A project deadline is close approaching. Your team is short staffed due to attrition. The organization may lose a well-earned reputation, worse yet the possibility of losing a referenceable customer looms over the horizon. All of these thoughts can drive immense stress, triggering a set of physiological reactions that may either work on behalf of the individual or against him. This may be believed as a crisp definition of stress.
Bad Effects of Stress
While stress may be advantageous to get things moving forward, there is a good chance that stress can leak and spill from one area of life to another. This kind of situation can turn out to be absolutely damaging especially when it comes to entrepreneurs. Studies show that entrepreneurs bring business-related stress to their home, which negatively affects their relationships, children, and marriage. It also affects their comfort, health, and happiness in their personal life. At the same time when an entrepreneur brings his family related stress to office space, he is creating unwanted roadblocks and hindrance to his own efficiency, as well as that of his team.
Long term effects of stress
Prolonged levels of entrepreneur stress can result in stress burnout, ulcers, and hypertension. Other stress effects could be reduced job satisfaction and lower efficiency and productivity. While entrepreneurs directly contributor towards generating jobs, studies also show that only 1 in 5 entrepreneurs survive ten-year tenure in the business world. So, what kills these entrepreneurs? Entrepreneur stress!
In this article let us consider answers to some of the below questions, leading us to understand entrepreneur stress better.
- How we can conclude that Entrepreneur stress is different from Managerial stress
- What factors might be a contributing factor for entrepreneurial stress
- What personality and circumstances help in stress reduction or stress regulation
Contrasts between Entrepreneur and Managerial stress
While entrepreneurs tend to display a larger than life persona, it is strikingly evident for onlookers to notice the lower emotional and conformity traits dawned on entrepreneurs. While managers in an organization may be stressed over the lack of character strength to show a higher degree of autonomy and influence, these qualities are self-ingrained in an entrepreneur. This outstanding metamorphosis of a leader from a conventional managerial role, producing a newly born entrepreneur, leads to stress. The contrast from following orders to making business decisions as a visionary, or from working within a budget to taking significant risks with one’s hard earned capital, makes for some reasons for entrepreneurs stress.
Sources, Nature and Contributing Factors for Entrepreneur’s Stress
There may be several factors that may contribute to the stress involved in an entrepreneurs’ day to day activity. Some common criterion could be defined under these below points.
- Ambiguity in defining the role that an entrepreneur plays within the organization can be a reason for stress. While a demarcated structure helps to organize work and tasks, it is also true that uncharted positions and the lack of defined role and responsibilities can give rise to seemingly endless boundaries of an entrepreneur’s work and role.
- Role Conflicts occur when more than one position at the office, is sending out instructions for compliance with similar tasks. In such a case, complying with one set of instructions may cause non-compliance to another set of instructions. This overlapping in roles, complicate a fundamental requirement for all organizations, which is to have clarity in command and control. More often than not, an entrepreneur may find his role in the conflict with that of another decision maker within the organization.
- Overload of work resulting from ambition and challenges around delegation. There is a need to set the pace and expectations for various roles within the organization, hence playing roles to demonstrate or encourage others in areas of sale, reconciliation, dispute management or negotiation may cause unaccounted levels of an overload of work. Not able to effectively delegate tasks and cultivate responsibility within the organization also impounds stress.
How Entrepreneur can Deal with Stress?
While there is never going to be an invention to reduce stress by turning on a button, entrepreneur stress can and should be regulated. While qualities such demanding, challenging and aggression will increase and sustain production and growth, qualities such as patience, tolerance and humility will help reduce health-related trouble. So, taking time out for slower activities in life and engaging in sport and exercise will ensure that a balance is struck, regulating stress.
A second method of regulating stress is to learn the art of discharging tension. Leave work at work and home at home. If you have a 125% to accomplish each day, you are going to be efficient, but also ensure that you have a small percentage left for the next day to accomplish, that way you don’t carry work home. As your skill increases at the rate of discharging tension, you are in a better position to regulate stress as an entrepreneur.
Finally, concern and tender support derived from associates and family members can increase positivity and influence in regulating stress and stabilize overall wellbeing.
Entrepreneur Stress Quotes
