Stress is NOT contagious…

Today, I corrected a number of clients. I do NOT apologize for these corrections usually. Every once in awhile, however, I really feel kinda bad when I know my correction has left my client feeling a little less. I pick up on what my client is feeling and let it affect me. Sometimes this is healthy. Oftentimes it’s not. My aim is to make my clients stronger. I want our work together to be a catalyst for making them more, not less. I want our practices to feel positive. And, I want our practices to result in real growth. Correction, done well, is one of the best tools in the hands of a virtuous builder. Correction, done correctly, conveys caring

One such correction today was around a word. My client kept emphasizing how stressed he and his team are at the moment. He said he’s become convinced that stress is contagious and he and his team are infecting each other. I reminded him that stress is not contagious. Emotions are. And, when he feels overwhelmed and reacts with anger, frustration, fear, and worst of all catastrophic comments, his team catches it. His team doesn’t catch his distress but they do catch his emotional response to his stressors. Want to lead a team who performs better under pressure?

Embrace your struggle in this moment. Take 3 deep breaths. Practice your A,B,C,D, and E’s from Seligman in the moment. Remain calm. Choose PA and through your action show your team how to chip away at what seems at the moment too big to tackle.

As your team catches you calmly doing your job and acting positively into your stressors, they’ll pick up your positive, calm, caring, confidence, and can do kinda emotions. These kinda emotions are contagious too. Spread some of ’em around you and your place. Stress is not contagious. Emotions are. What kind are you spreading, leader, under pressure?

Are your emotions worth catching?

Are you correcting correctly?

Are you hiding your teammates from the rawness of the truth; from coming clean?