5

1.2 Identify personal stressors and own emotional states

related to the workplace
Stressors in the workplace
There are not many working environments or management roles in which
stressors or pressures to perform or fulfil the requirements of you role and
responsibilities do not exist, and even in those precious few that you may find,
there are always unforeseen circumstances that can create them, natural
disasters for example, or changes to regulations or legislation.
Within a management or leadership role, the number of stressors are bound
to be more than those within a general workers, and the further up in the
hierarchy you become, the more responsibility and accountability is attached to
them. People respond differently to similar stressors and pressures, and what
might concern one manager, may be that on which another manager thrives. It
is quite probable that there is more than one thing within your role that causes
you stress and anxiety, and there may be a number of things that evoke other
emotions such as annoyance or anger. Recognising what causes your own
personal stress will help you to understand that of others within your team.
Types of stressors in the workplace might include:
f Demands:
key performance indicators
targets
budgets
workload including unmanageable, unfairly distributed, potentially
unlawful
time-management and schedules
meetings with senior management
over-time
f Poor leadership:
impatient/unfair managers
multiple managers or supervisors
managers that do not understand your role
f Relationships:
bullying in the workplace
conflicts between you and others that have not been adequately resolved
conflicts between members of your team that you must resolve
strained relationships with clients/suppliers/customers
f Dealing with conflict such as angry customers
f Lack of support from team members and/or supervision
f Lack of understanding:
poor communications from management
not understanding your role and responsibility

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f Change:
to management
own role and responsibility
organisational structure redundancies for example.

Emotional states caused by work related stressors

The reasons for each aspect of employment causing you to feel stressed or
under pressure may be completely different and may evoke different types of
emotional response. For example, systematically failed sales targets may result
in you being the subject of a performance management plan or other disciplinary
action which causes concern for the security of your role and anxiety about
personal financial commitments. Presentations to senior management or large
groups of stakeholders may be a more personal pressure for you if you are not
confident in public speaking.
Types of emotional states related to the work place

Negative emotional responses Positive emotional responses

Frustration Acceptance and acknowledgment of the
problem
Inappropriate behaviour Positive change to behaviour
Lack of concentration Perseverance
Confusion and indecision Proactive and methodical decision making
Disappointment Continuous improvement
Anxiety/nervousness Excitement
Over-sensitivity Self-control
Withdrawal Motivation
Aggression Channelled energy
Anger Pragmatism

Recognising these stressors and your emotional response to them enables you
to begin the journey to developing your emotional intelligence. You may already
be well on the way, particularly if your emotional responses are positive ones.

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Activity 1.2

1. Identify your own personal stressors within the workplace.

2. For each of your stressors, identify the emotional state it causes within you
and whether it is a positive or negative state.

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 8

1.3 Develop awareness of own emotional triggers and

use this awareness to enable control emotional responses
Emotional triggers
We all have different emotional triggers and some can be very specific to the
individual such as being called an unpleasant nickname, or a member of senior
management always calling you by the wrong name. The emotion is a reaction to
an action or activity that compromises something that is very important to you.
That compromise is the trigger.
In order to identify your own emotional triggers you need to consider the things
that are most important to you, that if threatened or removed would cause an
extreme emotional reaction from you. They are often your morals and values.
Possible emotional triggers could be the potential compromise of any of the
following concepts:

To feel valued To be liked To be accepted

To be in control To be respected To be needed
To be understood To be included To be treated fairly
To be right Order Balance
Autonomy Predictability Safety
Fun Freedom Variety

Control emotional responses

By identifying and understanding the reasons for your emotional responses to
work stressors and personal pressures you have made yourself more aware of
the issue. This consciousness should enable you to recognise the trigger and
stop the emotional reaction before it occurs. By being able to apply a rational
understanding of why the reaction occurs, you enable yourself to step away from
the issue and take stock of how you are going to deal with it and manage the
emotional response.
You have identified the pressures and stressors that evoke this emotional
reaction and the reasons why. You have also identified your personal emotional
strengths and weaknesses. In order to control your emotional response to
the work stressors, you should identify your emotional strength that is most
appropriate and suitable to deal with the issue.
When you get an emotional trigger:
f Stop
f Detach yourself from the situation
f Think about the process you have put in place to deal with the issue
f Use that emotional strength to analyse the problem
f Is the need that you believe is being compromised really under threat, and if
so, to what extent?
f Have you taken it personally when that was not the intention of the action?

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f If the need is being compromised, how are you going to deal with it
objectively without being over-sensitive and emotional?
As a manager or leader, controlling your emotional responses is a vital skill that
gets more natural with experience. It is important to remember that when you
detach yourself from a situation it gives you time to choose how to respond as
opposed to giving a reflex reaction.
Below is an example of potential stressors and emotional triggers experienced
by a police officer and the subsequent emotional strength and positive emotional
response the officer might use to deal rationally and objectively with the issue.

Positive
Emotional Emotional
Work related stressor emotional
trigger(s) strength
response
Using personal protective f Order f Calm and f Channelled
equipment to temporarily f Safety reasonable energy
disable/disarm a violent under f Self-control
offender pressure
Giving evidence in court f To be in f Honesty f Self-control
control
f To be right
f To be
respected
f Justice
Delivering a death f Predictability f Empathy f Pragmatism
message f Justice f Sympathy f Self-control
f Balance f Honesty

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BSB51915 DIPLOMA OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT & BSB61215 ADVANCED DIPLOMA OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
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 10

Activity 1.3

Using the table below, identify your own emotional triggers in relation to your
personal work related stressors, the emotional strength you would draw on to
deal with it, and the positive emotional response you intend to give.
Role and industry sector:

Positive
Work related Emotional Emotional
emotional
stressor trigger(s) strength
response

WORKBOOK | 2017 YOUNG RABBIT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COLLEGE

BSB51915 DIPLOMA OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT & BSB61215 ADVANCED DIPLOMA OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE_V1.5