Stress management as an enabler of high performance ( Chapter 7) - Essay Example

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D is just D-E-S-S-E-R-T-S Spelled Backwards In this fast-paced world, a lot of people are suffering with the negative consequences of being stressed out. A lot of people are taking in pills or even medications just to cope up with stress. What is stress by the way? According to Cranwell-Ward (1990), stress can be defined as the physiological and psychological reaction that occurs when people perceive an imbalance between the level of demand placed upon them and their capability to meet that demand.

A lot of people and majority of them are the leaders of today, suffer with the downside of it while in reality, it can be used to have positive effects, leading to high performance and excellence in school, work, or even social life. Just what the famous adage quotes, “Stressed is just desserts spelled backwards”. The effect of stress to a person would depend on how it was looked about and dealt with.This discussion will center in stress management relevant to organizational leaders dealing with insecurities and uncertainties brought about by major changes required in this highly globalized world.

According to the book, “Stress Management as an Enabler of High Performance”, Individuals go through two-stage process when faced with a potentially stressful situation. First, is primary appraisal wherein they assess the relevance, significance and implications of the event. Second, is seconday appraisal when they assess what if anything can be done about the situation and their ability to cope. Kriegal and Kriegal (1984) identified a combination of skills and attitudes needed by leaders to attain high performance under any external pressure.

These are: confidence, commitment, and control. First, the individual must believe first in his capacity as a person. Then, he needs to put his heart into what he is doing and as much as possible, enjoy the task. Lastly, focus on the factors that is within his control and use it to his benefit. These factors are interrelated and if done properly, would have a synergy effect towards a positive end goal.In the same book, “Stress Management as an Enabler of High Performance”, three ‘worlds’ was discussed.

These ‘worlds’ could used to analyze why a certain individual reacted positively or negatively into stress. First is the inner ‘world’ that deals with the thoughts and feelings of the person. This is about how he sees himself ‘internally’. Second is the outer ‘world’ which is basically how the person sees and projects himself and his capacity to the outside world. This deals about how he wanted other people to see him. Lastly is the interactive ‘world’ which deals with the interaction of the individual to other people.

Cooper and Palmer (2000), identified six sources of stress at work which can all be related to the function of the skipper. These sources are: factors intrinsic to the job, role of the organization, relationships at work, career development, organization structure and culture, and home-work interface. These sources may either have a positive or negative setback to the leader. The important factor that will draw the line here is how the individual would deal with the situation. Will he see it as a factor that would trample him or a challenge that would make him excel.

There are different strategies in a number of health books on how to deal with stress. However, when all is said and done, it is the attitude of the individual towards these sources will determine his success or failure in dealing with stress. A negative reaction towards a negative situation will just give you a negative result but a more positive and domineering reaction to a negative situation will give you a positive result. Hence, individual who could turn his ‘lemons’ into lemonade would possibly be the same individual that would turn his ‘stressed’ factors into ‘desserts’.

Work Cited:Straker, Liz, et.al. Stress Management as an Enabler of High Performance. 2001