Killer Stress and Challenge Stress

At the heart of these findings is the effect of stress. Despite its reputation, stress is not all bad. It really is a matter of what kind and how much. Too little stress and people grow bored. Too much stress and they become overwhelmed. A certain degree of stress, what I call “challenge stress,” actually stimulates people to perform at their best.

“Killer stress,” i.e., the stress that comes from not feeling you have much control over your work, is unhealthy and, in many individuals, triggers fight, flight, freeze, or stalking behavior. These behaviors are damaging to healthy relationships, productivity, and innovation in the workplace. The key to achieving gains in productivity and performance is to create a culture in your organization that preserves challenge stress while neutralizing killer stress.

Connect to Optimize Stress

In my recent book, Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work, I describe three relevant types of culture to be aware of when it comes to stress: cultures of control, cultures of indifference, and connection cultures.

In cultures of control, individuals with power, control, influence, and status rule over non-leaders, and they are not intentional about getting non-leaders into roles that appropriately challenge them. These cultures increase killer stress and fail to capitalize on challenge stress.

In cultures of indifference, people are so busy with tasks that they fail to develop healthy, supportive relationships and get people into the right roles. These cultures also contribute to killer stress and fail to capitalize on challenge stress.

Only connection cultures dial down killer stress and dial up challenge stress as leaders and non-leaders alike feel connected to one another through shared identity, empathy, and understanding. On a physiological level, this connection reduces stress-related neurotransmitters and hormones while boosting activity in the reward centers of the brain. People, especially non-leaders, have a greater sense of control, making them more enthusiastic and more energetic which, in turn, helps them thrive at work.

While working with the NASA Johnson Space Center, my colleagues and I began to identify more than 100 supporting ways leaders can create a connection culture to maximize challenge stress and minimize killer stress. We describe these behaviors in 100 Ways to Connect, an e-book we created to help leaders create connection cultures.

When you are intentional in creating a connection culture, it preserves the benefits of challenge stress while protecting non-leaders and your organization from the harmful effects of killer stress. An abundance of connections in the workplace will produce greater productivity and happiness, which will help your organization become the employer of choice.