Excerpts from coaching conversations this week…

“I know my team are frayed at the edges – I’m just trying to hold them together until the end of the year. And insisting we all take a decent holiday break!” (CEO)

“Work is just hard right now. I’m not feeling supported or valued.” (ELT Member)

“That beach pic on my Teams background? If I could walk away from my job right now, that’s where I’d be.” (GM)

Can you relate?  

Our lives have been upended in the last 18 months – how we work, how we engage with each other, and how we travel – or don’t, because it’s just got so difficult. There have been upsides, including more family time and less commuting. But overall, most of us admit we’re feeling emotionally exhausted and in need of a holiday.

As December approaches, that emotional exhaustion is leading to higher levels of conflict. It’s always hard to manage stress levels in the run up to Christmas.  Tempers fray and little things trigger surprisingly big reactions. Over the last week, managing hostile or difficult workplace interactions has emerged as a regular theme in coaching sessions.

To avoid becoming a casualty of an emotionally fraught work environment, try a breathing technique from the US Navy Bureau of Medicine & Surgery (BUMED) – you might already be using it.

Combat Tactical Breathing aims to reduce your stress level, so you can gain better perspective on what’s going on around you.  Also known as Box (or Square) Breathing, it seems deceptively simple, and it works. To do it, sit down, and take 3 to 5 breathes as described, visualising each number as you count:  

Breathe in counting 1, 2, 3, 4 

Stop and hold your breath counting 1, 2, 3, 4 

Exhale counting 1, 2, 3, 4 

Repeat the breathing Breath in counting 1, 2, 3, 4 

Pause and hold your breathe counting 1, 2, 3, 4 

Exhale counting 1, 2, 3, 4

Back to the other count down – the Christmas one…  Now you’re in a more reflective mode, think priorities and tactics. What work really does need to be done in the next four weeks?  The list you create can help provide structure and certainty for you and your team, and, in turn, help reduce workplace stress.

‘I know we need to be realistic about the level of strategic thinking we’re capable of right now,’ a CEO told me this week.  If you can relate to that, get realistic about what’s achievable in the run up to Christmas. What are you and your team emotionally capable of delivering on right now?  What can wait until 2022?

We’re heading into the season of good will – it’s the right time to sprinkle a little kindness on ourselves, and those around us.

And with so many ‘Breathe’ songs to choose from, try Ricki Lee Coulter’s Breathe; “Just breathe, let it out and breathe” for this blog’s soundtrack.