Can Stress Be Good for Your Career?

In the new book The Right Fight: How Great Leaders Use Healthy Conflict to Drive Performance, Innovation, and Value, authors Saj-Nicole Joni and Damon Beyer state that contrary to popular belief, happy employees aren't necessarily the most driven or best employees, and that tension, channeled properly, can create breakthrough performance. Joni and Beyer cite a range of case studies from Campbell Soup, GE, Dove and Microsoft to demonstrate how a certain amount of struggle and stress energizes organizations and individuals.

Looking for a job, or even trying to keep one in this uncertain economy can also put a great deal of stress on individuals, but learning how to direct it in productive ways may actually improve your results.