Urgency, Stress and the Burden of Vision

Recently, researcher/author/coach Joshua Freedman confessed that the “burning urgency” he feels to get things done because of his strong belief in his organization’s mission can lead him to pushing himself and others to a point where “it sucks the life out of me and the people I am closest to.”

Whoa – how would you like having a boss who sucks the life out of you?

I appreciate his transparency. He’s done us a service by associating this tendency with building a life of purpose and meaning. As a Harvard Business Review article notes, "leaders are amplifiers of people's emotions." And the connection between an environment of constant urgency and unhealthy stress has been well documented. 

The word “stress” generally makes us think of something to avoid. Yet there are at least three categories of people who may agree that too much stress is “bad,” yet whose constant tone of urgency can bury themselves and the people they depend on, in stress:

• (Some) business and non-profit founders. They’ve planted, watered and cared for, and are sacrificially committed to the organization they’ve built. As investor Alex Iskold notes, successful founders often "see something that other people don't see." They’re envisioning something wonderful! Yet it may not be realistic for founders to expect that anyone else can reach the same level of commitment they have for their own vision.

• (Some) Senior leaders whose professional reputation (and compensation package) may be heavily dependent on team or overall business success. Their awareness of all that is at stake for them personally to ensure their department’s success can lead them to press people harder than what is optimal.

• Workplace adrenaline junkies. Anyone can be vulnerable to getting hooked on the thrill of solving an urgent crisis. For these professionals, habitually discovering or even manufacturing the next crisis to resolve can seem so “right” that they’re blinded to the dangers of adrenaline addiction in the workplace.

Urgency vs. Stress: Are they Ever Good?

Freedman asked his readers, “What works for you?” in combatting the tendency to drive ourselves and our teams to fulfill unhealthy levels of expectation in support of worthwhile and valuable ends.

But aren’t there situations that legitimately call for dramatic displays of commitment, obedience and instant excellence?

• A true life-and-death situation such as may often occur in hospitals, with first responders, or aboard a ship in a storm.

• A dramatic and unexpected legal, legislative or competitive challenge that could threaten an organization’s existence or cost many jobs.

Thus, there are times when it is appropriate for leaders to amplify the urgency of a situation and an imperative to act NOW, even when it means people must sacrifice their personal time and save a longer discussion for after-action reports and retrospectives. We should expect these to create unavoidable stress.

Even in less urgent situations, some amount of stress, depending on the source of it, can be helpful. Some research has revealed an optimal stress level that gets people motivated and energized to perform at a high level. That kind of “eustress” (good stress) originates from the person themselves and the belief that they are able to succeed in the upcoming task or challenge. On the other hand, when people are confronted with overwhelm (as might occur when faced with constant, continuous urgency), they are prone to experience “distress,” which impairs their ability to perform.

Understanding urgency and stress is important for any leader who wants to improve their ability to motivate, inspire, retain, and WIN with great team members. Let’s look at urgency and stress more closely.

Urgency and Stress are Very Different Things

Urgency is not an emotional state; it’s a business imperative. Its existence does not depend upon someone’s emotional state. Urgency can cause a stress response, but it is not stress. Urgency means that something must get done right away in order to avoid a significant negative consequence. When urgency exists, the way people react to it does not make the situation more or less urgent.

Stress is not a business imperative; it’s an emotional state. Some professions (like first responders and airline pilots) carry increased potential for high-stakes, urgent action. Leaders of these organizations should plan ahead to reduce the stress that can come with these events because too much stress impairs both motor skills and cognitive performance. Who wants to be on an airplane flown by a stressed-out pilot, or decide on an annual budget with a stressed-out CFO in the room?

Is it reasonable to expect that organizations who will eventually face urgent problems can do things to protect their teams from unhealthy levels of stress? Here are four ideas on how to do this:

1. Hire the right people for the tasks needed. People who are qualified and motivated to do the work required of them will be much less susceptible to stress than those who are unqualified and/or unmotivated. Because they are both qualified and self-motivated to do good work, they’re more likely to be able to experience “eustress” because of their confidence and engagement.

2. Plan and train for the most likely urgent scenarios. People in jobs that require high-stakes, urgent action practice their responses. Repeated practice makes the responses natural and automatic to them in the event “it” really happens. Airline pilots must practice emergency procedures in flight simulators. And investment brokerages have communication plans in place for when the stock market dips.

3. Define “urgent” with care. Years ago, one of my clients was a nurse who reassured me about a mistake I made in her workplace, “We’re not in a hospital, Dave. No lives are at stake. Let’s just breathe and I’ll give you a chance to fix it.” I never forgot her for that. One hint: Ask ourselves: “If we don’t address this as urgent, what will the most likely impact be on our mission and our top two or three priorities?”

4. Work “Managerial Curiosity” into your leadership toolkit. This could mean different things to different people and organizations. It often means slowing down the action in one’s own mind as we become aware of a new, potentially urgent situation. You might train yourself to start by asking questions. Except for life-and-death emergencies, you might consider the discipline of asking yourself these three things before responding:

    1) What are the three most important things I still need to know to be certain of how to best respond? Then work back to:

    2) What are the questions I really need to ask in order to discover those three things? And then work back to:

    3) Who are the people I really need to ask in order to get the answers I need?

This will take you out of “react” mode and will also help you to separate what’s truly urgent from issues that can wait to be more carefully planned for.

Do You Amplify or Dampen Stress?

What if leaders considered their options to behave as a “stress amplifier” or a “stress dampener” as each new opportunity or threat to their teams’ and organizations’ success presents itself?

The table below summarizes characteristics of leaders and managers who either increase or reduce stress for their teams, based on some of the referenced articles. It’s not necessarily “wrong” to ever do any of the things in the “Stress Amplifier” column. Yet if most or all your honest answers are in the first column… there might be something to explore. Which of the behaviors listed on the table would the people you work with say are true of you? What are you noticing about yourself as you consider this question?

The Burden of Vision

Joshua Freedman admitted that his desire to lead an excellent organization could cause him to saddle the people who are closest to him with expectations that could suck the life out of them. Yet it’s his life’s work to evangelize us on the many facets and benefits of emotional intelligence. How can this be?

Freedman also has a grand vision and a burning desire to make his vision a reality. Yet as important as it is to him, he cannot expect others to shoulder that burden with the same intensity as himself. That sets him apart from the crowd as a truly visionary leader.

In leadership development we embrace vision-casting. We help leaders and executives to share their vision throughout the organization. The vision helps to attract the kinds of people who will work harder than others to help the organization to accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. It can inspire a team to push through rough patches. Yet Freedman reminds us that in most cases, it is the visionary him or herself who, in order not to damage those they depend on, must feel the weight of their vision more intensely than anyone else.

That can mean knowing when to back off the urgency, in order to keep stress at the optimal level and avoid hurting people and their productivity.

That same Harvard Business Review article I quoted near the very beginning of this article about how leaders amplify people’s emotions, also pointed out that leaders can "bring out the best in people even in the worst of times" if they manage their own display of emotions effectively. I hope the ideas I’ve shared will help you to bring out the best in people at all times.