A gem I just received from a friend named Tom. So true…
Forbes.com just published ten ways for CEO’s to cut back on stress. See if you can detect the obvious problem with this list:
Find An Outlet – A hobby, like fishing
Get A Massage – And light a candle
Get Your Zs – Sleep helps
Have A Sense Of Humor – Lighten up, dude
Lead A Healthy Lifestyle – Exercise and eat well
Have An Understanding Spouse Or Partner – Manage the situation
Learn How To Delegate – Let it go
Make Money – Money calms many worries
Meditate – It’s not just for Buddhist monks
Schedule Vacations – And then take them
Do you see the problem? Exactly! It doesn’t deal with what’s causing the stress. Here’s my list (and Forbes? Perhaps you folks should switch from business to alternative medicine.):
Be passionate – About how your work improves people’s lives
Be clear – About precisely how you provide that value
Stay focused – On what customers truly care about
Communicate unceasingly – Your passion, vision and strategy
Stay tuned in – To the rapid and endless changes in today’s marketplace
Be kind – If you want your people to be kind
Stop lying – To your people, shareholders, customers and, especially, yourself
Trust others – Which is not the same as telling them what to do (see #7 above)
Give back – To customers, employees, the needy, and the environment
Take risks – Brand is a verb, not a noun
Sometimes there is no point to my own words when someone says it so much better…
Sass
2 Comments
What a great post, Sass.
It seems to me that what you are talking about is creating healthy stress. What Forbes was talking about was escaping from damaging stress. It’s so much better to accentuate the positive than just to eliminate the negative.
Thanks for the mention Sass. You’re truly one of the passionate few.