Creating Mindful Leaders

Chapter 3The $500 Billion Dollar Slow Leak

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

—William James

The United States loses over $500 billion annually because of stress.¹ That's up from $300 billion just a few years ago. For companies, this shows up as absenteeism, turnover, lost productivity, and increasing medical costs. For employees, it shows up in more personal ways. They don't feel heard. One in three don't feel trusted (or trust management).² They don't feel companies are living up to their missions or values. They feel disrespected by their managers or commanding cultures. They don't feel safe or secure. They quit. Go across the street. And what do they usually find at their new company? Same sh*t, different business card.

The statistics tell us that's not going so well for employees.

• 83% report work as their top source of stress.³
• 50% say their stress level is “high” or “overwhelming.”⁴
• 33% suffer from insomnia impacting their health and performance.⁵
• 83% of 2014 health cases were due to employee depression, stress, and anxiety (up from 55% in 2012).⁶
• 91% of workplace injuries are due to human error.⁷ And that's not good news for business or company cultures.
• Turnover rates in the United States have increased every single year since 2011.⁸
• 42% of employees cite “stress” as the reason they leave their job.⁹
• 70% report not ...