How to keep organizations smoothly running in the age of anxiety

Even if you’re one of those happy-go-lucky people with a naturally cheerful disposition, chances are that you may also be affected by the anxiety which seems all too prevalent in the current time. We are, of course, talking about the anxiety regarding the ecology, of course.

The idea of ecosystem anxiety

Terms like climate change and global warming which were found only in science publications has now entered our everyday conversational domain. And for good reason too. For one thing, climate is something that affects everyone- regardless of their socioeconomic background, crazy climate patterns are bound to affect you. Sure, as is the case in such situations, the poor and the marginalised often suffer the most but even so, to say that the rest of the population would be insulated from any adverse effects would be tantamount to willfully being blind to the reality.

  

A close up of a blue wall

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Conflicts are usual in anxious environments. But there’s a better way to function.

This in turn means that the anxiety related to these changes are universal. Of course, each person may react in different ways to the changes, and everyone harbors anxiety to different extents. But it’s still a shared concern of everyone living on Earth, not least because the weather is something we all come in direct contact with at one point or another.

The anxiety regarding such issues may well be termed as ecosystem anxiety. (This is not to be confused with the clinical condition brought about by climate change called eco-anxiety.).

As the term suggests, it means the anxiety brought about by something in your habitat or the realm of your actions.

So, what does ecosystem anxiety have to do with modern day organizations? Let’s take a look.

The organization as an ecosystem

The organization or the workplace could be considered as an ecosystem. The overall ambience or environment of the place of work surely addresses the quality of work that the employees perform.

To introduce anxiety into this environment is introducing ecosystem anxiety in the organization. As with phenomena like climate change, it’s not just the the introduction of an erratic change which results in the anxiety. Another cause for  anxiety are the myriad hard questions that such a problem brings in its wake.

In the case of climate change, the questions would include, “Is the erratic weather going to give me some disease?” “Will it physically destroy my habitat?” “Will it affect the harvest and thereby affect my job which is connected to farming?” and the like.

Defining the future with True Personal Vision

As you can see, one common theme in all these questions is the future, or rather the uncertainty regarding the future.

In an organization, the anxious questions could include, “What is the direction the organization is taking?” “Does the Manager have the vision to guide us?” “Am I contributing meaningfully to the growth of the organization?”

As in the previous case, here too the primary concern is with regard to the future.

It’s easy to see, then, the cause for the anxiety in organizations: a lack of clear direction for the company.

There’s no such thing as a directionless progress for an organization. And the one who should give direction to the journey of the organization is the leader or the Manager.

The problem occurs when the leader doesn’t have the vision for defining the future trajectory. This makes it imperative for the leader to discover his or her True Personal Vision. And the sooner it’s done, the better it is.

It is the vision that could be found within your self and nowhere else in the whole universe. It’s unique and is a glowing vision towards which you could move, providing the basis for guiding your organization.

Unfortunately, what with the myriad distractions of modern life, it’s all too easy to lose sight of your vision.

Temenos Vision Lab

Temenos Vision Lab or TVL is a unique session developed by Temenos+Agility to help you realize your True Personal Vision. Using proprietary tools, TVL is conducted by some of the best leadership coaches in business with extensive experience in conducting transformative sessions.

By realizing your vision, you could easily set the destination for your organization based on that. And once the future trajectory is thus clearly defined the climate of anxiety inside the organization is also dissipated.

 

 

Anxieties which are brought about by broader issues like climate change could be reduced only by thwarting the root problem. And that takes a concerted effort by the world’s nations and the decisions for the same may not always be in our hands. But for negating anxiety in organizations, a vision-inspired leadership would go a long way.

And the power to take the decision regarding that rests entirely in you- the leader.


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