“THE MOST STRESSFUL SCENARIO IS WHEN
YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW. IT’S THE
SELF-ESTEEM UNCERTAINTY THAT MAKES US ANXIOUS.”This is about creating feelings of respect and
trust. If an employee feels trusted, the chemical
balance in their brains actually changes. If an
employee is learning and developing, this also
has a positive impact on their feeling of
self-esteem and their brains.PURPOSE
Knowing that what we do at work is useful
matters to both leaders and employees alike.
When we have a sense of purpose, our resilience
increases and our sense of wellbeing improves.
In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant,
Professor of Psychology at Wharton University,
describes an experiment where he took the
fundraising team of a university and divided
them into two. One group met a beneficiary of
their fundraising, for just five minutes, and the
beneficiary told them about the impact of their
work on his life. The other half did not meet a
beneficiary. Grant found that fundraising among
the team who met the beneficiary increased by
more than 170 per cent, and not just in the
following weeks but even into the following
month, whereas the fundraising of the control
group remained unchanged.
AUTONOMY
The brain needs a sense of having some control.
Identifying what employees can control and
allowing them to have some influence and
responsibility helps to build their resilience. Even
in the most difficult circumstances, there is
always something that employees can control. In
one office example I’ve seen, the company was
closing and consequently people were losing
their jobs. Employees were encouraged to take
responsibility for recognising past successes and
for planning how to say goodbye to people.
Having a small amount of influence can make a
surprisingly positive difference. Choice is very
important to the human brain.
CERTAINTY
The brain likes certainty. If we don’t have it, we
are distracted and waste a huge amount of
energy speculating. Research conducted by
University College London shows that knowing
there is a small chance of getting a painful
electric shock can lead to significantly more
stress than knowing you will definitely get a
painful shock. Co-author Dr Robb Rutledge
(UCL Institute of Neurology and Max Planck
UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and
Ageing Research) commented: “The most
stressful scenario is when you really don’t know.
It’s the uncertainty that makes us anxious. The
same is likely to apply in many familiar situations,
whether it’s waiting for medical results or
information on train delays.”EQUITY
The need for fair and transparent treatment
comes to the fore during change. If resources
are going to be changed or limited, then
employees naturally want to feel that
resource distribution, for example, is equal.
This puts people’s brains into a more
positive and receptive place.SOCIAL CONNECTION
The need for social connection at work is hugely
important and has been underestimated. The
human brain has not evolved that much since
our ancestors were hunting and gathering. If we
were part of the tribe, we were more likely to
survive. So our brains like to feel that we belong,
that we have the protection of the group. It’s
natural for people to need to feel that someone
cares for them. If an employee feels like
someone in the workplace is taking an interest in
them, they feel balanced; if they are excluded,
their brains go into a threat state. Try considering
how well connected your employees are to you.
In what ways do you show people that you are
interested in them?theceomagazine.com | 51Leadershup | INSPIRE