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Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done – The Axiom Award Winner for Leadership and Management Excellence
Axiom Award Bronze Medalist for Leadership Executive coaches and #1 bestselling authors of All In and The Carrot Principle offer insight and advice in this practical eight-step guide both managers and employees can use to reduce work anxiety in the office and at home.
Have you ever dreaded Sunday night, got a pit in your stomach on the way to work, or had your heartbeat speed up at the sound of your boss’s voice? If so, you may have had anxiety at work. In this empathetic and wise guide, executive coaches and gurus of gratitude Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton explore the causes of workplace stress and anxiety and the management practices that have proven successful in reducing tension and cultivating calm. If you’re a manager, how do you keep up with demands while creating a stress-free work atmosphere? How can you spot rising anxiety levels in your people? If your employees feel overwhelmed or worried about the future, what can you do to ease their concerns? How do you engage in productive conversations about emotions in uncertain times? Anxiety at Work builds on the authors’ vast knowledge and experience working with the leadership teams of some of the world’s most successful organizations to offer effective strategies that can make any workplace better, helping supervisors and their In today’s volatile, fast-paced, and ever-changing global climate, organizations and their employees are under more pressure than ever to perform. Anxiety at Work shows how everyone at all levels can work together to build an environment that fosters camaraderie, productivity, and calm.
Have you ever dreaded Sunday night, got a pit in your stomach on the way to work, or had your heartbeat speed up at the sound of your boss’s voice? If so, you may have had anxiety at work. In this empathetic and wise guide, executive coaches and gurus of gratitude Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton explore the causes of workplace stress and anxiety and the management practices that have proven successful in reducing tension and cultivating calm. If you’re a manager, how do you keep up with demands while creating a stress-free work atmosphere? How can you spot rising anxiety levels in your people? If your employees feel overwhelmed or worried about the future, what can you do to ease their concerns? How do you engage in productive conversations about emotions in uncertain times? Anxiety at Work builds on the authors’ vast knowledge and experience working with the leadership teams of some of the world’s most successful organizations to offer effective strategies that can make any workplace better, helping supervisors and their In today’s volatile, fast-paced, and ever-changing global climate, organizations and their employees are under more pressure than ever to perform. Anxiety at Work shows how everyone at all levels can work together to build an environment that fosters camaraderie, productivity, and calm.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 4, 2021
60 people are currently reading
1468 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 6, 2023
Not groundbreaking, but as someone with workplace anxiety, it was validating to read. This book covers some good general management skills that are more applicable in our current work pace and it could provide insight for non-managers in what they might ask for from their managers to feel more secure.
I would have liked a little more science or research - a better understanding of anxiety or prevalence of some of these issues and research being done in the field. The one stat that was used and really stuck out to me is that 90% of people are reporting feeling stressed to the point of being burned out. That’s clearly not just an organizational issue but a systemic issue at that point - so understanding the context of capitalism in the US and questioning that system would have been nice.
I know a lot of the authors working experience comes from large organizations that are able to hire their brand of consultants, but it would have also been helpful to call out a few smaller organizations and how they manage this stress as well.
July 23, 2024
I liked this more than I thought I would. Compared to most books of the type this was really, really well written so hats off to the authors.
I like how this didn't just focus on individuals, but spent some time talking about a manager's role in setting the expectations and creating a healthy work environment. Too many books would have spent the time focusing on the individual rather than the leaders in the organization when discussing these things.
I like how this didn't just focus on individuals, but spent some time talking about a manager's role in setting the expectations and creating a healthy work environment. Too many books would have spent the time focusing on the individual rather than the leaders in the organization when discussing these things.
Read
October 6, 2024DNF, but that's because I thought this was going to be more geared towards a general employee/audience. Instead, it is focused on a manager/leadership position. That's not to say other positions wouldn't benefit from the book or that the content wasn't good; I think that manager/leadership positions would benefit highly from reading this. I just did not realize the focus was different than what I thought.
December 25, 2025
Despite taking a long time to finish this book, I honestly don’t think I have much negative to say about it so I rounded up my 4.7 to 5*
I enjoyed the examples, and I liked their summaries. No other notes except “dis gewd”.
Rarely have I read that kind of conclusion in a non-fiction book, and I have always loved the mental health symbol of (;) so that probably helped as a deciding factor for my rating.
I enjoyed the examples, and I liked their summaries. No other notes except “dis gewd”.
Rarely have I read that kind of conclusion in a non-fiction book, and I have always loved the mental health symbol of (;) so that probably helped as a deciding factor for my rating.
January 14, 2022
Great book that found me at the right time. My small non profit is currently doing culture work and we don't have a lot of experience or expertise. Anxiety at Work is written for for-profit and large organizations but I was able to turn the concepts to current projects and discussions at my offices. The chapters on inclusion and gratitude were especially helpful to find some words I didn't have before.
Truly appreciated breaking down diversity work into racial/gender/etc identity is okay for people to have but racial/gender/etc oppression is not acceptable. That was one of the simplest explanations of being an ally yet that I've found.
The illustrative examples from business leaders were well placed with concepts.
The book includes some coaching and counseling strategies that I'm incorporating into my next coaching.
There's probably a lot that a leader already knows in this book but it's a great resource to check skills and attitudes against.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is anxiety in the workplace and am glad we're acknowledging it. I dont agree with every example used in the book (company retreat-style events and such wouldn't work as described in the book at my little org) but companies do need to take a look at their culture and start laying down even small changes that address workplace anxiety. Even knocking out a source of small anxiety is still getting rid of anxiety.
Worth the read and I'm recommending to my direct reports when the conversation turns to career trajectory.
Truly appreciated breaking down diversity work into racial/gender/etc identity is okay for people to have but racial/gender/etc oppression is not acceptable. That was one of the simplest explanations of being an ally yet that I've found.
The illustrative examples from business leaders were well placed with concepts.
The book includes some coaching and counseling strategies that I'm incorporating into my next coaching.
There's probably a lot that a leader already knows in this book but it's a great resource to check skills and attitudes against.
I agree wholeheartedly that there is anxiety in the workplace and am glad we're acknowledging it. I dont agree with every example used in the book (company retreat-style events and such wouldn't work as described in the book at my little org) but companies do need to take a look at their culture and start laying down even small changes that address workplace anxiety. Even knocking out a source of small anxiety is still getting rid of anxiety.
Worth the read and I'm recommending to my direct reports when the conversation turns to career trajectory.
December 8, 2021
The key message :
New generations of workers are facing challenges that their parents’ generation didn’t; the labor market has rarely been as insecure and tumultuous as it is right now. This brave new world of work has left many employees feeling uncertain, restless, and racked with anxiety. However, with a little empathy, employers can ease this anxiety and help younger workers feel that they’re valued and on the right track to career success.
New generations of workers are facing challenges that their parents’ generation didn’t; the labor market has rarely been as insecure and tumultuous as it is right now. This brave new world of work has left many employees feeling uncertain, restless, and racked with anxiety. However, with a little empathy, employers can ease this anxiety and help younger workers feel that they’re valued and on the right track to career success.
June 5, 2025
This book offers practical strategies for leaders to recognize and reduce workplace anxiety while building a culture of support, communication, and growth. At its heart is the idea that leadership is about making others better because of your presence—and ensuring that impact lasts in your absence.
Key Strategies:
1. Counter Negative Thinking
Encourage employees to challenge negative self-talk with rational, proactive thoughts. Help them focus on what’s going well and stay present by concentrating on the task at hand.
2. Meeting Uncertainty Head-On
Communicate openly and frequently—even when you don’t have all the answers.
Be transparent about uncertainty.
Clarify expectations and help the team focus on what they can control.
3. Managing Overload
Set clear, realistic goals.
Distribute work fairly and rotate responsibilities to avoid burnout.
Do regular check-ins to spot issues early: “If there’s a problem and you tell me, it’s our problem. If you don’t, it’s your problem.” (p. 85)
Help the team prioritize tasks and minimize distractions (use OOO messages, block time).
Encourage—and model—taking time off and recharging.
4. Supporting Growth
Coach employees on career paths and skill development.
Tailor opportunities to individual strengths and interests.
Ask reflective questions:
What do you look forward to doing?
What energizes or frustrates you?
What are you curious about exploring?
5. Expressing Gratitude
Regular thank-yous and recognition go a long way
Gratitude builds trust and fuels what the authors call the “Bank of Engagement.”
This is an actionable guide for any leader looking to better support their team’s mental health and performance—especially in uncertain or high-pressure environments.
Key Strategies:
1. Counter Negative Thinking
Encourage employees to challenge negative self-talk with rational, proactive thoughts. Help them focus on what’s going well and stay present by concentrating on the task at hand.
2. Meeting Uncertainty Head-On
Communicate openly and frequently—even when you don’t have all the answers.
Be transparent about uncertainty.
Clarify expectations and help the team focus on what they can control.
3. Managing Overload
Set clear, realistic goals.
Distribute work fairly and rotate responsibilities to avoid burnout.
Do regular check-ins to spot issues early: “If there’s a problem and you tell me, it’s our problem. If you don’t, it’s your problem.” (p. 85)
Help the team prioritize tasks and minimize distractions (use OOO messages, block time).
Encourage—and model—taking time off and recharging.
4. Supporting Growth
Coach employees on career paths and skill development.
Tailor opportunities to individual strengths and interests.
Ask reflective questions:
What do you look forward to doing?
What energizes or frustrates you?
What are you curious about exploring?
5. Expressing Gratitude
Regular thank-yous and recognition go a long way
Gratitude builds trust and fuels what the authors call the “Bank of Engagement.”
This is an actionable guide for any leader looking to better support their team’s mental health and performance—especially in uncertain or high-pressure environments.
September 14, 2021
I'm giving this book 4 stars.
Pros:
- some really great nuggets and insight to relationships. Very easy to take this book personally and apply certain aspects if you take it seriously through reflection or relating it to personal situations. Lessons within are easily extrapolated to other scenarios - such as relationsips to clients rather than teams.
- easy to read and understand
- very good at capturing nuance in how teams work (or don't work) together
Cons:
- The book isn't overly long, but there is quite a bit of storytelling. This may be a pro for some, but when it comes to personal/career development I prefer not to mine the wisdom. Each chapter is summarized but some nuggets are buried in the pages. To be fair, what one finds valuable is deeply personal so intermittent stories/examples are to some degree necessary.
- It's not wholly obvious from the title or summary that this book is meant for leadership. Much can be gleaned even from the individual contributor level, but this made large swathes of the book unappealing or unrelatable to me, personally.
Pros:
- some really great nuggets and insight to relationships. Very easy to take this book personally and apply certain aspects if you take it seriously through reflection or relating it to personal situations. Lessons within are easily extrapolated to other scenarios - such as relationsips to clients rather than teams.
- easy to read and understand
- very good at capturing nuance in how teams work (or don't work) together
Cons:
- The book isn't overly long, but there is quite a bit of storytelling. This may be a pro for some, but when it comes to personal/career development I prefer not to mine the wisdom. Each chapter is summarized but some nuggets are buried in the pages. To be fair, what one finds valuable is deeply personal so intermittent stories/examples are to some degree necessary.
- It's not wholly obvious from the title or summary that this book is meant for leadership. Much can be gleaned even from the individual contributor level, but this made large swathes of the book unappealing or unrelatable to me, personally.
July 10, 2021
“The lesson we learned from this, that we have since passed along to the leaders we work with, is to take much more time than in the past to be very clear on your appreciation on your employees’ strengths.”
How to quell anxiety at work? This book gives suggestions to managers so that we can help employees who may be feeling anxious, during a time when anxiety is through the roof nationwide.
“You can’t calm the storm so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
One of the stories in the book that really hit me was that of a perfectionist vocalist who let anxiety and the pursuit of flawnessless push her to decay her voice decades before it should. Her striving shortened her career. This is an awful case study of how inept management (in this case starting with a pushy mom) can destroy careers.
I appreciated the resilience and bonding suggestions at the tail end of the primer on dealing with anxiety at work.
4.5 ⭐️s.
How to quell anxiety at work? This book gives suggestions to managers so that we can help employees who may be feeling anxious, during a time when anxiety is through the roof nationwide.
“You can’t calm the storm so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
One of the stories in the book that really hit me was that of a perfectionist vocalist who let anxiety and the pursuit of flawnessless push her to decay her voice decades before it should. Her striving shortened her career. This is an awful case study of how inept management (in this case starting with a pushy mom) can destroy careers.
I appreciated the resilience and bonding suggestions at the tail end of the primer on dealing with anxiety at work.
4.5 ⭐️s.
May 14, 2023
The idea that millennial workers are facing challenges that are any different or harder than Gen X when we entered the workforce is total BS. I had to output 5x more work products than someone in China or Mexico or my job was going over to them. This isn’t new. You have to learn new skills and choose a career that is more valuable and harder to outsource. Instead of giving valuable advice like that the book focused on the problems and explaining why there’s more stress now.
The last half of the book had some good suggestions but they were all for managers. I was expecting more useful suggestions for workers themselves. Our company already has these best practices in place, so that’s encouraging. I would say if you’re interviewing with a company and they don’t have a visibly good culture you shouldn’t take the job. Toxic culture is something to avoid at all costs
The last half of the book had some good suggestions but they were all for managers. I was expecting more useful suggestions for workers themselves. Our company already has these best practices in place, so that’s encouraging. I would say if you’re interviewing with a company and they don’t have a visibly good culture you shouldn’t take the job. Toxic culture is something to avoid at all costs
September 3, 2021
Even before a pandemic added to our anxieties on every possible level, there was already a serious problem with anxiety at work. While I’m not glad the problem has become more pervasive, I am very glad it is now more commonly discussed. And doubly glad there are great resources to help us understand and overcome anxiety at work.
One of those resources is the new book by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done.
Read more: https://blog.kevineikenberry.com/communication-interpersonal-skills/anxiety-at-work/
One of those resources is the new book by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done.
Read more: https://blog.kevineikenberry.com/communication-interpersonal-skills/anxiety-at-work/
February 22, 2022
Gostick and Elton's latest book about the workplace really gets to the heart of the matter - people. It's not just colleagues of different ages and genders who need tips about getting along better but people who place too much stress on themselves to be perfectionists and don't want to let the team down also set overly high expectations on themselves and can set themselves and their teammates up for failure. Anxiety at Work gives strategies that really make it possible to thrive in a workplace - even if it is virtual and also knowing when to step back and take care of oneself mentally.
Excellent read for anyone who doesn't always get along with their colleagues or doesn't have a sense of belonging in their current workplace.
Excellent read for anyone who doesn't always get along with their colleagues or doesn't have a sense of belonging in their current workplace.
January 20, 2022
Super interesting book, easy to read. I chose by mistake, thinking that was addressed to inviduals (I did not pay attention to the subtitle) and it was still a great surprise, interesting.
If you are leader, you want to read this.
Cons: it stands that managers really want to do the best, it dos not give much adviae on how to address the situation when the managers are doing all the things that should not be done, deliberately.
I guess those shouldn't be managers and they wouldn't be reading this book.
If you are leader, you want to read this.
Cons: it stands that managers really want to do the best, it dos not give much adviae on how to address the situation when the managers are doing all the things that should not be done, deliberately.
I guess those shouldn't be managers and they wouldn't be reading this book.
February 6, 2022
The book reads like a series of Harvard Business Review articles, covering inclusion, gratitude, working remotely, and other topics that cause anxiety at work. I appreciated the use of "methods" with each chapter, which helped make it very practical. While the book is geared towards addressing staff anxiety, it covers a lot of good management practices and is a good reference resource. The value was in the anecdotes of specific approaches that managers have taken to put into practice the often common-sense approaches.
January 8, 2023
If you have no idea that employee happiness and morale leads to success and productivity for your business/team, then you should read this book. Otherwise, this information is everything you know already. As a Millennial that manages Gen Z, I thought this book was not worth my time because it's basic knowledge and I've been through a lot of leadership training. However, there might be some people out there that haven't heard of ways to deal with anxiety and be an understanding and empathetic leader. If that's you, maybe you should pick it up.
July 26, 2023
Although I do make myself read nonfiction, mainly for work purposes.as well, as personal growth, I usually find them quite boring and I’m constantly looking to see what Chapter I’m on. In this book, it was not the case. I don’t believe that any of it was necessarily groundbreaking, but putting it all together in one short book was very helpful. It also felt like some thing that I could read multiple times as a reminder if I’m having a hard time at work or I’m dealing with an employee or a coworker that is.
August 24, 2021
A must read for leaders
This books gives a impressive vision of the difficulties people have in their workplace an how to overcome the difficulties, both as a leader and as a person. The anxiety problems have greatly increased by the use of technology. Working hours are not respected, working from home increases anxiety if not dealt with it. This book will make you a much better boss, or if you are the victim, it will help you deal with the new stress.
This books gives a impressive vision of the difficulties people have in their workplace an how to overcome the difficulties, both as a leader and as a person. The anxiety problems have greatly increased by the use of technology. Working hours are not respected, working from home increases anxiety if not dealt with it. This book will make you a much better boss, or if you are the victim, it will help you deal with the new stress.
November 23, 2021
It highlights the cause, issue and remedy to Gen Z feeling screwed over by businesses who are hiring them as contractors, working them too hard and allowing cliques and politics to form.
Recommends not doing that.
Makes sense. As a decent manager, I didn't see this as something that needs spelling out but if you didn't realise that morale = productivity then you need this book.
* Listened via Blinkist at 2x
Recommends not doing that.
Makes sense. As a decent manager, I didn't see this as something that needs spelling out but if you didn't realise that morale = productivity then you need this book.
* Listened via Blinkist at 2x
July 23, 2021
I highly recommend this book to anyone! Gostick and Elton do a great job explaining the sources of workplace anxiety and ways to minimize anxiety through eight strategies for dealing with it and overcoming it, thereby enabling us to enhance our performance, our productivity, and our potential.
November 22, 2021
This book addresses a critical problem but it doesn’t really have newer insights
December 3, 2021
One for every leaders tool kit.
December 5, 2021
Some the of the concepts were good and some left me scratching my head
May 14, 2022
I really enjoyed this book! It provided a lot of great ideas about how managers can help employees experiencing anxiety in the workplace. Organized well and easy to read.
Want to read
February 6, 2023#MyBooks
July 19, 2023
This was a good book with some interesting things to think about, I just read it at the wrong part of my career. Would have been more useful about 10-20 years ago.
April 2, 2024
Intended for managers, but this is a solid read for anyone.
April 29, 2024
I pretty much highlighted the entire book. If you work in corporate culture and experience work-place anxiety, this book is for you!
October 4, 2024
Insightful book for leaders!
July 12, 2025
es un libro que me gusto me gusto mucho y si me encanto lo que prendi
August 15, 2024
i hate to rate it so low but honestly not very informative and most of the knowledge seemed like common sense.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews