I got sent a JD recently with a final paragraph outlining expectations around managing stress in the role:

You will need to start to adopt strategies which enable you to maintain effective performance whilst under pressure. You will need to focus on making appropriate responses during stressful or pressurized situations. Solid logical planning, effective time management, good communication and above all the ability to manage expectations both internally and externally will help you to achieve in this area.

Now I actually agree particularly with the last line mention of “planning, effective time management” – as I have been focused on this myself around the theme of ‘organisation’. Indeed I was at a key interview last year and had feedback which said I might need to improve my ‘corporate resilience’ to cope with the pressures of office politics. So now every time I get stressed I think of the fact that I am adding to my ability at ‘corporate resilience’ – which also happens to make me smile! IOW experience is a great aid too when added to the right mental tools to manage stress.

But going a critical step on from this, what is worth saying is that the same tools you use to manage stress are also key to being successful. As the devil is so often in the detail, then the difference between success and failure is so often in the lack of thorough organization.

So if you look at being organized not just as a way of fighting off stress but as a way of embracing success it takes on a different character. Because then you’re doing those tasks with enthusiasm because you want to do them, as you know that’s not just the way to beat stress and stop losing, but also the way to start winning.