Authored by: Dr Karina de Bruin, Managing Director: JvR Academy and Counselling Psychologist
The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings with it technological advances and innovation that are not only changing the world we live in, but also the world we work in. This new world offers an abundance of opportunities, but its unfamiliarity also creates uncertainty in our lives. Too much uncertainty leads to anxiety, which often escalates into uncontrolled stress, emotional exhaustion, and eventually burnout. The spiral Most people have occasionally experienced feelings of anxiety in their lives. Although it is normal to have feelings of anxiety at particular times, it may become a problem when it is excessive and prevents someone from coping with everyday tasks and enjoying life. If people are highly stressed, their bodies react by releasing stress hormones into the blood and activate a ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response.Long-term, accumulated stress often leads to emotional exhaustion, where you find yourself in a state of feeling emotionally overwhelmed, empty, and drained. Emotional exhaustion is one of the signs of burnout. Christina Maslach and Susan Jackson constructed the Maslach Burnout Inventory which explains occupational burnout through three interrelated components, namely emotional exhaustion, feelings of depersonalisation or detachment, and a sense of ineffectiveness or lack of accomplishment. The difference between the signs of stress and burnout is only a matter of degree. Burnout slowly stalks us and announces itself once it is too late. The earlier one recognises the signs, the better one can manage it to avoid burnout. The signs Burnout, when left unchecked, can destroy your career, health, and relationships.However, there are ways to find out when you are on the path to burnout. Ask yourself the following questions and be honest about those you have answered yes;
Employees have a responsibility toward their employers to perform at their best and if they are not able to do so, because of whatever reason, to discuss it with their supervisors. This is not always an easy task. Many workplaces offer support through employee assistance programmes or provide mental health resources in the community to help employees manage stress factors. Stay well Although burnout is not a permanent state, it takes quite a long time to recover. And if not managed properly, it is possible to go down the same path again. As a first step, be attuned to your body and your emotions. If you experience some of the signs and symptoms, and if your friends and colleagues tell you that you are showing these symptoms, acknowledge the fact that you may be suffering from burnout, or are on your way there. Identify the root causes of stress in your life. Use a stress diary to list all the situations that make you feel stressed, worried, and helpless. For each of these stressors, think about one change that you can make to reduce its impact on your life – and implement those. Learn to say ‘no’, delegate some of your tasks, and trust that the tasks will be completed successfully. Create a support system through friends and family, and use it. Social support is one of the most important resources in trying to overcome the harmful impact of stress in our lives. On a very basic level, make sure that you get enough good sleep, exercise regularly, and eat healthy. Remember, stress does not have to be negative. If managed effectively, it can be a motivator and contribute to a healthy, successful life. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux , 060 995 6277, rosa-mari@thatpoint.co.za,www.atthatpoint.co.za ABOUT the JvR Africa Group: The JvR Africa Group of companies consists of JvR Psychometrics, JvR Consulting Psychologists, JvR Academy, and JvR Safety. With its head office situated in Johannesburg, the group conducts business nationally and across Sub-Saharan Africa. They work with test developers, consultants, and academic institutions all over the world and support a range of development opportunities and host events around People Development in Africa – a cause they feel is extremely important to the future of our continent. For more information on JvR Africa Group please visit: Website: https://jvrafricagroup.co.za/ LinkedIn: JvR Africa Group Facebook: The JvR Africa Group - People Development in Africa Twitter: JvR Africa Group YouTube: The JvR Africa Group
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Authored by: Dr Renate Scherrer, MD at JvR Consulting Psychologists
In a world where the only constant seems to be change, organisations are continuously challenged to operate simpler, smarter and faster. Many put a lot of effort and cost into adopting what is believed to be ‘agile principles and mindsets’ – for example creating a flatter structure, renovating to fashion open-plan offices, implementing standardised ways of working, and developing or obtaining enabling technology. The Leadership Challenge Agile organisations are both stable and dynamic. They are customer-centric, ever-evolving and open to change. Implementing agile practices often call for employees to rearrange as cross-functional or smaller self-managing teams that can autonomously decide priorities and allocate resources in a decentralised way.These teams are also progressively multi-generational and likely working off-site. This provides leaders with the challenge of aligning their people to the overall purpose and vision of the organisation in a meaningful and enabling manner, keeping them engaged and connected, whilst still delivering on the organisational intent.In order to do this, leaders have to start serving their people rather than directing and controlling them. It also implies that leaders have to increasingly share the task of leadership with their teams who become involved in and takes ownership of making the decisions that will affect themselves and their work. Becoming Agile is a Balancing Act Before leaders can assist others and the organisation on the agile journey, they have to equip themselves first. They often need to let go of old paradigms and transform their thinking and ways of being. In essence, leaders need to be agile before they can lead agile. Being agile is about developing one’s inner agility. It is taking the best of seemingly different and opposite characteristics and combining them in a balanced approach to position for maximum impact:
Switching on agility Leading agile is being able to move on from the self and focusing on others in order to support, prepare and empower them to go agile. This requires from the leader to build diverse teams who are authorised to deliver on agreed goals and role-modelling the expected behaviour that will support healthy agility. Key behavioural messages these leaders need to embed in words, actions and business practices are:
As with most things in life, there is unfortunately no silver bullet or magic blueprint available and each leader has to bravely navigate this uncertain, mine-filled landscape in the effort to become agile. There will be hiccups and glitches along the way, but the agile leader views this as continuous training to get better rather than trying again and failing again. As Thomas Edison put it: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, rosa-mari@thatpoint.co.za , www.atthatpoint.co.za ABOUT the JvR Africa Group: The JvR Africa Group of companies consists of JvR Psychometrics, JvR Consulting Psychologists, JvR Academy, and JvR Safety. With its head office situated in Johannesburg, the group conducts business nationally and across Sub-Saharan Africa. They work with test developers, consultants, and academic institutions all over the world and support a range of development opportunities and host events around People Development in Africa – a cause they feel is extremely important to the future of our continent. For more information on JvR Africa Group please visit: Website: https://jvrafricagroup.co.za/ LinkedIn: JvR Africa Group Facebook: The JvR Africa Group - People Development in Africa Twitter: JvR Africa Group YouTube: The JvR Africa Group |
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