be optimistic, refrain from pessimism.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Control the angst and project composure at all costs to clear the air of strengthening anxiety.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

             <\/p>\n

            Remember, you are not a leader unless your employees look up to you. Since what you say, do, feel, and express can significantly impact your team – positively or negatively, you must reflect on it. And while you\u2019re at it, start implementing positive approaches that can decrease your organisation\u2019s stress index and inspire a better culture at work.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            If you\u2019re a manager or a leader, you probably know the influence you have on your team. But do you understand the power it holds?\u00a0 Tomas Chammoro Premuzic in an article says,\u00a0 \u201cEven well-meaning bosses may inadvertently contribute to high anxiety levels in their employees and have a limited capacity to correct and improve their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-work-careers","category-work-related-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37205,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19125\/revisions\/37205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yourdost.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}