The expert talked about ways to keep yourself in the world of high standards in business

High standards help businesses grow, but for some managers they imperceptibly turn into perfectionism. On November 10, business psychologist and executive coach Victoria Kharitonova told Izvestia about how managers deal with perfectionism.

According to the expert, despite the external "ideal" of a perfectionist leader, this image begins to feel like an additional responsibility.

"To the outside world, a perfectionist leader looks like an ideal. <...> But inside it feels different, because any flaw seems like a total failure. Hence hypercontrol, micromanagement, eternal edits to a conditional ideal, endless rechecks," Kharitonova explained.

According to research by the American Sage Journals company, which publishes scientific literature, perfectionism has different sides. On the one hand, a person strives for high results. On the other hand, perfectionism affects emotional burnout and decreased efficiency. In addition, it is noted that the stronger the commitment of the ideal, the higher the exhaustion and cynicism, and the worse the engagement.

The business psychologist emphasized that the high bar could turn against us. Firstly, this is reflected in the rearrangement of values.

"When self-worth is equal to the last report, the psyche disables the rest mode. Any pause seems dangerous. A person loses their understanding of "why I'm doing this," and begins to live from tick to tick," the specialist explained.

Also, while raising the bar, a person's field of attention narrows, which is why the manager ceases to see dynamics, people and risks, and the team begins to read this as distrust and carefully step back.

According to the psychologist, with perfectionism, the head stops delegating this or that job, being led by the desire to "do the best of everyone." In addition to burnout, such a person can consolidate the team's dependence on him.

In addition, with inadequately raised standards, processes become an end in themselves.

"In this regard, there is fatigue from endless improvement, initiatives freeze, decisions are made more slowly," the expert emphasized.

Also, a perfectionist, according to the coach, postpones life until the "best moment."

"But it still doesn't come, and the body responds to chronic stress with insomnia, head fog, and pain for no reason," Kharitonova added.

According to the business psychologist, in order to preserve oneself and high results, one should not "go to extremes" in the form of perfectionism or letting go of control. It is important to set one or another "ideal price" without paying more for inflated standards.

"Write down what perfectionism deprives you of: sleep, time for relationships, attention to important people, etc. A real list of losses helps you see why 'just a little more pressure' is no longer an option," the coach recommended.

The manager also needs to separate the concepts of "high standards" and "zero errors". This will help you figure out where the risk of error is acceptable and where it is not, which will allow you to regain control of the situation.

In addition to evaluation, the supervisor should shift the focus from evaluation to the process.

"Enter metrics of effort, not just results: the number of hypotheses tested, the quality of feedback, and the speed of iterations. This reduces the internal pressure of perfectionism and improves the team's training," Kharitonova said.

A business psychologist calls for delegating not only assignments, but also results, as well as making rest a part of responsibility. This will allow you to maintain mental clarity, relieve anxiety, be adequate and efficient.

The expert also draws attention to the need to work with a specialist when overloaded with work.

"If you regularly wake up in the middle of the night with thoughts of work, transfer irritation to your loved ones, cannot complete tasks without a dozen extra laps and feel that life has narrowed to "keep the bar", this is a reason to seek professional support to regain control," the coach advised.

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