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REALTOR® Emeritus | | Becoming a leader DEALING WITH STRESS | | ||
|  Developing Leadership Skills Communicating Like a Leader Leading Others Making Time to Lead Handling Difficult Employees Developing Your Team Dealing with Stress More Resources | 10 Stress Warning Signs Being a leader—even a successful one—can create a lot of stress. If you regularly experience any of these symptoms, you might need to relax a little. 1.Irritability, especially when out of proportion to the situation 2.Tension headaches, aching shoulders, or generally tight muscles 3. Anxiety 4. Higher susceptibility to colds and flu 5. Forgetfulness 6. Inability to concentrate 7. Depression 8. High-blood pressure 9. Substance abuse 10. Difficulty sleeping Tips for Coping With Stress You can’t eliminate stress, but you can manage it. Here are some stress management tactics. 1. Identify your stress triggers. Inventory your activities for a week and note the circumstances and people that cause you stress as well as your reactions to them. Just knowing a particular situation causes you stress can reduce its impact. 2. Determine what stresses you can eliminate. Take responsibility for changing stressors both on the job and at home. 3. Learn to relax. Practice meditation, stretching, deep breathing, or progressive relaxation. Lie down on your back, and tighten each muscle area, then relax it beginning with the face and ending with the toes until your entire body is relaxed. Try visualization—if you imagine yourself in a quiet state, your body will respond by relaxing. 4. Develop non-work activities that relieve stress. Find what activity works best for you, whether it’s sports, exercise, education, or a hobby. 5. Eat a healthy diet. Stick to a consistent pattern of eating; eat the right things at regular intervals. 6. Exercise regularly. Set aside time at least twice a week for strenuous physical exercise. Exercise releases endorphins, stretches and relaxes muscles, and invigorates the mind and body. 7. Perform more difficult tasks during your peak energy levels. If prospecting is stressful, get it out of the way first thing rather than having this stressful part of the job hanging over you all day. 8. Take mini-vacations. Plan for some "down time" every day. Once in a while, call in "well," and take a day off to play. 9. Set limits on your schedule. Consider disconnecting your pager and asking clients not to call you after 7:00 p.m. except in emergencies. 10. Reclaim control of your thoughts and attitude. Don’t focus on the negative or worry about possible failures. For example, if you're not completely prepared for a presentation, think of your past record of successes and tell yourself you are confident with what you do have. If that’s not working, reschedule. 11. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you make a mistake or lose a sale. "If a buyer or seller walks away, basically, you have two choices: You can beat yourself up and be miserable or recognize what you did wrong and tell yourself you won't do it again. The faster you let go, the more quickly you can use what you learn,” says Trish Merklin, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, St. Charles, Mo., in Real Estate Today, April 1993. 12. Look at the positive aspects of your job. Appreciate your career’s upside—you're your own boss and although you work long hours, you can take off at 4 p.m. to coach your daughter's soccer team. Portions adapted from “Burnout: A manager’s worst nightmare,” T.L. Stanley, Supervision, August 2001. TIP: Keep your company’s stress level under control by encouraging workers to communicate and participate in company decisions. Armin Brott, “New approaches to job stress,” Nation’s Business,May 1994. TIP: For more ideas on helping yourself and your staff reduce stress, visit the Reducing Stress Tool Kit . More Resources > | |