Thriving on Stress for Success - Hardcover

by Walter H. Gmelch (Author), Wilbert Chan (Author)

Explores the link between pressure and performance in schools. Shows how you can transform your silent enemy, stress, into your silent partner, and thrive in the process. From the Principals Taking Action series.

Back Jacket

Countless articles have blamed stress for ranging from headaches to heart failure - and rightly so. However, stress is only an end when too much or too little is produced. When it's properly managed, stress can be the key success. Optimum performance comes from converting stress from an enemy to an ally; from a needless source of illness to a creative motivator. For principals "taking action", stress can be the spice of life. If they handle it right. In Thriving on Stress for Success, Gmelch and Chan explore the link between pressure and performance in schools. They point out the ways to generate the proper amount of stress: first, to stimulate principals to become effective and second, to control stress in order to achieve success. The authors illustrate that at low levels of stress, performance is low because motivation is low. Yet, at high levels of stress, effective performance is also low - not because of lack of motivation, but in spite of it. In Chapters 1-3, the reader takes a stress "checkup" that provides the foundation for using stress for success. In Chapters 4-7, Gmelch and Chan help school officials understand and overcome the problems of "rustout" and "burnout". Self-assessments and coping techniques are provided along with foundations for maintaining peak performance, including a seven-step plan to managing stress. School administrators everywhere can profit from the advice offered here. Anyone can convert their silent enemy to their silent partner.