by Ron Perry

Certain employees ought to be required to wear a label that says, “Warning: Contents under Pressure.” Nearly every manager has applied pressure on the job  and gotten a reaction similar to a bottle of soda exploding. When that response occurs, one of two things often happens. Either the manager becomes gun-shy and afraid of ever applying pressure again, or he gives an explosive reply himself and adds pressure to an already pressurized situation. In order for managers to be able to balance applying the right amount of pressure to employees and responding correctly to their reactions, we must have a solid, biblical understanding of pressure.

First, we must remember that pressure can be a good thing if it is for the good of the individual. God is our example for knowing how and when to apply that kind of pressure—pressure that brings about change in the lives of others. His chief agent is the Holy Spirit, without which nobody would ever realize his need for a Savior. What Christian has not found himself under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and been brought to a place of decision because of His pressure? James 1:2-4 says that we should rejoice at the pressure God brings into our lives; it enables us to become what God wants us to be and is for our good. Unfortunately, managers often apply pressure in order to see a job completed, not for the good of our employee.

Second, we must know how much pressure to apply to a person. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that God, the master manager of pressure, never gives us more than we can bear; He always gives the perfect amount. Employees don’t come with pressure indicators or warning labels, so how do we humans know how to give the right amount of pressure?

If we have our employees’ good in mind, we will consider the agents of pressure (i.e., the Holy Spirit, a husband or wife, or assignments at work) that may already be at work in an individual, outside the workplace. In other words, we need to keep a ministry mind-set while being a manager. We should not be afraid to ask personal questions in order to get to know them better and find out what’s really going on in their lives. Knowing, then, the pressures already going on in a person’s life ought to affect how much pressure we apply at work. For instance, if I know that one of my employees had a tremendously stressful weekend, I may postpone a pressure-causing meeting with him until later in the week. Notice that I’m not removing the pressure, just waiting for the right time to apply it. Our knowledge of pressures outside work may allow us to use the pressure we’re applying to help this person in another area of his life.

But then, how do we know if we’re about to apply too much pressure? Remember three things. First, a little pain is not a bad thing. Everyone who exercises regularly knows that there will always be a certain amount of stretching and pain in order to stay in shape. The same is true in the lives of individuals: the pain of the pressure keeps people growing, improving, and learning. The answer is never to remove all pressure. We should always be tracking the growth of our staff to see who needs new pressure or pressure in a different area to keep them growing. Their growth is the reward of the manager who applies a little pain in the process.

Second, we must remember that each point of pressure must be applied by someone with an eternal perspective. In other words, we’re not trying to
quickly solve all of our employee’s problems or bring him to a place of perfection all at once. The weightlifter who now bench presses 300 pounds did not start with 300 pounds: he worked with smaller amounts of weight and added pound by pound as he grew stronger. We must continue to add pressure to our employees but not all at once.

Third, we must make it as easy as possible for our employees to let us know in the right way that they are under pressure. We should keep an open-door policy, make routine trips through their job areas to give them the opportunity to flag us down and let us know what is going on, ask them questions on a routine basis, and ask others that work with them how they are doing. We must be looking for the other areas of pressure in their lives and keeping good track of them. In short, in order for us to manage pressure correctly, we must be more concerned with helping our employees grow spiritually than we are with getting a job done.