Behavioral Grooves Podcast - Anxiety at Work: Why We Feel It and How To Manage It | Chester Elton

Anxiety at Work: Why We Feel It and How To Manage It | Chester Elton

10/17/21 • 64 min

4 Listeners

Anxiety in the workplace has always been present, even pre-pandemic but rates of anxiety, particularly among young employees, have worsened since 2020. So what obligation do organizations have to their employees' mental health? How can managers recognize the signs of anxiety, and how can we help our colleagues with those feelings?

Following our incredibly popular first episode with Chester Elton in July 2021, on showing gratitude (episode 238), we are thrilled to be talking with him again about anxiety in the workplace. As a best-selling author, speaker and executive coach, Chester, and his co-author Adrian have shown over and over again, that the key to really successful companies is really successful relationships with employees. And because of the pandemic, we wanted to talk with Chester about their most recent book; Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done: https://amzn.to/3dr7gBK.

Thank you to all of you who have subscribed to our show, written a review or shared an episode with your friends. Please also consider donating a small amount each month to our work, through our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves.

Topics

(3:03) Speed round questions.

(5:30) Is anxiety in the workplace increasing or decreasing?

(10:11) How to manage with empathy, not just sympathy.

(14:59) Unleashing employees' potential.

(20:17) The number one cause of anxiety and how managers can recognize it.

(23:34) Showing vulnerability as a manager.

(29:12) Will people take advantage of mental health days off?

(32:07) How to deal with your own perfectionism and anxiety.

(36:57) The ways you can join Chester’s community.

(40:22) Chester’s anti-anxiety playlist.

(44:05) Chester’s kind promise to listeners.

(45:00) Grooving Session discussing how to apply Chester’s insight to our lives.

Books by Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick

Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done: https://amzn.to/3dr7gBK

Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results: https://amzn.to/36Cy8uo

All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results: https://amzn.to/3AgtSyk

The Best Team Wins: The New Science of High Performance: https://amzn.to/2USP4KN

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization: https://amzn.to/3ybULSb

Links

Behavioral Grooves Patreon: www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Chester Elton: www.chesterelton.com

Chester Elton, Episode 238: Who Makes You Feel Grateful? Tell Them! https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/gratitude-with-chester-elton/

We Thrive Together: www.wethrivetogether.global. A safe community to talk about anxiety and stress with over 500 members.

Anxiety at Work with Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/anxiety-at-work-with-adrian-gostick-chester-elton/id1549312484

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy: https://amzn.to/2YxRO2d

Nicole Malachowski: https://bit.ly/3oCYTt5

HR Leaders Podcast with Chris Rainey: https://hrleaders.co/podcast

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Episode 246: Are You More Honest with Google or Your Friends? https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/are-you-more-honest-with-google/

“The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism” by Hubert Joly: https://amzn.to/2YmaMZt

Garry Ridge at WD-40: https://wd40company.com/our-tribe/our-tribes-leaders/

Musical Links

Pharrell Williams “Happy”: ht...

Topics

(3:03) Speed round questions.

(5:30) Is anxiety in the workplace increasing or decreasing?

(10:11) How to manage with empathy, not just sympathy.

(14:59) Unleashing employees' potential.

(20:17) The number one cause of anxiety and how managers can recognize it.

(23:34) Showing vulnerability as a manager.

(29:12) Will people take advantage of mental health days off?

(32:07) How to deal with your own perfectionism and anxiety.

(36:57) The ways you can join Chester’s community.

(40:22) Chester’s anti-anxiety playlist.

(44:05) Chester’s kind promise to listeners.

(45:00) Grooving Session discussing how to apply Chester’s insight to our lives.

Books by Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick

Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done: https://amzn.to/3dr7gBK

Leading with Gratitude: Eight Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Business Results: https://amzn.to/36Cy8uo

All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results: https://amzn.to/3AgtSyk

The Best Team Wins: The New Science of High Performance: https://amzn.to/2USP4KN

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization: https://amzn.to/3ybULSb

Links

Behavioral Grooves Patreon: www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Chester Elton: www.chesterelton.com

Chester Elton, Episode 238: Who Makes You Feel Grateful? Tell Them! https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/gratitude-with-chester-elton/

We Thrive Together: www.wethrivetogether.global. A safe community to talk about anxiety and stress with over 500 members.

Anxiety at Work with Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/anxiety-at-work-with-adrian-gostick-chester-elton/id1549312484

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy: https://amzn.to/2YxRO2d

Nicole Malachowski: https://bit.ly/3oCYTt5

HR Leaders Podcast with Chris Rainey: https://hrleaders.co/podcast

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, Episode 246: Are You More Honest with Google or Your Friends? https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/are-you-more-honest-with-google/

“The Heart of Business: Leadership Principles for the Next Era of Capitalism” by Hubert Joly: https://amzn.to/2YmaMZt

Garry Ridge at WD-40: https://wd40company.com/our-tribe/our-tribes-leaders/

Musical Links

Pharrell Williams “Happy”: ht...

Previous Episode

The 5 Healthy Brain Habits Of A Neuroscientist | Dr Daniel Almeida

What life habits keep our brain healthy? How does our mind respond to trauma? And why does the way we talk about suicide and mental health make such a difference to those who are struggling? We discuss all these topics with neuroscience researcher Dr Daniel Almeida.

To mark World Mental Health Day on Sunday, Oct 10, 2021, we decided to delve into the science behind mental health. And who better to help us with this topic than Daniel who has been named as one of Forbes 30 under 30 in science. His incredible work as a neuroscience researcher in the Douglas Research Centre at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, involves psychological autopsies to understand the molecular impacts of severe childhood abuse on the brains of individuals who died by suicide.

As you can imagine, this episode is full of difficult yet important topics. But what struck us most about Daniel was how upbeat and positive he is about his work and the difference it’s making to people’s lives. Daniel kindly shares his top 5 healthy brain habits that we can all adopt to improve our mental wellbeing.

If you, or someone you know needs help with their mental health, please use one of the resources in the links below.

Mental Health Support

Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US):https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: https://afsp.org/suicide-prevention-resources

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: National Helpline (US): 1-800-662-HELP (4357). SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

The Canada Suicide Prevention Service: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/

Samaritans (UK): https://www.samaritans.org/

United for Global Mental Health (List of support networks around the world): https://unitedgmh.org/mental-health-support

For those looking for information on how to support others: National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention For the general public looking to be trained in mental health first aid and/or suicide prevention: Living Works (US): https://bit.ly/3oKgsaS Mental Health First Aid Canada: https://mhfa.ca/ Topics

(6:29) Speed round.

(10:14) Does talking about suicide help?

(14:15) Why it’s very important to talk about “dying by suicide” instead of “committing suicide”.

(16:17) About Daniel’s work as a neuroscientist.

(17:47) What are the links between childhood trauma and suicide?

(25:16) What age are children most sensitive to the effects of trauma?

(31:19) How the type of trauma experienced by a child matters.

(33:36) How resilience is more like a sword than a shield.

(35:29) What are the 5 best brain health habits?

(41:57) What is a brain bank and how are psychological autopsies used?

(44:30) What music isn’t noise pollution for Daniel?

(46:24) Music and the brain.

(48:13) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim; how to apply Daniel’s work to your life.

Links

World Mental Health Day: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day

Leading HumanTM Workbook and Playbook: https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/products/copy-of-the-leading-human-playbook-workbook-package

Leading HumanTM, Free Whitepaper Download: https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/collections/leading-human/products/human-centered-workplace-checklist

Leading HumanTM Workshop on Dec 14th, 2021 (more dates to be added soon): https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/collections/leading-human/products/leading-human-workshop

Promo Code: GROOVERS to receive $20 off (limited time offer for listeners).

Episode 220: How Do You Become Influential? Jon Levy Reveals His Surprising Secrets:

Next Episode

Helping People To Assemble Better Decisions | Eric J. Johnson

How do we make decisions? What factors influence the final outcome? Do default settings change our preferences? Every decision we make; from choosing something on a menu to deciding whether to be an organ donor, is influenced by our environmental context and the default selections presented to us.

Professor Eric J. Johnson has distilled the latest behavioral science research into his newest book, The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters, and we are thrilled to talk with him about it on this episode of Behavioral Grooves.

Eric is Director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School at Columbia University. He examines the interaction between Behavioral Decision Research, Economics and consumer decision making. The implications of his research come together in real world applications such as public policy and marketing.

Eric talks with us about how options are presented to decision-makers and how framing affects choices. Our decisions are “assembled”, as Eric likes to put it, in the moment and are not necessarily pre-determined by our preferences. Choice architects have very influential power over decision-makers but Eric highlights to us that we are all designers, and with that comes a moral responsibility.

Topics

(3:56) How Leading HumanTM can help with returning to the office.

(6:28) Welcome and speed round.

(8:00) How interference affects our decision making.

(10:32) The controversy of organ donation defaults.

(16:32) We are all designers using the tools of choice architecture.

(19:21) How sludge impacts our decision making.

(22:42) How context influences defaults.

(26:14) What factors moderate the impact of default settings?

(29:01) Making choices in the real world vs. classic economic thinking.

(32:18) The effects of asking people how long they will live vs. what year they expect to die.

(35:04) Smart defaults: defaults set specifically for you.

(38:02) What is Query Theory?

(39:15) Choice architecture around vaccinations.

(42:44) What area does Eric want to research in the future?

(44:44) What music does Eric default to?

(52:24) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim on how to apply Eric’s research to our lives.

Links

Behavioral Grooves Patreon: www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves

Leading HumanTM Workbook and Playbook: https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/products/copy-of-the-leading-human-playbook-workbook-package

Leading HumanTM, Free Whitepaper Download: https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/collections/leading-human/products/human-centered-workplace-checklist

Leading HumanTM Workshop on Dec 14th, 2021 (more dates to be added soon): https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/collections/leading-human/products/leading-human-workshop

Promo Code: GROOVERS to receive $20 off (limited time offer for listeners).

“The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters” by Eric J. Johnson: https://amzn.to/39yXr20

"Do Defaults Save Lives?" by Johnson, Eric, and Daniel Goldstein. Science 302 (2003): https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/researcharchive/articles/1275

“Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do about It” by Cass Sunstein: https://amzn.to/3i1lLhD

Tim Kachuriak, Episode 221: Donating Our Money Is Irrational, So Why Do We Do It? Tim Kachuriak Explains Our Motivations: https://behavioralgrooves.com/episode/why-we-donate-our-money/

“Time to Retire: Why Americans Claim Benefits Early and How to Encourage Them to Delay” In Behavioral Science and Policy (2015). Coauthor(s): Kirstin Appelt, Melissa Knoll, Eric Johnson, Jonathan Westfall: https://behavioralpolicy.org/articles/time-to-retire-why-americans-claim-benefits-early-how-to-encourage-delay/

Musical Links

Eric Dolphy “Out to Lunch!”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne6GCYO8pAc

Django Reinhardt “Thr...