Exhausted? Worn down? Low reserves?
You know what your mother would say: Rest.
My own mother had lots of funny sayings. Many, I suspect, were a result of learning English from parents who spoke only Arabic, who learned a little English over a long time.
When she was especially tired, my mother would say, “I’m pooped to the gills!” No idea what that means in reality, and I’m not sure I want to. It makes me laugh though.
I digress. Why? Because I’m exhausted. Most people I speak to are exhausted. Our clients are worn down; their teams are struggling. We all need a nappy (I forget to use adult words when I’m tired, sorry.) These are hard times--just taking in the news can send our brains into overload. When we’re exhausted, leadership manifests as control, guidance as micromanaging. Our boundaries waver, our decision-making suffers.
If you’re like me, you try to compensate for all of these outgrowths of exhaustion by “just doing one more thing” or “getting the list done before I stop for the day (night).” When we’re exhausted, we lean into the transactions, because we have fewer (literal) brain cells left for the transformational. We’re “leading” levels below our capability, and our calling.
You want the people you lead, the team members in your leadership care, to treat their well-being with respect? You lead the way. When it comes to overdoing it, what you say matters little compared with what you do, what you model, how you lead.
If you truly want healthy, rested, and well team members, then embody and model those attributes as a leader. Your health, your well-being, and the ways you model self-care and investment in your own happiness will guide their practices. The people who report to you will rarely do better than you do on these essential metrics. Your job is to show them how to excel.
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Corey Jamison brings more than 30 years of experience partnering with executives and teams around the globe to drive dramatic, sustainable organizational transformation. She has worked with leaders at all levels of some of the largest brands, and offers a level of experience, acumen, partnership and courage that inspires leaders and teams toward the hard work of taking it to the next level.