Show Notes
Stress is something every manager experiences. Tight deadlines, constant decisions, competing priorities; it can feel like pressure is simply part of the job.
Most leaders treat stress like one big, unavoidable force. In reality, stress isn’t just one thing. It appears in different forms, and each requires a different response. When leaders don’t understand the source of their stress, they often try to solve the wrong problem or end up stuck in cycles of overthinking and burnout.
Fortunately, this week’s guest shares a practical framework for understanding stress and turning it into something leaders can actually manage.
Amy Leneker is a former C-suite executive, a leadership advisor to Fortune 100 companies, and the author of Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy. Her work focuses on helping leaders identify the sources of stress in their work and create simple systems to reduce it while increasing clarity and joy.
In this conversation, we explore the different types of stress leaders experience, how stress flows through teams, and practical ways managers can help their teams talk about stress more openly and productively.
Conversation Topics (00:00) Introduction (01:34) Why isn't all stress the same, and why that matter for leaders (04:12) The different types of stress managers experience at work (07:25) Why identifying the source of stress is the first step to solving it (10:48) How unmanaged stress quietly spreads through teams (14:22) Why leaders often underestimate the stress their words create (18:36) Helping teams talk about stress without judgment (22:41) Why unclear priorities create unnecessary stress for teams (27:18) Practical ways leaders can reduce stress while improving clarity and trust (30:02) Simple leadership habits that create more moments of joy at work (33:01) [Extended Episode Only] The three-step “unstressing” method for identifying and solving stressors (36:21) [Extended Episode Only] A powerful team exercise that revealed 73 hidden stressors (41:58) [Extended Episode Only] Avoiding toxic positivity and creating real moments of connection on your team
📚 Additional Resources:
✨ Get the extended episode by joining The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community for just $15 per month
✨ Read the full transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nZOOgSIPaHiVT4PukpfR74wy8Drp-Lzah9AHMhadf3s/edit?usp=sharing
✨Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadershipwithmamie/
✨Visit my website for more: https://www.mamieks.com/
✨Upskill your team: https://themodernmanager.com/replaybundle
✨Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7jhYz8b16g1SsLia4EhO5w?sub_confirmation=1
Keep Up with Amy Leneker - Follow Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amy.leneker/ - Check out her book Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy. https://www.amazon.com/Cheers-Monday-Surprisingly-Simple-Method/dp/1394388802
Guest Bonus: Book Giveaway 3 Copies of "Cheers to Monday"
Amy is giving away 3 copies of her new book, Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy.
You must enter the drawing by April 17th. To get this bonus and many other member benefits, become a member of The Modern Manager Podcast+ Community. ---------------------
The Modern Manager is a leadership podcast for rockstar managers who want to create a working environment where people thrive, and great work gets done.
Follow The Modern Manager on your favorite podcast platform so you won’t miss an episode!
#Leadership #TeamLeadership #WorkplaceStress #LeadershipSkills #ManagementTips #LeadershipDevelopment #BurnoutPrevention #TeamManagement #ManagerTips #FutureOfWork
More from The Modern Manager
Want to overcome resistance to change on your team? Start by noticing that the loudest pushback usually isn't the real problem. Hidden resistance often looks like nodding along in the meeting, then quietly sticking to the old way. Expert Tony Chatman explains why change threatens people's sense of identity, how to tell agreement from true buy-in, why the trusted voices on your team matter more than your title, and what AI adoption reveals about the fear of starting over. 💌 Get new episodes and one-page takeaways by email: https://www.themodernmanager.com Guest Bio
It's 4:47 on Thursday, the report still isn't in, and the story forming in your head is that they just don't care. But that story is usually wrong, and it's also the easiest one to tell because it means you don't have to look at anything you did. This episode gives you a three-question framework, person, process, promise, to find where a performance problem actually lives before you walk into a feedback conversation assuming the worst.
Some days, gratitude feels like something for people with calmer inboxes. Someone dropped the ball, you're three meetings deep, and "thank you" is the last thing on your mind. But gratitude that only shows up on easy days never shows up at all. Learn what grateful leadership really looks like, how to appreciate the team member you struggle with, why a pizza party can backfire, and the one question that reveals how each person wants to be recognized. We could all use a bit more gratitude, so this one’s for you.
Planning an agenda feels like it takes forever, so too often, we skip it or do it poorly at the last minute. But that’s often because we treat each meeting like we’re starting from scratch. Instead, what if you perfected your weekly team meeting, brainstorm session or any other type of meeting you hold regularly and then just used that same agenda structure again so meeting prep becomes fast and easy? That’s called creating a meeting portfolio. This episode breaks down exactly how to design a meeting once, so it works every single time you use it. Conversation Topics (00:00) Introduction: The Hidden Cost of Winging Your Meetings (01:06) What Is a Meeting Portfolio? (Episode Overview) (01:36) Why Most Managers Reinvent Every Meeting From Scratch (02:23) Building the Core Template: Name, Purpose, and Structure (03:57) Adding Pre-Work to Complete Your Template (05:01) Iterating Until Your Meeting Design Actually Works (05:38) Your Action Step: Build and Use Your First Template (06:44) Closing Thoughts and Recap Additional Resources ✨ Read the full transcript: 427-transcript ✨ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadershipwithmamie/ ✨ Visit my website for more: https://www.themodernmanager.com/ ✨ Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7jhYz8b16g1SsLia4EhO5w?sub_confirmation=1 Join my newsletter to get episodes and key takeaways delivered directly to your inbox: https://www.themodernmanager.com
Most of what happens in a workday, from how you open a meeting to how you respond to bad news, runs on autopilot. Habits, not decisions, are doing the heavy lifting. Behavior scientist BJ Fogg explains why willpower fails, why "bad habits" aren't really the enemy, and how one tiny action, done consistently, can quietly reshape how you see yourself as a leader, teammate, and person.