Here is an excerpt from an article written by Allen Morrison and David Forster for MIT Sloan Management Review. To read the complete article, check out others, sign up for email alerts, and obtain subscription information, please click here.
Illustration Credit: Lamar Eugene Gumbody
* * *
No leader can eliminate a team’s stress — or “solve” an individual’s. But they can take action to make resilience a team function rather than an individual burden.
Stress has become a defining feature of modern organizational life. When channeled constructively, stress can act as a powerful motivator — fueling productivity, innovation, and change. Conversely, unmanaged stress can breed dysfunction, lower morale, and lasting psychological harm. Yet most organizations still lack systematic approaches for managing stress across teams.
To address this gap, we launched a multiyear study of leadership and employee behavior that focused on organizational politics and psychological safety. Our research combined structured interviews, case analyses, practitioner insights, and a survey of more than 150 senior business leaders across Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and the United States. Our findings are both encouraging and sobering. We learned that most workplace stress is episodic and manageable with proper support, but a troubling pattern emerged: Leaders — tasked with modeling resilience — often amplify stress instead. Rather than easing pressure, their behaviors frequently intensify it, undermining team cohesion and performance.
A striking example comes from a professional services firm where employees initially coped well with typical pressures like divorces, car repairs, deadlines, and office politics. That balance shifted with the arrival of a new unit director. Aiming to boost productivity, he introduced few procedural changes but brought a leadership style that some employees described as “highly toxic.” His controlling, confrontational approach eroded trust. Personal stress became harder to compartmentalize as the work environment grew volatile. Absenteeism rose, engagement fell, and some employees left meetings in tears.
Instead of adjusting his leadership style, the director doubled down, likely influenced by his own burnout and assumptions of team underperformance. Public reprimands became routine, and within 18 months, 75% of the team had resigned. Many sought counseling to recover from the emotional toll. The CEO eventually stepped in and terminated the director — a move widely seen as a necessary reset.
Some of you have encountered a leader like this, or perhaps you’ve seen similar tendencies in yourself at times. The good news is that leadership doesn’t have to amplify stress. With the right approach, leaders can redirect both the pressure they generate and the strain their teams carry, turning stress into a source of momentum rather than burnout.
Here is a direct link to the complete article.