Guess what? Senior executives and managers are stressed at work. No, seriously.

This is an obvious conclusion for many of us, but nevertheless the result of a nationwide survey from last month. The top three sources of stress were “deadlines (52%), interruptions (42%) and conflicting responsibilities (37%)” according to this ground-breaking research.

The last one is the only one that made my ears perk up. Conflicting responsibilities. Certainly we all have things pulling us in different directions. That’s a normal part of any job. Prioritization. But I wonder to what extent it relates to the idea of goal alignment.

If it were clear which actions were in line with overall corporate goals - which work would most drive the company forward – perhaps it would help make “conflicting responsibilities” less conflicting. Perhaps.