Stress Management is of critical importance to enhance the levels of Corporate Intelligence and the capacity of Organizational Development.
In a situation of high stress at work, the brains of the professionals in our companies - actually the brains of anyone - do not work well.
Specifically, what takes place is a cortical inhibition, also called emotional sequestration, which will leave us operating at the level of the mammalian brain, at the level of management of emotions such as fear and the most basic responses related to defensive behaviors and attack and fight for survival.
Specifically, the brain will experience an “ emotional hijacking ”, in which the activity of the pre-frontal cortex will be “frozen” and the limbic brain will come to the fore of importance, causing strongly emotional behavior, based on avoidance or attack.
This involves a series of very specific changes in our body: adrenaline rises, cortisol levels rise, the heart pumps faster, muscles tighten, digestion stops, pupils dilate, the level of blood clotting increases: our body prepares for flight or combat.
This type of response is very useful when faced with a real threat of life or death in the next 10 seconds.
For all other problems, stress is not exactly the best ally. On the contrary, it makes me less intelligent and more incapable.
Financial, professional, relationship problems and of course, physical, emotional and psychological health issues, need our higher brain to continue operating efficiently.
The stereotypical “flight or fight” response, which generates a high level of work stress, is not very effective in the face of these difficulties; what's more, it will complicate things even more and cause us more problems.
Conclusion: Stress Management and Corporate Intelligence
Professionals who do not adequately self-regulate their job stress levels generally behave less intelligently than people who manage their stress efficiently to deal with problematic situations not defined in the "life-death" code (fortunately, the immense most of the problems that the vast majority of workers have to face in our jobs in the vast majority of occasions).
Consequently, organizations that produce high levels of work stress in their members respond to their challenges and difficulties less intelligently than organizations that know how to help their members to adequately reduce their stress levels.
Continuously working under pressure, generating constant job stress, may not be more productive in the medium and long term, than working towards balance, especially if the human teams that suffer from that stress lack the adequate skills to adequately control it..
Working with attention to balance means working with intensity and dedication, but also with diversion (that is, work capable of generating divergent thinking, vital for innovation, creativity and continuous improvement, fundamental pillars of all progress and advancement in the organizations).
PS: If you still doubt, pay attention to how companies like Google are managing stress.
