By: centraljersey.com
It’s hard to get to the top, and even harder to stay there, said Graham Jones at last week’s Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast meeting. "If you have a successful business, it’s tougher to stay successful because you set the benchmark," he said.
This environment can create pressure and stress for employees, which are two different things, said Mr. Jones, a performance psychologist and corporate consultant for more than 20 years. "Most interesting was learning about the differences between stress and pressure," said Timothy Jaeger, senior information architect at Princeton Junction-based Local Wisdom, who attended the meeting. "What rang most true for me was learning about how stress is self-induced, and how not to let it effect me"
Using his experience of dealing with professional athletes and top business executives at his Princeton-based Lane4 Management Group, Mr. Jones explains the difference between pressure and stress. Pressure comes from other people in the organization and can be motivating, while stress is self-inflicted and de-energizes people. "Pressure is out there and it exists, it’s what you do with it that causes stress," said Mr. Jones. "Those that want to do an exceptional job or excel put pressure on themselves."
There are three types of pressure: First is pressure for work and helping your colleagues thrive in the current economic climate. Second is your personal pressure to succeed, such as extra schooling and advanced degrees.
Third is the pressure you put on yourself internally. "You get an e-mail from your boss and you focus on what your boss is not saying and what that means, if it’s something negative and you can’t address it because you don’t have that sort of relationship with your boss – and it keeps on building and building and at some point it comes out and your not always in control when it comes out. This is stress."
Belief and self-belief are usually the first things to go when the stress begins.
A lot of pressure and stress can be alleviated by effective leadership, said Mr. Jones. "If you’re a leader you’ve got to show people your vision and show them the way," he said. "Help them thrive under pressure not stress and challenge and support the people." Leaders need to recognize they are the source of the stress. "If you’re a leader, what kind of environment do you create for your people?" he asked.
Helping to alleviate stress is making sure the right people are in the right roles and have the courage to let go and develop your people, said Mr. Jones. "If you’ve got people in roles that satisfy two criteria, you’ll get good performance. If you’ve got people who are good at what they do and they want to do it, that’s great."
"I think leaders have to have the courage to let go," he continued. "I often find leaders who don’t have the courage to let go. (They think) ‘I should know the answers, I get paid to have the answers.’ Are you willing to develop your people to such an extent that one day they are your boss?"
One way to make people feel valued and appreciated and to take some of the pressure off is to celebrate the small things. "Find something small and celebrate it," he said. "It might be small things, but it’s so important right now."

