ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > September > 14 > Entry
Performing under pressure…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was intrigued by a recent Wall Street Journal story about CEO distractions (as posted on azcentral.com). Apparently there is a growing body of research that is looking at the connection between outside distractions (for e.g., a death in the family, buying new houses or media attention) and company performance.
Researchers found that if a CEO of a public company experiences the death of a child, the performance of the company can dip as much as 21% after the event. That didn’t surprise me. However, a “lighter” finding about the passing of mother in laws did. This event was associated with an upturn in profitability (though slight!).
Most of us are not CEO’s, but we do have personal issues. Events need not be tragic to impact us and our organizations. I remember being in transition with childcare providers. At the time, I was incredibly anxious about finding a suitable place for my kids and am sure I didn’t get much work done that week.
I believe that being “distracted” by life is natural and normal. However when life’s challenges take a front seat for a while, we need to find a way to manage both worlds - either by being honest with our team or boss (for e.g., “I need some slack this month”, etc.) or by drawing upon outside sources of support (for e.g., family, friends, counselors , etc.).
What do you do when life intervenes with work? Does your employer do anything to allow you to deal with crises?
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