Subscribe to the Three Star Leadership Blog

The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check Wally's Three Star Leadership Letter

Find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.

Find out more about Wally's coaching services.

Kelley Holland, writing in the Sunday's New York Times, begins an article about workplace stress by quoting John Updike on the "chronic sadness of late Sunday afternoon." There wasn't much of that kind of sadness in my life yesterday.

We went to a party with friends. There were young couples with their very young children and family and lots of good cooks. For those of you who might have been worried about it, our afternoon pretty much assured the profitability of the Argentine wine industry for a decade.

But while we were having good times there were people all over the continent who were getting sad because they had to go to work on Monday. Holland tells us this:

"Poll results released last October by the American Psychological Association found that one-third of Americans are living with extreme stress, and that the most commonly cited source of stress — mentioned by 74 percent of respondents — was work."

That's bad. What's worse is that employers don't seem to be doing much about it. Here's another quote from the article, referring to a Watson Wyatt survey.

"For example, some 48 percent of the employers in the survey said stress created by long hours and limited resources was affecting business performance, but only 5 percent said they were taking strong action to address those areas."

So what do those chronically sad workers want? It's pretty simple, really.

They want to do work that's interesting and where they can grow. Machines are good at doing the same thing over and over without thinking. People aren't. We're at our best when we're getting better.

They want to do work that’s meaningful. Saving the world is fine, but "meaningful" can mean important to the company or to other members of the team.

They want to work with people they like. According to Curt Coffman of Gallup: "we know from our research that people who have a best friend at work cope with stress more productively than people who don't."

They want to feel safe. That means safe from bullies, safe from harassment of all kinds, safe from unfairness.

And, here's the big one: they want a boss who respects and supports them. This is the big one because it's that boss that makes the difference.

It's the boss who encourages and helps you grow. It's the boss who tells you why what you do matters. It's the boss who encourages you to make friends and keeps you safe.

If you want to head off the "chronic sadness of late Sunday afternoon," the best way to do that is to give people a great working environment to go to on Monday morning. And the key to that is great supervisors. Select them. Train them. Support them.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.