sion as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authen

Stress kills—it’s so bad in Japan that they even have a word for sudden death from overwork: karoushi. Stress is the underlying cause of much of the heart disease in our country, which is the number one cause of death. Stressed workers suffer from 30% more heart disease than their less-stressed co-workers. More people die on Mondays between 9 and 11 a.m. than at any other time. Those folks aren’t having their heart attacks lounging on a beach somewhere—they’re just showing up for work. A recent survey by the Gallup Management Journal reveals that nearly three of every ten workers believe their jobs are harming them physically. My question for you is: Are you partly to blame?

A study in England looked at over 6,000 men and asked them to evaluate their relationship to their bosses, considering such things as being criticized unfairly, feeling listened to, access to supervisors to ask questions, receiving praise, etc. Researchers then studied the men for nearly nine years and found that workers with a positive perception of their job situations suffered 30% less coronary disease than their co-workers who were dissatisfied with management.

Look around your office—how’s the health of your staff? How’s your employee turnover rate? Have you done all you can to create a less stressful, more health-focused workplace? Even if all you care about are health insurance premiums, this is a topic you can’t afford to ignore.

I devote a lot of space to this problem in my book Finding Joy In Your Job, but here are some quick fixes to consider implementing:

· Unplug the Coke machine and provide healthy alternatives (juices, fresh fruit, carrot sticks, yogurt)

· Encourage healthy lunches with fresh, local foods

· Take group walks at lunchtime (walk up and down the halls during bad weather)

· Install fitness equipment

· Toss a Frisbee on the lawn at lunch

· Provide free or reduced rates at a gym

· Offer incentives to workers who quit smoking

· Find better alternative rewards than belly-busting donuts or greasy pizzas

· Set goals for group health

I’m not suggesting you become the food police, and yes, people do need to assume responsibility for their own good health—however, you can play a significant role in supporting your team in pursuing better health and fitness. Healthy workers miss fewer days, have better attention spans, more stamina and can’t help but be in a better mood. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of employees you want to have?

Those steps address the outward symptoms of poor health—bad food and poor fitness—and they play a part in creating a less stressful workplace. But there’s a deeper level of unhappiness consuming American workers today, and it’s at the heart of job stress. In a recent issue, Forbes magazine noted that as a country, we are moving into a new age of meaning caused by four recent occurrences:

1. 9/11 and our realization as a society that life offers no guarantees.

2. People are examining the fallibility of our leaders. Whether presidents, congressmen or business leaders—can we trust them?

3. Changes in the global economy and shifts in how we work, such as outsourcing and automation.

4. Our aging population, Baby Boomers in particular, are yearning for more meaning in their lives.

What can one overworked boss (who’s undoubtedly over-stressed, too) do about such a big challenge? You can learn how to address this new age of meaning by helping your employees find more purpose in their jobs, connect more deeply with your mission as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authent

ions, receiving praise, etc. Researchers then studied the men for nearly nine years and found that workers with a positive perception of their job situations suffered 30% less coronary disease than their co-workers who were dissatisfied with management.

Look around your office—how’s the health of your staff? How’s your employee turnover rate? Have you done all you can to create a less stressful, more health-focused workplace? Even if all you care about are health insurance premiums, this is a topic you can’t afford to ignore.

I devote a lot of space to this problem in my book Finding Joy In Your Job, but here are some quick fixes to consider implementing:

· Unplug the Coke machine and provide healthy alternatives (juices, fresh fruit, carrot sticks, yogurt)

· Encourage healthy lunches with fresh, local foods

· Take group walks at lunchtime (walk up and down the halls during bad weather)

· Install fitness equipment

· Toss a Frisbee on the lawn at lunch

· Provide free or reduced rates at a gym

· Offer incentives to workers who quit smoking

· Find better alternative rewards than belly-busting donuts or greasy pizzas

· Set goals for group health

I’m not suggesting you become the food police, and yes, people do need to assume responsibility for their own good health—however, you can play a significant role in supporting your team in pursuing better health and fitness. Healthy workers miss fewer days, have better attention spans, more stamina and can’t help but be in a better mood. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of employees you want to have?

Those steps address the outward symptoms of poor health—bad food and poor fitness—and they play a part in creating a less stressful workplace. But there’s a deeper level of unhappiness consuming American workers today, and it’s at the heart of job stress. In a recent issue, Forbes magazine noted that as a country, we are moving into a new age of meaning caused by four recent occurrences:

1. 9/11 and our realization as a society that life offers no guarantees.

2. People are examining the fallibility of our leaders. Whether presidents, congressmen or business leaders—can we trust them?

3. Changes in the global economy and shifts in how we work, such as outsourcing and automation.

4. Our aging population, Baby Boomers in particular, are yearning for more meaning in their lives.

What can one overworked boss (who’s undoubtedly over-stressed, too) do about such a big challenge? You can learn how to address this new age of meaning by helping your employees find more purpose in their jobs, connect more deeply with your mission as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authen

n the halls during bad weather)

· Install fitness equipment

· Toss a Frisbee on the lawn at lunch

· Provide free or reduced rates at a gym

· Offer incentives to workers who quit smoking

· Find better alternative rewards than belly-busting donuts or greasy pizzas

· Set goals for group health

I’m not suggesting you become the food police, and yes, people do need to assume responsibility for their own good health—however, you can play a significant role in supporting your team in pursuing better health and fitness. Healthy workers miss fewer days, have better attention spans, more stamina and can’t help but be in a better mood. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of employees you want to have?

Those steps address the outward symptoms of poor health—bad food and poor fitness—and they play a part in creating a less stressful workplace. But there’s a deeper level of unhappiness consuming American workers today, and it’s at the heart of job stress. In a recent issue, Forbes magazine noted that as a country, we are moving into a new age of meaning caused by four recent occurrences:

1. 9/11 and our realization as a society that life offers no guarantees.

2. People are examining the fallibility of our leaders. Whether presidents, congressmen or business leaders—can we trust them?

3. Changes in the global economy and shifts in how we work, such as outsourcing and automation.

4. Our aging population, Baby Boomers in particular, are yearning for more meaning in their lives.

What can one overworked boss (who’s undoubtedly over-stressed, too) do about such a big challenge? You can learn how to address this new age of meaning by helping your employees find more purpose in their jobs, connect more deeply with your mission as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authen

ut there’s a deeper level of unhappiness consuming American workers today, and it’s at the heart of job stress. In a recent issue, Forbes magazine noted that as a country, we are moving into a new age of meaning caused by four recent occurrences:

1. 9/11 and our realization as a society that life offers no guarantees.

2. People are examining the fallibility of our leaders. Whether presidents, congressmen or business leaders—can we trust them?

3. Changes in the global economy and shifts in how we work, such as outsourcing and automation.

4. Our aging population, Baby Boomers in particular, are yearning for more meaning in their lives.

What can one overworked boss (who’s undoubtedly over-stressed, too) do about such a big challenge? You can learn how to address this new age of meaning by helping your employees find more purpose in their jobs, connect more deeply with your mission as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authen

sion as a company and ultimately extend that to their family life and the community at large. I invite you to download my free Personal Values Worksheet to give to your team members. It’s a good starting place for the work of uncovering your deeper purpose. This is a complex topic which I discuss in detail in my book, but here are some general ideas for your team to consider:

· Bringing spirituality—not religion—to work and finding ways to live your spirituality through your job. What spiritual values could you share at your job? Integrity? Reverence for nature? Compassion? Caring? Humility? What aspect of your Higher Self can you express? How?

· Expressing yourself more creatively, giving yourself permission to express your authentic self. How about applying originality of thought to your actual work? Be real. Be the best you. Let your associates know you and be empowered by your authenticity.

· Expressing gratitude as a regular practice can be life-altering. Giving thanks for your friends at work, for challenges that cause self-growth, for the financial health of your company, for a good relationship with your boss, and yes, for your job itself, which supports the rest of your life, are all awarenesses that can have a profound effect on employee morale and add meaning to your life.

· Find a community service project to adopt as a team or company. Whether it’s an annual toy drive, restoring a polluted stream, gleaning food for your local food bank, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is working together for the greater good of your community.

It’s possible that exploring these topics with your team will lead to some job shifts and realignments as staff members begin to realize what it is they are called to do and what gives them the most satisfaction. That’s a good thing! Ensuring that your employees are doing work that fulfills them is the best way to retain your valued workers—and contribute to both their physical and emotional well-being. By taking these steps, you can honestly say: No, I am NOT killing my employees!