Today, the average employee is expected to work harder, faster and smarter
than ever before. The supervisory support you give your workers can determine
whether they cope with these demands or buckle under them.

The Leadership Factor

According to workplace health and productivity consultant Dr. Mark Tager, the
"good old days" of stable jobs, ample manpower and consistency in
the workplace are gone. This leaves many workers feeling stressed, distracted,
out of the loop and battling a current of constant change.

How workers cope in this atmosphere is affected powerfully by the leadership
ability - or lack of it - shown by their supervisors, says Tager. "The
right leadership skills in an organization's supervisors often makes the difference
between a workforce that is vital and one that is demoralized or out sick all
the time."

The Impact of Leadership on Stress

Stressed-out, unhappy workers:

- Call in sick more often; and
- Are more likely to suffer injuries on and off the job.

Tager investigated a rash of car crashes involving a large corporation's workers
on their commutes home from work. He found that in the moments before the collisions,
more than one-third of the drivers had been thinking about an unpleasant conversation
or incident at work that day. Of those, many had been dwelling on conflicts
with a boss.

4 Qualities of Effective Leadership

According to Tager, effective supervisors at all levels demonstrate these four
positive qualities:

• Perspective The strengths effective leaders bring
  to their jobs are based upon their natural tendencies, past work experiences,
  and values and beliefs.
• Flexibility This management style ensures proven,
  conscientious workers are not "over-directed" and that new employees
  get more supervision and direction so they don't become overwhelmed. Flexibility
  also entails considering worker input and, if warranted, adjusting workload, work procedures
  and timing.
• Empathy It's important for supervisors to listen
  to what their workers are saying. Supervisors don't necessarily have to agree
  with workers' concerns. But they do have to make it clear to workers that those
  concerns are being heard.
• Trustworthiness Are your supervisors doing what they
  say they're going to do? Do they tell workers what they know and, just as importantly,
  what they don't know? If change is coming and supervisors don't know the
  details, they should be up-front. This will help stop the spread of false rumors.

Supervisors who do know about impending negative changes can soften the blow
by telling workers: "I know this is going to be hard on some really good
people, but...". According to Tager, explaining why something is happening
puts workers in the big picture. They might not like what they are hearing,
but being treated with openness and honesty often takes some of the sting out
of bad news.

The Formula for Effective Leadership

Tager suggests effective supervisors follow a LEAP formula, which stands for:

Listen
Empathize
Ask
Propose

Along with listening to workers' concerns and being empathic, ask all the questions
you need to find a solution and then propose it.

Conclusion

"If you don't deal with the people side of change," says Tager, "your
people get sick and then they are not on the job. They also become internally
distracted and are more prone to (having) accidents. They are also more likely
to file grievances and they are less productive."

THIS DATE IN HISTORY
January 26, 1972

Vesna Vulovic: Miraculous survivor of 33,000-foot fall.

A terrorist bomb exploded aboard a DC-9 feet over Czechoslovakia. There were
29 passengers and crew members aboard. Miraculously, one of them survived. Flight
attendant Vesna Vulovic. One month after her body was pulled from the wreckage,
Ms. Vulovic woke from her coma. The fall from 33,000 feet broke her skull and
back, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. But it didn't kill her.

Nor did the fall destroy her life. After surgery, Ms. Vulovic regained the
ability to walk. She insisted on going back to work. Although it refused to
let her fly, the airline gave her a desk job. Ms. Vulovic got married in 1977
and divorced in 1987. How she survived the fall is still a mystery to this day.

OTHER FALL SURVIVORS

In 1942, a member of the crew of a Soviet Ilyushin plane shot down by German
Messerschmidt fighters fell 22,000, landed in a thick snow bank and made a speedy
recovery from his injuries.

Royal Air Force gunner Nick Alkemande walked away from an 18,000 foot fall
with just a sprained ankle. His fall was cushioned by the branches of pine trees
and the snow on the ground.

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