6 Myths about Employee Anxiety
You may have noticed that the world is really crazy right now. So many things are affecting our health, our work, our families, and understandably, we’re all dealing with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety.
And it may not surprise you to learn that some of that anxiety we’re all feeling isn’t relegated to your home life. It’s very likely impacting your work life, too.
If you think that anxiety isn’t affecting you or your team, you’re missing a huge opportunity for improvement. If you know that it is affecting you and your team, but don’t know what to do about it, come to our webinar (details below). Tools for managing anxiety in ourselves and on our teams aren’t “nice-to-have” at this time in our lives. They are must-haves.
One of the biggest hurdles to managing anxious employees is understanding what’s actually happening. There are a lot of misconceptions about anxiety that tend to get in the way. In our work with executive coaching clients, we’ve found there are 6 common myths about anxiety. Here’s what you need to know:
Myth #1: A-Players, strong leaders, and productive hard-working employees either aren’t anxious or aren’t affected by anxiety, even if they feel it.
As executive coaches, we work with some of the most successful, effective leaders. And we have learned that EVERY human is anxious some of the time. Anxiety is a normal, healthy part of being human. It’s a vital signal wired into our nervous system that’s telling us to PAY ATTENTION because something important is happening. Believing that your “good” people aren’t anxious means you’re missing an opportunity to support them and empower everyone to be more effective.
Myth #2: Anxiety should be left at the office door.
It’s so tempting to believe that we shouldn’t be anxious — or have any emotion, really — at work. But that’s just not how humans work. We can’t leave part of ourselves at home, and frankly, we’re a lot more productive and effective when we’re encouraged to bring our whole selves to work. At the end of the day, an organization and the teams within it are groups of people. All people have evolved with an anxiety response to keep them safe in the face of danger. Good leaders know how to work WITH these types of human responses, not against them.
Myth #3: A rational explanation of why someone “shouldn’t be anxious” is necessary and helpful.
Our rationally-trained minds really want to believe that explaining the 14 reasons why anxiety doesn’t make sense will help. It won’t. You can’t pep-talk yourself, let alone someone else, out of anxiety. Think about a time when you felt really out of sorts. Did any of the following rationalizations make you feel better: “You should be happy you have a job”; You’re not sick today, so why are you worried”; “The team is doing fine”? Yeah, we didn’t think so.
That’s because those responses don’t work. Anxiety is not in the domain of rational thought. It is a finely tuned signal from our nervous system that evolved long before conscious thought. There are ways to work with anxiety. Thinking our way out of a feeling problem isn’t one of them.
Another closely related trap here is believing that someone’s anxiety is not valid, not a big deal or something they “should be able to handle.” As leaders, we think that our opinion on someone else’s anxiety somehow matters. The truth is that our opinion on someone else’s feelings won’t change anything. Believing that it will is unhelpful and counterproductive.
Myth #4: Leaders are good at recognizing anxiety in themselves and others.
Most of the leaders we work with are not able to identify the symptoms of anxiety as coming from anxiety. Only the most emotionally fluent people recognize anxiety in themselves AND are able to articulate it clearly, much less recognize it in others.
When people can’t see anxiety for what it is, they tend to focus on the negative impacts. People often say things like, “Why is no one getting anything done?” “Have they all stopped listening?” “Can’t they just focus for a little bit?” If you or your team is not behaving the way they used to — or the way they should — consider if anxiety might be the root cause.
Myth #5: Compartmentalizing anxiety is a good strategy.
It’s not. This approach works counter to the way our human nervous system is wired. Telling ourselves, “I just need to get things done first” or “I’ll deal with it later” might be effective in the very short term, but our nervous system is designed to override that with increasing anxiety, and decreasing focus and effectiveness. The problem grows and gets worse.
Myth #6: Working with anxiety isn’t a leadership problem; it’s a problem for HR or a therapist.
Nope, it’s for you. Come to our webinar, “Too Stressed To Perform” — How to Deal With Anxious Employees.
This free webinar is designed to teach you the easiest ways to keep your employees happy and productive during periods of considerable stress. Sign up today to learn the answers to the two biggest questions managers and CEOs are asking about anxiety right now.
