One of the key observations from my recent leadership coaching engagements is the increase in my usage of Life Balance tool with leaders. This informs me 1. That Burnout is indeed an important issue that cannot be ignored , especially in quota driven sales teams. 2. Life Balance is going to a critical component of your talent development strategy.
The manager or leader is the fulcrum for any team, and In the context of burnout, We have made a few observations:
I want you to listen to some the observations I am going to share and see where you stand
- Leaders who are busy running after numbers and agenda, and living in a state of denial about self and team burnout. They are primarily isolating themselves from facing the reality and need to act. They live in a state of denial.
- Leaders who recognize the issues and yet choose to believe that it will not affect their teams. These leaders are irrationally optimistic.
- And then there are leaders and managers who recognize the need but do only tick box service like saying it is important to have family time or me time, yet load their team with work deliverables even during the weekends.
- And then there are leaders and managers, who recognize the need and accept the fact that they need to do something, yet they lack emotional connect with their people. They are getting it intellectually, but do not know how to showcase empathy.
- And then there are managers and leaders, who recognize the need and believe that they need to change their expectations, reframe their goals and also emotionally support their teams to handle / manage and resolve burnout issues. These managers could still be reactive to addressing issues.
- One step further, there are a few managers and leaders, who are intuitive to change and inspirational – that their teams are charged to adopt, adapt and excel.
As a sales leader/ manager first become aware of your lenses towards addressing the burnout issue before you get to reframe or solve it.
Then Understand where and what you need to improve in your management style, to create thriving teams.
How can you change:
- Build some healthy practices that can help you connect deeper with yourself
- Build some rituals where by you gain me time for yourselves to understand and centre yourself to handle these complex situations
- Do not ignore the basics – invest in understanding psychology and people, as the unchanging components of your future leadership landscape