Photo by Gage Skidmore/ CC BY-SA 2.0
Mark Cuban. Billionaire entrepreneur, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and one of the sharks on Shark Tank.
He’s also a boss who has employees. Lots of them. And like all bosses, they look for good employees who’ll stick around. In Cuban’s case, “The people that tend work for me a long time, not only are smart, not only are driven, not only are learners,” he said.
So far, so good, but really no surprise there. I mean, what boss doesn’t want smart and driven people with a growth mindset? But here’s the kicker.
The greatest value an employee brings
As leaders, we often experience stress, and so much of it is caused by our work environment, particularly the people who work for us. When employees are stressed, it can have a negative impact on productivity, performance, and well-being, not just for the employees but also for the leaders.
Cuban clearly understands this, which brings me to what he values the most in his employees. A few years back, he said:
The greatest value you can offer a boss is to reduce their stress.
He added:
The people who tend to think that they are invaluable are typically the ones who create the most stress by creating firestorms and creating drama and making things more difficult for me. If you are stress reducer, you’re going to do well. If you’re a drama creator, you’re not going to do well.
3 habits of stress-reducers
I’ve been in the middle of soul-sucking drama and toxic firestorms before. It sabotaged the workplace and caused people to quit. So, if you’re going to be looking for the type of employees to build your culture around–the kind of valued team members who will reduce your own stress as you build the business and change the world, here are three undeniable traits to look for:
1. They take care of their mental health and well-being
Mental health is a vast topic with many aspects to consider. However, leaders should focus on employees who prioritize their self-care for workplace application. These individuals structure their schedules to prioritize their well-being while maintaining high-performance levels.
One of the mental health habits of high performers is that of taking short, frequent breaks. A study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity in 2016 found that taking five-minute walking breaks every hour can boost energy levels, improve focus, and enhance mood throughout the day. These breaks, also known as “microbursts of activity,” were more effective than a 30-minute walking break. Short walking breaks can also increase motivation and concentration while enhancing creativity, according to researchers at Stanford University.
Another stress-reducing habit of workers who value self-care is to go on a walk outdoors with a colleague. Several studies have revealed that individuals who took a brief walk outdoors in nature returned with a feeling of increased happiness and restfulness compared to those who walked indoors. Additionally, people underestimate the extent to which they would feel happier when they were outside.
2. They run away from workplace drama
Cuban alluded to certain people who “tend to think that they are invaluable,” but in reality, they create the drama that makes things more difficult for him.
We’ve all encountered workplace drama. It comes in many forms–malicious gossip, colleagues resistant to change, persistent arguing and bickering, and disgruntled workers disrupting the peace, to name a few.
Getting caught in the whirlwind of workplace drama will overload your attention and take your focus away from what is most important–your work! Time lost to workplace drama could be costing your business a lot of money.
Drama creates “mentally wasteful thought processes or unproductive behavior,” wrote drama researcher Cy Wakeman in her book No Ego: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results.
Over time, workplace drama can affect morale, destroy the culture, and lead to turnover and lost revenue. When workers are entangled in workplace drama spending too much time managing conflict or fighting political battles, they are less productive, less dedicated to planning and implementing business strategies, and have less energy for good customer service.
3. They practice emotional intelligence
Over the years, leadership experts have assessed the top skills required for success on the job. For the most part, there is consensus that your emotional intelligence does matter, even more than your IQ.
Emotional intelligence is not only an important predictor of job success, but also a strongly desirable skill as people get promoted into the management ranks.
One of the key tenets of EQ that employees should display? People with high EQ have resilient minds and recover from problems that go south quickly. They don’t allow themselves to feel guilty about things that have nothing to do with them. They know they are not responsible for the actions and drama of others, and they never beat themselves up for something someone else did.
Source: Inc.
