I drive a lot and, I have to tell the truth, I drive fast and get irritated with drivers who putter along in the fast lane. The drivers who scare me most, though, are the ones who come up behind me fast, sit on my tail for half a second, overtake on the right and cut in front of traffic with inches to spare between the semi in their lane and the car they cut in front of in the left lane. It sometimes gets me to shout abuse at them out loud. Imagine if you were the client I had to coach right after that experience if I did nothing to reduce the stress I was experiencing.
Did you know that road rage causes the brain to release hormones that stray there and affect behavior for two to four hours? Those of you who have long and stressful commutes in heavy traffic are probably aware of this.
Studies show that road rage on the way to work influences the workplace and can lead to worker disengagement.
The irritability and frustration remain in our brains for a log time, playing havoc with our cognitive and operational functions as well as our emotional intelligence and can result in rash decisions and erratic behavior.
If the daily commute has this influence, how do you think it affects the relationships with the team members a boss interacts with for those first couple of hours? How, over time, will their productivity and engagement be affected?
Findings show that road rage causes increased irritability at work, lower frustration tolerance and, eventually employee disengagement. An irritable boss who has a short fuse early in the morning is one to be avoided. Employees resort to finding ways to avoid interacting with the boss and keeping out of the way, more worried about their job security than productivity.
Don’t let that be you and your team. There are things you can do to reduce the stress of your morning commute, and, yes, even to control the road rage you might fall prey to at times. Contact me and I will teach you some strategies.