Because of the tough economy combined with companies forced to get leaner and meaner, today’s business environment is putting a lot more pressure on young developing leaders.  This creates an internal business environment where workers are stressed more than ever – working longer hours and pressured for more results with less resources.

A recent August 8th article in USA Today [At Work, No More Mr. Nice Guy] stated that rudeness and bad manners are rising amongst the employees.  They’ve got fluid job descriptions and less role clarity.  Work is becoming more toxic.  Younger people are seeing what work has done to their parents.

While this reality is true in lots of companies, it doesn’t have to derail groups or projects.  As a leaders, we have to be more sensitive to these issues.  Have periodic meetings with your people and talk openly about these realities.  Then have the group members offer suggestions on how to reduce these stresses.   Let it be their ideas.  Keeping everyone focused on the stress reduction and the workplace civility issue, will help improve the work environment.