WHY are you running on empty?
Recently I've been pondering the issue of burnout for leaders.
I've always thought the key variable was quantity.
I think most of us think this way, we talk about the number of hours someone is doing in their job as the big issue in burnout.
But what if we're wrong?
I suggest this because I've gotten to know people who regularly work 60-80 hours a week who are in a healthy place and loving their work. More importantly, they're loving their lives.
Then there are those who are doing 30-40 hours a week but it's draining the life out of them. They're doing everything in their power to make changes because they're running on empty.
So what if they're running on empty because of the QUALITY not the QUANTITY of their work?
What if we're seeing so much burnout because people are doing tasks and managing projects in their workplaces that don't suit them.
They're spending time doing things that drain the life out of them.
Why are you running on empty?
Maybe it's time to stop focusing so much on how many hours you're pulling in your job and start thinking strategically about the type of work that either fills you up to overflowing or drains the life out of you.
With this in mind, I'm spending a lot of time at the moment coaching leaders by using Clifton Strengths (StrengthsFinder) and Working Genius from Patrick Lencioni's The Table Group.
By combining these two assessments, we're able to identify and unpack 9 unique points about how a person gets work done and what their top 5 strengths are.
I've been shocked to discover how many leaders don't understand what motivates them.
Can you answer in one or two sentences what motivates you and fills up your tank and what demotivates you and drains the life out of you?
If you can't - or if you can but would like to go deeper - you can book a 90 minute coaching session with me using the following so we can answer these two questions:
What empties you and drains the life out of you and how can you do LESS of this in every way every day?
What fills you up and motivates you and how can you do MORE and MORE of this in your day-to-day work and across your whole life?