Gostick and Elton open with data showing workplace anxiety has risen sharply, driven by always-on technology, job insecurity, and blurred work-life boundaries.

Why this belongs on leaders' agendas, not just HR's:

• Anxiety directly degrades focus, decision quality, and collaboration
• Left unaddressed, it compounds into burnout and turnover
• Managers, not wellness programs, set the emotional tone that determines whether anxiety escalates or eases

The book's core claim: how a manager behaves under their own stress cascades directly down to their team's baseline anxiety level.