Leadership Lab What Olympic athletes can teach us about managing stress Add to ... PATRICK CERULLO -- in the face of the biggest competitions of their lives. While elite athletes are admired for their physical and emotional strength, what often goes unnoticed are their challenges with stress and anxiety – challenges that many working Canadians also endure. Roy Osing Roy Osing -- employees can help us increase resiliency in the workplace. Stress and anxiety can come from high expectations from a coach or boss including: pressure to meet goals and tight deadlines, mental and physical exhaustion from training or working long hours, pressure to succeed, and difficulty finding a balance between training, work and a personal life. These stressors can become overwhelming and have a negative impact on focus, engagement, and ultimately, performance. -- than the rest of the population, and can be particularly pronounced before, during, and after a major event like the Olympic Games. Research by Morneau Shepell shows a similar result in stressful work situations. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of Canadian employees who report struggling with stress symptoms also report that it impacts their work. Almost half (45 per cent) indicate they thought about leaving their company in the past six months due to stress. Like an Olympic athlete’s coach, employers have a major role to play in -- organizational goals. So, how can employers borrow from the elite athlete playbook and help employees cope and build resiliency in the face of stress? Here are three tips: Encourage nutrition and fitness -- encourage higher levels of engagement and inspire employees to set and meet realistic goals that improve their overall well-being and ability to manage stress. Insights from workplace wellness programs also enable organizations to identify trends, understand where employees have improved in their health, and offer increasingly targeted wellness activities that achieve total health goals. Acknowledge stressful situations and offer help The best managers and coaches know when their team is overwhelmed. Watch for signs of stress in an employee such as irritability, tiredness, lack of motivation or an increase in absences from work. If you notice that an employee is displaying signs of stress, offer your assistance by showing that you are there to listen, shifting around work duties, or providing the number of the company’s employee and family assistance program for counselling services. Whether an elite athlete or an employee, we all deal with stress and pressure in our jobs. Employers who offer support and have a wellness game plan for their employees can achieve reduced stress and increased resiliency in their workplace. To accomplish this, there is a lot we can learn from elite athletes.