Peak Performance FORM

 

For Perpetual Peak Performance Promote

Forcefulness Openness Resoluteness Morale

Form is Make-or-Break factor for Victory

Remember – Stress and Form are Inversely Proportional

A high-ranking military officer was the chief guest at a seminar on “Lessons from War Management for Business Managers”. A large number of industrialists, business executives and MBA students attended the seminar as the topic was quite interesting and would, no doubt, hold some valued lessons.

The officer said he was very happy to meet such a large number of business people. Perhaps, he could understand something that he had wondered about for long -  if soldiers on the war front, facing the possibility of death, could remain cool-headed and focused on their arduous and risky tasks, with some even continuing to fight after being hit by bullets, how was it that some executives in air-conditioned chambers often complained of high stress levels and resulting cardiovascular and other illnesses?

He added that it appeared to him that either these executives lacked physical and mental capabilities for their tasks, or, there was no all-round clarity about their own and the organization’s mission and goals. Or, perhaps, it was due to a lack of culture of trust and comradery. 

His words were a sort of psychological bombshell. Very few speakers directly dealt with the vital issues raised. The discussion continued with a normal focus on strategy, tactics and other familiar topics.

The prognosis of the military officer reveals some critical points. It is astounding that the concepts (indicative of confidence, high spirit, low stress)   like form, morale, espirit de corps, so routinely monitored in the armed forces  are not commonly tracked by corporates. Few organisations measure and monitor them. There is need to cultivate forcefulness, openness, resoluteness and morale, in addition to other training, to keep up the team’s form.  

Clearly, there is an urgent need to address the issue and find solutions to reduce the stress levels which have assumed alarming scales after the Covid pandemic and the technological upheavals. These are creating the scare of elimination of many jobs and resultant unemployment. Some may be just conjecture and exaggeration, but are sources of significant levels of worry.

Apart from the talk on the street, statistics, too, are scary. The following findings of a survey by The Economic Times on corporate stress levels in India are a case in point.

• Nearly 44% of the respondents stated that they were struggling financially, compared with the global average of 29%

• 36% suffered from declining mental health (vs 28% globally)

• 32% lacked career motivation (vs 25% globally) 

• 31% felt disconnected from their own lives (vs 23% globally)

The global and Indian figures differ, but both are alarming. The findings of a survey by the world-renowned American Institute of Stress are equally so – 

• 80% of workers feel stress on the job, 

• nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and 

• 42% say their co-workers need such help

The need for a concerted effort to find solutions to such a critical and widespread problem cannot be over-emphasized. We are soliciting reactions from readers, top executives, psychologists and industry leaders and will then announce an action-oriented programme, likely under the aegis of an educational institution or an industry association.