We will encounter stress at some point in our employment, and maybe quite regularly. Of course, not all work stress is destructive, but it forces us to behave in unique ways that may be outside of our typical habits and, in turn, impacts performance and effectiveness.
In part 1 of our discussion, we will give you our assessment of how your most intense behaviors affect you in stressful situations and impact your performance.
Stress can occur when you face a new and unknown challenge, or if you face your usual challenges but then have to complete them under extraordinary circumstances or deadlines. Since your habits and behavior are ingrained within you (much like a fingerprint), it is possible to predict which of your strongest habits will immediately come into play.
For example, let’s say your strongest behaviors are:
1. Propensity to Own
2. Responsiveness
3. To Simplify
4. Team Inclination
5. People-Positive
Therefore, when the hammer falls or the heat gets turned up, your instinct will be to immediately respond, take ownership of the problem by trying to simplify the situation and work through the people in your immediate team environment to manage the challenge. These are your strongest behavioral “muscles” to help you survive!
Of course, should you be unable to use your behavioral strengths, or be forced to address the work challenge in an alternate manner, you’re going to have use other behavioral muscles which might be a little atrophied by comparison, so it’s going to be harder, and it’s going to add to the stress vs. alleviate it.
By knowing your strongest behaviors and habits, you can effectively position yourself for challenges, and know that you’ve got the best plan of attack ready when the boss drops the new deadline, or your team project suddenly blows up in front of you.
In part 2 of our discussion, we’ll discuss how your least intensive behaviors impact you in the same situations.