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Writer's pictureEvanSchwartz

The Power of Zooming Out: A Servant Leader's Guide to Mitigating Anxiety

Anxiety in the workplace is a pervasive issue that affects both leaders and contributors alike. In our fast-paced, high-stakes environments, it's all too easy for anxiety to take root, causing decreased productivity, burnout, and a general sense of disarray. However, "zooming out" can be a powerful antidote, providing clarity and direction when needed.


Identifying Anxiety in Your Team

The first step in addressing anxiety is recognizing its presence. Here are some telltale signs that anxiety has taken hold in your team:

  1. Increased Mistakes: As anxiety levels rise, so do the number of errors. These can range from minor oversights to significant blunders that could jeopardize the project.

  2. Reduced Communication: Team members may become withdrawn, avoiding discussions and failing to share crucial updates or ask for help.

  3. Decreased Productivity: A noticeable drop in output, where tasks that once took hours now take days, can indicate that anxiety is impairing performance.

  4. High Turnover or Absenteeism: When anxiety becomes overwhelming, team members might choose to leave or take frequent sick days.

  5. Visible Stress: Physical signs of stress, such as fatigue, irritability, or changes in demeanor, can be clear indicators of underlying anxiety.


The Servant Leader's Role

As a servant leader, your role is to address and mitigate this anxiety, transforming it into a manageable force that drives, rather than hinders, performance. Here's how you can achieve this through the skill of zooming out:


1. Zoom Out to See the Bigger Picture

When anxiety peaks, it often means individuals are too entrenched in the minutiae of their tasks. Encourage your team to take a step back and look at the broader context:

  • Leaders: Often, leaders' anxiety stems from being too close to the problem. Remind them to elevate their perspective. Are they focusing on a single tree and missing the forest? Leaders should reassess their strategic goals and ensure their actions align with the larger objectives.

  • Contributors: For contributors, anxiety might come from feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks. Help them break down their workload into smaller, more manageable pieces. Each task should be a step towards a clear goal, providing a sense of accomplishment and momentum.


2. Encourage Strategic Thinking

Leaders must balance their attention between immediate issues and long-term strategies. Here's how to foster this balance:

  • Reduce Granularity: Leaders should avoid getting bogged down in details better handled by their team. Instead, they should focus on strategic decision-making that guides the team towards success.

  • Simplify Choices: Too many options can paralyze decision-making. By narrowing down choices to the most viable ones, leaders can provide clear direction and reduce the anxiety associated with uncertainty.

  • Safety for Extended Leadership: You must be clear with your managers that mistakes are okay. Taking risks is part of leadership, but be open and honest about them. Knowing there are safety encourages your extended leaders and managers to call out problems early. If psychological safety does not exist, human nature tries to hide the error quietly in hopes of overcoming it. This only makes things worse.


3. Promote Tactical Execution

Contributors thrive when their tasks are clear and achievable. Here's how to support them:

  • Break Down Tasks: Large projects should be divided into smaller, measurable increments of work. This makes the workload seem less daunting and provides frequent opportunities for success.

  • Set Clear Priorities: Ensure contributors know what's most important. This helps them focus on what truly matters and avoid getting sidetracked by less critical tasks. Priorities should align with strategic goals. If priorities are shifting or changing often, making it hard for contributors to keep up, they will experience high anxiety. This doesn't mean priorities can never change. It just means that when they do, expectations and strong communication are required to ensure everyone is aware of the priority shift, its cost to productivity, and most importantly, "Why" it occurred.


4. Foster Open Communication

Transparent and open communication can significantly alleviate anxiety. Create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their concerns and progress:

  • Regular Check-ins: Schedule regular meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and solutions. This ensures everyone stays aligned and allows them to address issues before they escalate.

  • Active Listening: Show genuine interest in your team's input. Listening actively can reveal underlying issues and demonstrate that you value their contributions.


5. Empower and Support

Empower your team by providing the resources and support they need to succeed:

  • Mentorship: Offer guidance and mentorship to help team members grow and overcome challenges.

  • Encouragement: Celebrate successes, no matter how small. Positive reinforcement can boost morale and reduce anxiety.


The Rinse-and-Repeat Pattern

Successfully mitigating anxiety through zooming out is not a one-time fix; it's a continuous process. As a servant leader, you must consistently:

  • Observe: Keep a vigilant eye on your team's well-being.

  • Act: Intervene when necessary, providing the support and adjustments needed.

  • Mentor: Guide your team towards a healthier, more productive approach to their work.


Conclusion

Anxiety in the workplace is inevitable, but with the right approach, it can be transformed into a driving force for success. Leaders and contributors can navigate their tasks with clarity, confidence, and strategic action by mastering zooming out. This approach alleviates anxiety and fosters a more resilient, efficient, and harmonious team. As a servant leader, your role in this process is crucial—empower your team to zoom out and watch as anxiety dissolves, leaving a path to success.

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