How do Leaders Avoid Burnout?

Can you remember the last time you allowed your inner circle at work to reciprocate the care, you give to them to give to you?
Are you struggling to remember? If you can’t remember, be aware otherwise this is a recipe for burnout! Replenishment of energy, motivation, and spirituality comes not only internally as mentioned in my blog on when is isolation safe but externally too, from others .

UNDERSTAND THESE 4 STEPS TO AVOID BURNOUT

• Your energy levels also motivation need to remain full, and must be continually replenished, for you to function at your best
• Understand that the demands of leadership can cause leaders to become resentful as expectation, demands, of staff, company continually increase causes stress build up. Such stress often leads to rash coping strategies highlighting patterns of bad behaviour. Which can often make the problem worse?
• When leaders ‘needs’ go unrecognized and unmet leaders often become resentful.
• High work demands according to the Journal of Nursing Management (2011) have been shown to be associated with high perceptions of work family conflict which is associated with lower perception of job satisfaction and depressive symptoms.

 

HOW DO YOU LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF?

Bob Gass author of the highly successful and fastest growing Christian devotional The UCB Word for today writes: When the world you live in makes endless withdrawals you must learn to make deposits, otherwise you will end up with insufficient funds. Your cheques will start bouncing morally, emotionally and spiritually.

Now lonely leaders, solo entrepreneurs, business owners who are reading this blog may have a tendency to hide behind the busyness of their roles to avoid taking care of themselves, or perhaps they don’t know how.
Bob Gass also suggests that people generally treat leaders according to how leaders treat themselves and therefore leaders must learn to treat themselves right!

A great way to start is to have an understanding and awareness of who you are . A really good way to start is to complete a really short online questionnaire on discovering what truly gives you energy and where is your energy zapped. This self perception inventory is called a Motivational Map. The results will be emailed to you instantly and becomes an extremely valuable resource.
Leaders who understand what feeds and replenish their energy levels can surround themselves with the right people who compliment their strengths as well as their short comings. There are certain leadership styles that are prone to not taking care of themselves. An example are leaders that strive for perfection (perfection doesn’t exist) so they have a tendency to search for symbols of success and measure success by moral and ethical standards.

Also, leaders whose strategy is to continually sacrifice themselves for the business, company or organisation by being continually busy as the only way to success. Continuous withdrawals often lead to the isolated leader becoming emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained. A consequence of choosing to take care of the business, before taking care of themselves.

Andrew Kinder and others in the book Employee Wellbeing Support: A Workplace Resource Centre for Creative Leadership. Although they do not endorse such behaviour, they observed in their research on executive derailment, certain patterns in recent years have generated a perception and enthusiasm for “heroic” style leadership. Where bad behaviour, a grandiose self image and arrogance develops as a leader becomes more successful. Possibly, the result of the ‘bouncing cheques’ we mentioned above. An acceptance, that malfunctioning coping strategies and bad behaviour can get leaders to the top of their careers.

 

HOW TO AVOID ‘BURN OUT’

Although it may seem noble to sacrifice the need to take care of yourself first, over the need to take of your business, over time it is a recipe for a burn out!
Often the problems cannot be prevented by the leaders action alone and will demand an approach that involves a system thinking. This approach may prove challenging but if it can succeed it will prove liberating and trigger the changes that are necessary.
The challenge is twofold:
1. To produce a paradigm shift (a way thinking, behaviour)
2. Ensure that the shift in thinking and behaviour produces results in terms of outcomes for better wellbeing.

How do leaders avoid burn out and achieve company goals? GET A COACH someone who will focus on your personal development, share ideas and fears confidentially. We provide the much needed structure and accountability necessary while growing your company. Book Now for an discovery Session where we will discover whether what we have is what you need

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“You don’t have to feel alone as an entrepreneur, you just have to be willing to ask others for help” Phoebe Fung