The Journal of Vocational Behavior just published what I believe is the most comprehensive analysis of workplace stress ever done.
515 studies. Over 60 years of research. 800,000 workers.
What they discovered is probably going to surprise you.
It surprised me.
The Leaders With The Wrong Answers
If you ask leaders what stresses their people out the most, you’re probably going to get the same answers every time.
Impossible deadlines. Toxic coworkers. Too much work and not enough time to do it. Maybe a bad manager or two thrown in there.
Those are all reasonable guesses.
They’re also all wrong. They aren’t the thing that stresses people out the most at work.
To be fair, all of those things are genuinely stressful. I’m not saying they’re not. A toxic coworker does not create a relaxing experience at work.
But they’re not the biggest stress creators.
It’s not even close.
The #1 Reason People Are Stressed At Work
The number one source of stress for workers - bigger than deadlines, bigger than toxic coworkers, bigger than bad management - is this:
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