When you worry about something or feel stressed, it doesn’t mean you care about whether something happens. Stress is unproductive. Care is productive. Often, managers use stress as a motivator, but no one can work under stress as effectively as when they are simply focused on completing their tasks. A soccer player won’t score a goal, a shooter won’t hit the target, a salesperson won’t close a deal, and a manager won’t effectively lead a team if they are under stress. Stress limits our abilities, blocks the mind, and prevents us from working calmly.
Managers often create a multiplication of stress. A manager looks at the numbers, sees that the plan isn’t being met, becomes stressed and anxious, and then passes that stress on to their subordinates, creating a “room of horrors” instead of fostering a productive and fruitful work environment.
Everything you need at work is a calm focus on what needs to be done and how to use all available resources here and now. It’s about caring for the outcome. There’s no need to stress or worry. That will lead to nothing but more stress. However, how often do we hear the phrase “I am worried about the execution of the plan.“, not “I take care of fulfilling the plan.“Think about it.”
The essence of care is that it is a relaxed action. The very word “care” evokes quiet and calm associations. Learn to distinguish care from worry. This will help you to be truly tireless, as there is nothing to wear you out. There is strength in calm care. In stress, there is neither strength nor a point of support. In stress, you are constantly under the pressure of circumstances that control you. Everything feels like a crisis, urgency, necessity, inevitability.
When you work on your tasks without stress, you have many more resources at your disposal. You have more options for solving problems. And the problems themselves become just tasks that need to be addressed.