Frustration Toleration and Lack of Empathy in Top Management

The top management is the reflection of their teams. They should guide their employees through their working experience, and teach them all they know from day one. Once the training is done, and the teams have been instructed in all the matters of the company, the hard work of top management is still not done. Being able to manage a team also implies to lead them to success, so the manager should always track performance, and come up with solutions to strengthen the weaknesses.

The work of any good manager may sometimes seem light while the employees are doing all the heavy lifting. However, it is definitely not the case, and this assumption relies only on appearances. The management is the head of an organization which needs to guide the entire body in the right direction. To do that, there are required a good grasp of soft skills as well as mastering the field as a whole completely. Today, we are not going to insist on the importance of a large body of knowledge. However, we will give insights on how to avoid the team to collapse from the inside.

Lack of Empathy

Management has a hard job ahead. It is not enough taking control of everything that happens under their watch, but it also requires a good control over oneself. All people have emotional triggers and limits that once activated or reached the most illogical decisions are taken. However, a good manager should refrain from this normal trait of human nature, and let go of their emotional struggles while at work.

The lack of empathy is common among managements, even though they do a great job. However, it is hard to improve a weakness that you are not aware of, and selfishness is the main agent that clouds the judgment. So, since it is hard to measure the level of empathy, a more proactive approach should be adopted, and that is investing time in improving emotional intelligence. Here are some tricks to improve the emotional intelligence.

1. Take responsibility

Acknowledging the fact that impulses have consequences is the first step to Emotional Intelligence. There are many ways to deal with a situation, and unfortunately, the simplest way is to give in to feelings. A troublesome situation triggers negative emotions, but the way you handle it is your choice only. One fact is for sure, extinguishing fire with fire will only aggravate the problem

2. Respond not react

The fact is that it is easier to react to the situation then respond to it. When you are irritated by something, the main impulse is to let everybody know about this, and urge them to avoid activating your anger triggers. However, this is not a healthy behavior either for the management or the employees. Instead, the management should respond to problems in a conscious manner. If irritated, express your feelings, explain why it is not a good time for a conversation, and delegate or find another convenient time.

3. Adopt mindfulness as a lifestyle

Improving the Emotional Intelligence is an ongoing mission that lasts a lifetime. Mindfulness is a type of meditation that can be practiced anywhere and anytime, even during meetings. All it requires is awareness. Being present in the moment will chase the burden of the future away, and will let you understand why a certain situation triggered an undesired emotional response. Together with the neuroscience methods of management, the mindfulness will improve problem-solving skills and the empathetic relationship between management and employees.

Low Frustration Toleration

Management is not the only party affected by powerful psychological side effects of work. The employees are also influenced by the events that take place during their job. Unfortunately, the fast pace with which the careers are confronting is making way to events that are harmful to the psychological health.

Building up frustrations due to tight deadlines, overworking or the high load of tasks will lead to outbursts of anger if there’s no other pressure relief provided. Even the best people at their job can reach their limit point of endurance and give up on their professional ambitions altogether.

This is why it is crucial for the management to identify the causes that trigger frustrations, and come up with proactive solutions. It is not recommended to wait for the employee to come to the office and speak up about his or her work related issues. Unfortunately, the culture of Millennial generation is encouraging high professional performances in a field they love, while ignoring their own feelings. Instead, they usually get more stubborn in their career and put on a mask of a self-controlled person. However, “the fake it, till you make it” advice has no power here. This is the point when management should engage in the professional life of their employees and take at least some of the following actions.

Set achievable daily goals

Maybe the workers have proven that they can cover a lot of work over a day. However, the fact of daily stretching the limits of a person will come to make them acknowledge less their success and more the stress. People don’t have the machines’ capacity to perform the same quality work every day, but they have good days and bad productivity days.

So, the intensive work days should be followed by less engaging daily tasks, and that can depressurize the stress built up lately. Moreover, paying attention not to let your employees overload themselves on their own with extra work is another beneficial measure for everyone. The solution for this is to delegate, which will unburden the employee and will also teach others a larger set of skills.

Call a weekly meeting to discuss internal issues

One cannot supervise everything, so the managers need the help of their teams too. A weekly meeting discussing issues that hinder performance and productivity is a great method to fill in the blanks. So, the managers might get interesting insights that they would have never thoughts of otherwise. For example, the new air conditioner has been mounted in the worst position, and it affects the workflow of every employee. Taking action after these meetings will restore or improve the trust of the team in management. Plus, a friendly meeting is a welcome fresh alternative to the always alert and demanding official meetings.

Encourage feedback

It is often hard for the employee to give negative feedback to the authority. Since the authority has the power to influence their future, a negative opinion is often correlated with punishment. However, in truth, negative feedback is constructive and helps the both sides cooperated better.

So, to avoid the restraining of their opinions, the leadership can organize a feedback session under cover of anonymity. If the management is objective, it will not matter to know who said what.

All in all, any top management is required to deal with the psychological side of any professional industry. Focusing just on production will much likely lead to saturation points, and thus the above prevention measures are required.