Women’s Leadership: Managing Burnout and Work-Life Demands
One of the biggest issues that I’ve seen in executive coaching and women’s leadership that has rippled throughout every industry over the past few years is burnout. The combination of adjusting to a new world of work that began at the start of the pandemic—and coordinating escalated personal responsibilities within the hybrid work environment—has left many leaders and executives frazzled and fried.
We’ve seen as well in SHAMBAUGH’s women’s leadership program, Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL) Program and our eWILL coaching and development program, that women in leadership have taken on a disproportionate share of work-life demands. These have only continued to ratchet up as leaders and employees find their footing, whether working in the office or remotely.
In order to lead and thrive in a hybrid workplace, it’s critical for leaders and leadership to know how to effectively manage burnout and work-life demands, particularly as they relate to a distributed and often virtual workforce. Below are some methods that leaders can leverage for inclusive leadership and gender equality. We use these at SHAMBAUGH in our executive programs and women’s leadership training to coach women in leadership on how to manage burnout for themselves and their employees from a hybrid setting:
Discourage and Avoid Overconnectivity
Staying virtually tethered to the office around the clock is a surefire recipe for burnout, both for managers and teams—yet in a hybrid setting, this is an easy trap to fall into, since it’s less likely you’ll be in the same place at the same time as your colleagues and direct reports. Leaders should practice what they preach, and be sure they’re preaching moderation. If you’re replying to emails or texting your team at odd hours, others will feel you expect this of them too. Encourage your team to get enough sleep, eat healthy balanced food rather than skipping meals, and carve out time even on busy workdays for exercise, mindfulness, and reflection. Establish your own boundaries for downtime and stick to them—let others do the same, and you’ll all start the day recharged rather than depleted.
Create a Fearless Culture
The emotional states of stress, fear, and anxiety can lead to physical and mental health problems, including burnout, if they become chronic. To prevent this, leaders should avoid leading through fear and encourage people to share their honest opinions rather than rewarding “yes” men and women who parrot what you want to hear. Avoid micromanaging and prioritize self-care for yourself and your team. To keep fear at bay, improve your emotional resilience, which is your ability as a leader to bounce back from disappointment, failure, and situations that you lack control over.
Be Intentional in Team Engagement
As a leader, you can help your team avoid unnecessary stress by providing your team with clarity around your key goals and being mindful of how your decisions will impact others. Before determining assignments, make sure they really create value and support something bigger that has the potential for a significant positive impact. As part of this process, take the time to listen to people, exploring their “true north” so that you can understand their personal and professional needs and priorities, which likely have changed over the last few years. This can be more challenging to orchestrate in a hybrid environment, so take the extra time needed to lay this important groundwork to facilitate team engagement that can help others avoid burnout.
In my next post, I’ll provide actionable strategies on how executives can lead more strategically. If you or your team have experiences with this topic or advice that you’d like to share about it, please reach out to me at info@shambaughleadership.com.
Contact Rebecca at info@shambaughleadership.com or link to SHAMBAUGH’s offerings to learn more about our Coaching and Development Programs for Women, including Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL) Program and eWill Virtual Coaching and Development Program. I’d be happy to speak at your company on how women can champion their life/career and lean into their highest leadership.
Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review and featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report. She is author of the best-selling books It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor and Make Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.
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