Lecture
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advance and publicly about the changes you intend to introduce, however obvious they may be. In other words, the rules must never be changed unnoticed or in the middle of an ongoing process. Explain that these changes are aimed at improving the work, not against the staff;
* be firm and consistent in innovations. The ability to say "no" and to stick to the corresponding line of behavior is the most important personal quality ensuring the ability to resist stress;
* involve subordinates in the planning and implementation of changes. This will strengthen your position and remove many questions;
* forecast and forestall unfavorable developments. It is better to act than to react. Try to mobilize before the expected changes and their consequences become irreversible. Forecast them where possible and take the initiative into your own hands. People who put themselves at the mercy of circumstances usually wait until thunder strikes and only then react to it. By virtue of his status role, a manager is obliged to foresee the development of events and to act at the proper time and in the proper way so as to protect himself and the interests of the cause.
Second, forecasting the stress-generating factors of individual life and advance preparation for stress, that is, building stress resistance.
The main measures in this area include the following:
(purposefulness, initiative, persistence, endurance (self-control), decisiveness, stamina).
II. Measures of active counteraction to stress. Active counteraction to stress may include a number of measures, approaches, and behavioral strategies which together form a system intended, if not to remove the negative consequences of stress completely, then to weaken them as much as possible.
The main structural elements of this system include the following.
First, analysis of the individual picture of stress. Stress is a personal and often situational phenomenon.
The analysis includes a number of mandatory actions:
Second, mobilizing the body's physiological capacities to counteract stress by means of:
Finally, third, mobilizing psychophysiological capacities to counteract stress, or mental self-regulation.
Mental self-regulation is a person's self-influence by means of specially organized mental activity in order to regulate his own state. The main varieties of mental self-regulation are:
* relaxation (from Lat. relaxatio, reduction of tension, loosening) in the form of conscious neuromuscular relaxation of the body (progressive neuromuscular relaxation, PNMR). PNMR is a course of systematic training in the voluntary relaxation of various muscle groups. The essence of relaxation lies in alternating periods of maximal contraction and the rapidly following relaxation of a particular part of the body.
The theoretical premises of relaxation are the following propositions:
* stress and anxiety are associated with muscle tension;
* by reducing muscle tension one can achieve a significant reduction of distress, worry, anxiety, and other manifestations of heightened arousal;
* muscle relaxation is achieved more easily than tension.
Relaxation must be learned; this skill is achieved only through constant practice. It usually takes several months of continuous practice, at least half an hour every day, to learn to achieve complete relaxation of the body. But having mastered the art of relaxation, you will possess knowledge whose power is recognized both by the cultural experience of many peoples and by modern science.
Relaxation skills are especially necessary in coping with stress. Relaxation reduces tension in the body and relieves physical arousal, that is, it counteracts precisely the physiological consequences that stress produces through the adrenaline attack. Thanks to relaxation, the entire pattern of the hormones' effect on the body changes. Regular practice of deep muscle relaxation alone (see the practicum to Chapter 9) can overcome depression and an oppressive sense of anxiety, cure insomnia, get rid of muscle cramps, neck muscle tension, headaches and back pain, and lower blood pressure. Muscle relaxation reduces the risk of heart disease. Finally, some studies allow us to conclude that relaxation has a positive effect on the human immune system.
Self-suggestion in the form of autogenic training (or autotraining), is a method of mental self-regulation of states, based on consciously suggesting feelings of warmth, heaviness and relief in various organs and parts of the body. But experiencing these feelings is not an end in itself. The main thing is to achieve the required state on "exiting" the autogenic immersion, as well as to obtain a delayed optimizing effect.
Autotraining was developed by the German psychiatrist J.H. Schultz on the basis of a creative reworking of the centuries-old heritage of Eastern (mainly Tibetan and Indian) teachings. The main element of autotraining is mastering and operating with verbal formulations (self-suggestion formulas) in the form of self-commands.
Self-suggestion in the form of sensory reproduction, or visualization, is a method of mental self-regulation of states, based on mentally recreating in every detail the image of a pleasant place, a beautiful landscape and one's sensations while being there. Besides these images, it may be a memory of the most successful day of a vacation or holiday, of a journey through wooded mountains, of resting on the deck of a ship plowing the expanses of the ocean, and so on.
Meditation (Latin meditatio — reflection, contemplation) is a method of mental self-regulation by means of mental actions aimed at bringing the human psyche into a state of deepened concentration and immersion in oneself. The main goal of meditation is to achieve a sense of harmony and belonging to the world, a return to the source of all spiritual and physical activity, to the self.
A person's state as a result of practicing meditation is characterized by:
* on the psychological level — elimination of emotional "extremes" and a significant decrease in reactivity; an elevated mood and a certain detachment (from both external objects and inner experiences);
* on the bodily level — relaxedness. The ancient traditions of many cultures mention how important it is to practice meditation regularly, a state of inner stillness, in order to attain deep peace and clarity of mind. Eastern worldviews — Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Zen — attach particular importance to the practice of outer and inner silence for achieving peace of mind and harmony. In Christianity, Judaism and Islam, too, great importance is attached to the state of stillness and solitude. We know from the Bible that Abraham and Jesus prayed in solitude, going into the desert or climbing a mountain. Meditation in a quiet and secluded place was an obligatory ritual for members of medieval monastic orders.
Three main meditation techniques are usually distinguished:
* concentration on certain words that are repeated during meditation, often in a set rhythm. As a result, a person can reach a state of calm and feel their inner world. Each religion and culture has its own words and its own prayers. The Eastern tradition uses special prayers called mantras. During meditation, mantras are repeated slowly, many times, with a definite rhythm and chant. The best-known mantra is the sound "om," which symbolizes the development of the Cosmos and its absolute unity. Over time, mantras came to be used in Western religious culture as well. For centuries, Christians have repeated the name "Jesus" as a prayer during meditation. Some people meditate by slowly repeating "peace," "love," or various phrases, for example "peaceful relaxation" or "serene calm";
* relaxed, rhythmic breathing, which calms the agitated mind and frees it from thoughts and worries. Breathing is an important component of any Eastern meditation. Christian traditions also include breathing practices accompanied by prayers. Slowing and deepening the breath physically promotes the process of relaxation;
* achieving a state of the "still mind" (the deepest and most difficult technique). The meditator is, as it were, in a state of detached observation of their thoughts: they watch how the thoughts arise, change and vanish, while remaining outside them and not identifying with them. It is believed that in such a state one attains pure perception of the world, perception of true reality, undistorted by a person's prejudices, desires and ideas about this or that thing. This ability to perceive reality can be developed. According to the Eastern tradition, long practice of this way of meditating brings a person closer to the Supreme Harmony — union with the Divine Principle of the Universe.
III. Measures of immediate self-help
The impact of stress can be so intense, sudden and rapid that it can seriously affect our health (and sometimes our life). In such cases every manager needs to know firmly the basics of immediate self-help.
Such help usually includes the following measures.
1. In an acute stress situation, one should not make (or try to make) any important decisions. The exceptions are natural disasters, when it is a matter of saving life itself.
2. Slowly count to ten.
3. Turn your attention to your breathing. Slowly inhale through your nose and hold your breath for a while. Exhale gradually, also through the nose, concentrating on the sensations associated with your breathing.
Further events may develop in two directions.
a) The stressful situation has caught you indoors:
4. Stand up if necessary and, excusing yourself, leave the room.
5. Use any chance to moisten your forehead, temples and the arteries on your arms with cold water.
6. Slowly look around, even if the room you are in is well known to you or looks quite ordinary. As you move your gaze from one object to another, mentally describe their appearance.
7. Then look out of the window at the sky. Concentrate on what you see. When was the last time you looked at the sky like this?
8. Pour water into a glass (or, in the worst case, into your palms) and drink it slowly and attentively. Concentrate your attention on the sensations as the water flows down your throat.
9. Straighten up, place your feet shoulder-width apart and, as you exhale, bend forward, relaxing your neck and shoulders so that your head and arms hang freely toward the floor. Breathe more deeply and follow your breathing. Continue doing this for 1—2 minutes. Then slowly straighten up; act carefully so as not to become dizzy.
b) The stressful situation has caught you somewhere outdoors:
1. Look around and try to view the surrounding objects from different positions, mentally naming everything you see.
2. Examine the sky in detail, naming to yourself everything you see.
3. Find some small object (a leaf, a twig, a stone) and examine it carefully. Look at the object for at least four minutes, getting to know its shape, color and structure so that you can clearly picture it with your eyes closed.
4. If you have the chance to drink water, use it — concentrate your attention on the sensations as the water flows down your throat.
5. Follow your breathing once more. Breathe slowly, through the nose: after inhaling, hold your breath for a while, then exhale just as slowly through the nose. With each exhalation, focus your attention on how your shoulders relax and drop.
As first aid, this is quite enough. Moderate exercise or a walk will not hurt either — in short, any activity that requires physical activity and concentration, but, again, do not overdo it.
Each of us has repeatedly encountered the concept of "crisis" throughout our previous life. It is widely used in our everyday speech when we talk about crises of overproduction, about the spiritual and moral crisis of society, about a crisis in a sick person's condition, about the psychological crisis of an individual.
The theory of crises appeared on the psychological horizon relatively recently. It began with an article by E. Lindemann, published in 1944 and devoted to the analysis of acute grief.
According to a number of foreign psychologists, four intellectual movements influenced the theory of crises:
* the theory of evolution and its application to problems of general and individual adaptation;
* the theory of achievement and the growth of human motivation;
* an approach to human development from the standpoint of life cycles;
* interest in coping with extreme stress.
Among the intellectual sources of the theory of crises are also psychoanalysis (above all such of its concepts as mental equilibrium and psychological defense), some ideas of C. Rogers, and role theory.
Literally, "crisis" (krisis) translated from Greek means decision, turning point, outcome.
In psychology this category is understood:
* first, as a life crisis, that is, a turning point in the life of a person, not of society;
* second, as a severe transitional state caused by illness, stress, trauma, etc.; as an emotionally significant event or a radical change of status in one's personal life.
According to A. Reber, a crisis means sharp deviations from ordinary life, any sudden interruptions of the normal course of events in the life of an individual or society, which require a reassessment of models of behavior, action and thinking. A crisis is a general term for the loss of the usual foundations of everyday activity.
Thus, a crisis is a complex transitional state that arises when it is impossible (or difficult) to live as before and one does not know how to live on, and that is connected with the agonizing experience of one's new "Self."
As a special state, a crisis passes through several stages:
The process of experiencing can take two forms:
* when the realization of the life plan becomes seriously difficult and complicated (while the possibility of restoring the course of life interrupted by the crisis remains);
* when the realization of the life plan becomes impossible (in this case a metamorphosis of the personality occurs, a rebirth and the adoption of a new life plan, new values, a new life strategy, a new image of the "Self").
Understanding and explaining a crisis is possible only by analyzing the whole set of factors (at least most of them) that act on a person. Equally important is treating a person as an active participant in their everyday life, a person who actively constructs everyday reality.
Let us consider the components of the process by which a person perceives surrounding reality, which will allow us to see the origins of a crisis.
1. In order to exist in the surrounding world, we must have an internal picture or image of the world around us.
2. At every given moment of our existence, the world around us bombards our senses with millions of fragments of information.
3. The process of giving meaning to what is happening around us is fundamental. Everything that happens around us must be interpreted and correlated with the internal picture of the surrounding world.
4. As long as external information is identical to the internal picture, the surrounding reality is perceived as something taken for granted, because it is familiar. Why? Because everyone has certain plans for the future (a "picture of the future") that give predictability to the surrounding world. The realization and confirmation of these plans almost always depend either on other people or on one's own body.
5. When other people or our body violate the predictability of events, what we call a crisis arises.
On this basis, we can give one more definition of a crisis as a phenomenon, as a psychological reality. According to the British psychologist H. Perry (1995), a crisis is "a challenge to a person's ideas about themselves and their place in the world that shakes the foundations of their existence."
Why does it arise? Because a moment suddenly comes when the picture of the world a person has proves completely untenable. Time is needed to comprehend, absorb and accept the new information. But because the information arrives so suddenly, there is simply no time for comprehension. The space of time for comprehension is occupied by the crisis.
The main events of everyday life that can lead to a crisis include:
The process of experiencing a crisis is aggravated by a number of factors, which include the following.
1. Cognitive rigidity, i.e., a person's unwillingness to change their own ideas. Everyone should respond proactively to possible changes in the surrounding world and be able to adapt to these changes sooner. "People in a state of crisis," notes H. Perry, "often, instead of revising their understanding of the world and of themselves, cling to old ideas, which significantly limits their possibilities and future actions." In this respect, the search for alternative courses of action is important.
2. Categorical perception of alternatives. The fewer there are, the less room there is for maneuver.
3. The presence of false beliefs and attitudes ("relatively harmless in ordinary circumstances, they can create problems against a background of strong stress").
What is usually meant by such beliefs and attitudes?
First, the belief that suffering is a guarantee of virtue.
Second, the false belief that fear can be overcome by avoiding contact with its source.
Finally, third, the attitude that says it is shameful to be happy when there is so much unhappiness around. This is especially characteristic of the Russian mentality. As I.A. Dzhidaryan writes, people feel psychological discomfort because many people suffer and are unhappy while you are doing well and feel happy. A hard-to-explain state arises in which a person is unhappy about their own happiness.
4. Inertia of thinking. After a crisis event, the mind continues to use old plans and former ideas and tries to make reality conform to them. This is inevitable; such are the characteristics of human perception. Under these conditions, creating a new picture of the world is not easy, for a number of reasons.
First, having some picture or plan is always better than having none. Any picture or plan gives meaning to surrounding events. People find meaninglessness hard to bear.
Second, we cannot instantly believe in something new. What is needed is not minor adjustments to the picture of the world or the image of the "Self," but a radical rethinking of everything that exists. This is not achieved immediately or painlessly.
5. The desire to avoid painful emotional experiences. A radical mismatch between the internal picture of the world and the signals coming from outside evokes emotions. Emotions are signals that something needs more attention before it grows into a bigger problem. As H. Perry aptly remarked H. Perry, "we choose short-term relief from anxiety, which we get at the price of problems that require long-term solutions. When the crisis finally strikes us, what initially appeared as apprehension, annoyance and sadness grows into panic, rage and despair, that is, an experience that is much less amenable to control."
A crisis is contradictory. On the one hand, it involves painful experiences of one's inadequacy and worthlessness. On the other hand, a crisis is an opportunity for personal growth. If basic convictions are reconsidered, the result is a deeper and fuller awareness of oneself and the world.
That is why the time of crisis is a decisive turning point in a person's life, when something new and good is born out of suffering and pain. That is why any crisis is a choice. Either to defend our internal picture against any external evidence of its being wrong, or to try to form a new picture of the world around us. In terms of content, the second path requires:
* a restructuring of the semantic structures of consciousness;
* a reorientation toward new life tasks, leading to a change in the nature of activity.
Stress and crisis. Every crisis is necessarily accompanied by stress. But it does not at all follow that every stress is also a crisis. The most important point is that a crisis affects the topmost part of the personality — its self-awareness and orientation, whereas far from every stress can cause changes in this sphere. What, then, are the characteristic features of a crisis as a phenomenon? They usually include the following:
* a crisis is experienced as an event that cannot be controlled (or is only weakly controllable). If a person is threatened by stress (danger), they can try to save themselves by fleeing. In a crisis there is no action that allows one to escape from the stress (danger), and no transformation of reality that would resolve the situation is possible. J. Caplan counts among the life events leading to a crisis those that confront the individual with a problem "from which he cannot escape and which he cannot solve in a short time and in the usual way";
* a crisis is connected with the discovery of something very unpleasant about oneself (loss, danger, humiliation — all this destroys the world of familiar realities and the image of the "Self");
* a crisis arises unexpectedly;
* a crisis is global in nature, that is, it is connected not with some single problem or sphere of life activity but affects all spheres of the personality;
* a crisis makes the future uncertain (the future itself is called into question) and deprives one of the ability to predict it;
* a crisis destroys the usual course of events and of life;
* a crisis involves prolonged suffering (as a rule, the process of traumatic experience can last from two to six weeks).
Features of the crises of professional development.
Analysis of the professional development of a manager's personality leads to the conclusion that the transition from one stage of professional life to another is, as a rule, accompanied by special crises, which can be defined as crises of professional development. These crises may go unrecognized, but this does not stop them from existing and influencing all of the manager's life activity.
A crisis of professional development should be understood as relatively short (up to a year) periods of radical restructuring of the manager's personality, caused by internal contradictions and dissatisfaction with one's managerial activity.
The ongoing restructuring of the semantic structures of professional consciousness, reorientation toward new goals, and correction and revision of the social and professional position prepare a change in the ways of carrying out the activity, lead to a change in relationships with those around, and in some cases to a change of profession. In characterizing such crises, the analysis, as a rule, concerns the difficulties of professionalization of the personality, the contradictory nature of managerial activity, and the collisions of a career.
The causes that give rise to crises of professional development are usually considered to include the following:
* dissatisfaction with one's social and professional status, and gradual qualitative changes in the ways the work is performed. Every manager reaches a point when further mastery of the job is no longer possible without radically breaking it down. The old professional framework becomes too cramped for the individual, who tries to rise above it. The manager attempts a breakthrough from a familiar but unsatisfying present into an unknown future that promises self-actualization and improvement. This breakthrough can take place within one's own profession, or through a change of workplace, job, profession, place of residence, and so on;
* the socio-economic conditions of a person's life. Such conditions include staff cuts, and sometimes the closure of the organization, inadequate pay, social insecurity, the difficulty of finding one's place between "restless" subordinates and demanding superiors, and so on. The development of crises of professional development can be influenced by deteriorating health, professional fatigue, intellectual helplessness, and the "emotional burnout" syndrome. Crises of this kind often arise on taking up a new position, competing for a vacant post, or undergoing certification;
* excessive absorption in professional activity. Managers who are obsessed with work as a means of achieving recognition and success sacrifice everything for "the work of their life." For them, management as an activity replaces everything: family, friends, the joy of socializing, free time, hobbies. Sometimes, for them, providing for the "cause" replaces the cause itself. Gradually they begin to show a so-called "technocratic approach" to solving managerial problems. They violate professional ethics, become prone to conflict, and show excessive rigidity in their relations with subordinates and colleagues.
From time to time such a manager tries to halt the hectic rush of time and to reflect on the sacramental question: "Is this all I have been striving for?" A feeling of dissatisfaction seizes him, with himself, with those around him, and with life in general. As a consequence, a state of professional apathy and passivity arises, along with depression, interrupted at times by feverish searches for a way out.
While going through a crisis, the manager, as a rule, rises to a higher level of development. This is because a crisis leads to a restructuring of the psychological structure of the personality. By generating psychological tension, the crisis stimulates professional development.
How, then, can a crisis of professional development be overcome? There are no answers that are the same for every situation. We would note only that a manager who improves his qualifications and strives to fulfill himself in his work, a manager who is a leader not only in his organization but also on his own contradictory path through life, has every chance of overcoming this crisis successfully.
Часть 1 A Manager's Health: Preventing and Overcoming Stress and Life Crises
Часть 2 3 LIFE CRISES AND THE MANAGER'S ACTIVITY - A Manager's
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