Carefully I walk them through my three part program to deal with burnout.

1. Resolution – Deal with their immediate situation to reduce some of the stress so they can think straight and design a game plan for moving forward.
2. Transition – Find and adopt new strategies for the days to come. You can’t very well solve problems by continuing to do the same things over and over. And finally …
3. Continuity – Make sure the client has made transitions to new ways of thinking and behaving AND that those new strategies have taken root and become the norm.

What do clients get by walking through this simple but profoundly changing step by step process? I’d like to suggest some of the following as reported benefits of dealing with burnout that I have heard. I don’t need to make much comment on them. They are fairly self-explanatory. And they are benefits that everyone experiencing this significantly painful time in their lives would like to have. Here are just a few.

Physical Realm

• Able to start exercising again
• Back aches stop
• Weekly trips to chiropractor stop
• Panic attacks reduce to zero over time
• Get to sleep easier
• Get a better sleep – waking up more relaxed
• Have more physical energy
• Sporadic and strange aches and pains drastically decrease
• Skin irritations stop

Time Realm

• Feel like they get weekends back
• Feel like they get weeknights back
• They once again have choice about what they want to do
• More time to work on projects they care about

Relationship Realm

• More positive relationships begin showing up
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their spouse – totally present again
• Their mind isn’t preoccupied when with their children – totally present again
• Time to enjoy good friends once again

Everyday Living Realm

• Feel more relaxed
• Able to enjoy a hobby if they have one
• Made some long-needed and healthy decisions
• Brought their life into line with the truths they believed
• Discovered or made more personal space – some time to recharge

Opportunity Realm

• Dreaming about possibilities again
• Got to take what they are learning and help others
• Regained the excitement of God opening up new doors

Emotional Realm

• More contentment with their circumstances
• Brighter outlook on life
• Feel like their emotional energy was being renewed
• Sense of regaining control
• Relief from the pressure of worry

Spiritual Realm

• Created the time to connect with God in prayer and the Word once again
• Began to see people (often the source of burnout) through God’s eyes
• Once again connected with God’s people in healthy and enriching relationships
• Developed a core of people who prayed for them daily
• Allowed space for God to work in grace

I think you would agree with me that these benefits of dealing with burnout were worth reaching for. I want to encourage you. Please take the fourth step in my Beat Burnout Plan … Prevention. Prevent the slippery slide into the ways of thinking and behaving that can lead to burnout in the first place. Pursue health and personal and professional effectiveness. Be proactive in the first place and you will reap the benefits that so many leaders, executives and professionals long for this very day.

Some Helpful Resources

Take my Beat Burnout Assessment.

Get and use a copy of my Guide, Beating Burnout, Where to Start.

Participate in a Beat Burnout Call.

Call me directly to discuss and get coaching around your situation.

For the Love of Haiti

Armchair quarterbacks try to come up with the answers for how to make things work in the rescue efforts in Haiti, following the earthquake. “Why don’t they just…” is often heard wherever people gather. It is all said in an effort to try to find solutions for the daily images of pain and suffering we see broadcast by the media. We are a nation that wants to help. But without knowledge of the culture and the way it functions, our hands are tied and there are bottlenecks preventing or slowing down help getting to the people its intended for.

It is difficult to understand why the help Haiti needs is not readily available in their country already…or why they can’t just google Amazon and have it delivered right to their door.

Even in the best of times, Haiti does not have the resources that we have learned to take for granted. Could it be that at least some of the problems come from confusion caused from trying to “help” Haiti through the filter of our own North American cultural mindset and habits? If that were indeed true, and I believe that it is, what can we do?

A Haitian doctor expressed sincere gratefulness on a news segment, but he then said, “But, this is our country. Don’t tell us what we have to do.” He is a doctor. An educated man. Are you wondering why he said that?

I have been a missionary to Haiti. Was it easy? NO!  Not at all. It was indeed a great culture shock. I was, however, fascinated with their culture and with the strength of the people. My own faith seemed puny compared to the faith of the Christian Haitians I came to know and love. I was grateful for their patient perseverance as they taught me how to survive in their land. The nights were eerie with the sounds of the voodoo drums and the dogs howling in response to the evil that was being called forth. It is a place where faith and character are stretched.

So following this earthquake disaster, what can we do to help the people of Haiti the way they want to be helped?

Before anything, we must pray. Pray for wisdom, for cultural understanding, for a peaceful spirit, and a kind heart. Pray for humility. Then, before you dive in:

1.    Ask them. Then listen and say it back to be sure you really understand. This is basic to any relationship. Ask what they want. Ask what they need. Ask how soon they need it. Ask what part of it they want you to do. Ask if they have ideas how it can be provided in a way that would be helpful to them…maybe by providing work for them or by providing income for their country. Remember that we don’t know what we don’t know. And they can tell us what we don’t know.

2.    Ask about cultural sensitivities. In our zest to meet the immediate needs, we don’t want our help to be perceived as interference, and we want it to be helpful long term, so cultural awareness is a necessity. We mustn’t think we already know. The why is an important aspect that is sometimes overlooked. No matter what previous experience you have had with disasters, all new disasters are unique. Go with fresh eyes and open ears.

3.    Listen to them. They had an earthquake. They have great need. Some have never been poor. They have been among the elite and they don’t know how to cope. And many others have been poor for a very long time. This earthquake has compounded their problems, but it does not mean that they should have to sacrifice dignity and honor. All people are empowered and excel when they are treated with respect. We have two ears and one mouth. Perhaps the Creator wanted us to listen with a non-judgmental heart to those in need, twice as much as we speak.

4.    Pray for the ongoing, ever-changing wisdom that is needed. It’s all about being the hands and feet of Jesus. If we keep asking Him, “What would YOU do, Jesus? Give me YOUR heart,” He will answer with a smile!

Pam Taylor is a freelance writer, Biblical lay counselor and life coach. Her passion is to help others discover their God-given strengths and invest them fully for His Glory. A former missionary in third world countries and a homeschooling mom, she understands the hidden desires of a woman called into the service of her Lord.     You can reach her at  www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

From time to time I am asked to speak to professional groups from the scriptures. Sometimes an entire audience will be made up of leaders who may be spending their day on topics of best practice and professional improvement.

The primary purpose of God’s Word is not to serve as a textbook to teach us about leadership and management. There is a wealth to be learned from the scriptures on those topics, to be sure and I’m happy to teach about it.

The primary purpose of God’s Word is to teach us God’s heart about relationship. God wants an intimate and growing relationship with people, including owners, entrepreneurs, executives and leaders. In giving his Son on the cross, God paid an unimaginable price to have you and me be in a right, intimate and growing relationship with Him. He wants our heart, not our professional curiosity.

If God has our heart, He can influence the way we manage people, advance vision and carry out our own personal work.  His transformative work challenges and changes our attitudes.

Out of understanding how valuable we are to God and how much he loves us and desires to form us and fellowship with us flow all sorts of implications for leaders and leadership.

You don’t have to wait until our paths intersect to hear me speaking about it. Seriously … crack open your own Bible and get reading. But if you haven’t done it for awhile, don’t first go looking for leadership principles. Go looking for relationship. It’s there you will find the heart of God.

Perceptively they note that,  contrary to popular perception, your job as a manager is not to motivate your staff. Motivation is internal. Instead, you are responsible for creating an environment in which people can motivate themselves.

Perhaps one of their suggestions will be of benefit to you or spawn a new approach unique to your organization. I quote and have adapted from their original article.

Operate in an Atmosphere of Open Communication – More companies adhere to the philosophy of minimal communication rather than “open book” management. In other words, senior management often assumes that the less employees know, the better.

This doesn’t make for a motivating environment. A few simple suggestions:

• Research your organization and its competition on an Internet. Get that competitive blood flowing. Have them improve the public presentation of your company.
• Get listed in Who’s Who in Finance and Industry or Ward’s Business Directory. Seeing your name lets you know you matter and are a contributor.

Yes, it is simple, but build on it.

Recognize People with Potential - Nothing says confidence and trust like putting someone in a position of leadership with the ability to make decisions.

• Placing future leaders into management development roles. This is not only good for the individual but for the long term success of the company.
• Give your employees more responsibility to test their leadership skill. Some will rise to the challenge. Others may not. But you will be developing capacity all the while.
  

Respect and recognition are two proven ways to retain employees.

Support External Training Workshops – People are much more inclined to feel like they’re making a positive contribution to your organization if they’re in a learning curve.  Challenge them to challenge themselves.

• Training organizations offer countless one-and two-day offsite workshops. The cost is minimal. Two or three seminars per employee per year may add very little to your overhead budget and allow employees a one-day “sabbatical” to reflect on their careers as well as to reinvent themselves in light of your company’s changing needs.
  

There may be a very good return on investment from providing relevant, practical workshop opportunities. I would suggest having some accountability attached to it. Develop a method whereby the employee provides feedback after the workshop on how the learning will be best integrated into their day to day work or translated into department, team or company practice.

Welcome Opinion -  By empowering people, you telling them that they matter to you and your business. By listening to them, they may even have some good ideas about how to make things smoother or more profitable.

Listen to employees. Listening to people may not always be easy, but it can be very beneficial. And when those gems appear that empower the individual and strengthen the organization, you will understand that the effort put into inviting comment and listening to it was more than worth it.

I mention this because of the positive need for good open doors of communication. Sure, there can be arguments made about optics and politics and all talk, no action and all that goes along with that, but the truth is there are a number of leaders and their team members meeting and talking with each other over the space of several days.

If you can’t talk with each other, little is achieved.

Where there is a venue to discuss similarities and differences, national and international needs, hopes and desires, everyone’s understanding and appreciation of each other can be raised.

Good relationships are invaluable. But they must be worked at. They take investments of time and energy and as often as possible, proximity.

Where the Summit (or any other meeting) is designed to achieve real goals in an effective manner, good things can be accomplished.

So, leaders, officials, representatives, civil society groups … welcome to Muskoka as you do your prep work for next summer’s Summit. Let’s make it one where participants truly are civil, where real goals are aimed for and achieved, where relationships are established and deepened and where ordinary people are the focus and beneficiaries of your consultations.

To benefit from working with an Executive Coach who lives in the Muskoka area where the G8 and G20 will be held, please call. 705.687.2711.

It does not matter whether the leader acknowledges this or not. It remains a fact and will be proven so when we all stand before Him.  But to embrace it is to access divine resources for daily responsibilities … and far, far more.

The leader in relationship to God through Jesus Christ does not walk alone. He carries out his responsibilities fully conscious that He is loved and strengthened and given wisdom and capacity to lead from God. There is no foolishness in embracing this quality of relationship with the God who does not change.

God is over all. He does not invite us to include him on some list along with all our other personal and business priorities. He invites us to see him over all priorities. Not the first priority but OVER all priorities. He is God over all and He refuses to slip to number two or three or right off our list of interests altogether. He is above lists and desires that we meet Him there, in awe and wonder at His altogether unique nature and position.

Why in 2009 would we still talk about thoroughly modern and enlightened leaders embracing God? Because He still exists.

God never went anywhere while we were becoming so enlightened. He never stopped extending the invitation to relationship while we ran after the multitudes of ‘things’ and ‘isms’ and pursuit of success and dollars to replace Him.

He is still there, calling leaders to surrender to His love for them and His ability to speak and work into their experience … transforming their hearts and minds and the the way they think about and carry out work, life and leadership.

God has been so misrepresented by the behavior of those who identify themselves under His name. But He himself has not changed. As He was in the beginning, so He remains today.

Food for thought.

Manners are necessary in several directions. Customers need to learn to say please and thank you. Rude, demanding and uncaring far too often seem to dominate.

And on the other side of the equation, I don’t know if working with the public is at an all time low, but service manners often seem similarly poor, disengaged or insincere. You may agree or disagree.

But I will tell you what is the grease that keeps the wheels of industry – private or public, for profit or not – moving. It’s recognizing what someone has done and saying, “Thank you” for it. A simple thank you can go a long, long way to motivating people to keep going and do well.

Leaders and executives … practice saying this … Thank you; Great job; Really appreciate what you did here. Thanks for doing this.

A 2007 Smart Business article titled Thanks is worth a re-read. According to a then referred to study:

… 35 percent of workers and 30 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) cite frequent recognition of accomplishments as the most effective nonmonetary reward.

People consider saying thank you a reward. I realize it’s not the only motivator but organizationally you just can’t get anything less expensive to implement. The harder part will be making the organizational attitude adjustment. But just start personally. Appreciation is infectious.

If you happen to be like a leader who told me years ago that you shouldn’t have to run around saying thank you to people for what they should be expected to do, you may need an attitude adjustment.

If you are a leader who takes this to heart and wants to use genuine appreciation as one of your best motivational tools … thanks for reading this.

Resisting needed change has destroyed relationships, marriages, families, organizations, companies, programs and nations. Change starts with the individual. On Monday, we provided an 8 step strategy to initiate change. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but it does mean that it is possible. It’s going to first of all mean a change of attitude that embraces the new possibilities that change will produce.

August 25: Whose Problem is It?

Knowing who it is that has the problem is the vital first step in finding solutions. Someone else may have projected their problem on you for years. You have lived with the burden of it. No more. If it is their problem, let them live with it. Being released from the guilt or shame will let you establish boundaries,  take better care of yourself and let them know that if they desire solutions, they will have to be the ones to take action and make change.

August 27: What Makes a Good Leader Work with a Coach?

What do great leaders know and practice that the vast majority of other leaders don’t? They work with a Coach … not because they have big problems but because they want to be better prepared to deal with big problems. And not only that, they want to be more aware of opportunity when it shows itself. Coaching for the successful leader is not so much remedial as it is transformational. Thursday’s article outlines the top 12 areas that successful leaders and executives have proactively used our coaching .

August 28: An Example of Employee Engagement

On Friday we examined how one company changed their thinking … and their approach after 50 years. They engaged their employees in the larger context of what the company was doing. It raised a sense of place and contribution. The end result for the company was more engaged and satisfied employees and increased profit. You may have golden ideas hidden in your staff but there is no encouragement or environment to get them out. Achieving employee engagement isn’t a ‘hope so’ exercise. It will require a solid change of culture and attitude. It will require good leadership.

Often we carry around someone else’s problem for years as our own. This is reinforced because they tell us it is our problem. The essential question then is, “Who really owns this problem?” Is it theirs or mine? Am I really dealing with the effects of their problem or is it in fact mine? If it is really their personal problem projected on me, then it really is not my problem.

This shift in thinking from it being “my problem” to “their problem” changes everything. It puts history and circumstances in right perspective.  This clarity is important to finding real lasting solutions.

Knowing it is in fact not your problem eliminates guilt feelings and any sense of inferiority or shame. It evokes feeling for the other person and may even lead to new approaches towards helping that person.

Alternately it may mean establishing a clear boundary for the other person that makes it clear they no longer project what it theirs on to you, they no longer throw their trash in your yard. A fence may have to go up between you to protect what is yours.

So … whose problem is it?

I have lived with such a remarkable individual for 36 years.

Alice is my wife, my best friend and my confidante. We met some years earlier but were married on this day in 1973. We believe we have lived an adventure that is a whole story in itself. I love to tell the early parts of that adventure and have Alice correct me where I embellish our first meeting in grade 8 and my awkward attempts at getting her to notice and skate with me at the local arena a couple of months later.

We’ve traveled a long way since then. Marriage, children, life. Thousands of people have crossed our paths, some of them remarkable individuals in their own right, who have impacted who we are today. Around all the people and the ordinary and extraordinary details of our life together are stories … stories of both great joy and real tears, of stepping out and living life to the full … all stories that are uniquely ours.

In my recent book, 52 Solutions for Those Who Need a 25 Hour Day, I said of Alice, “I have never walked alone in leadership or business. We have walked together.” If you have ever done it, even for a short time, it is something special to spend time with a remarkable individual. You learn so much. Sometimes even moments can change you. Imagine that walk lasting an adult lifetime.

So to whoever is reading this  …  just know that I love Alice Wood. By God’s grace we have enjoyed 36 wonderful, adventurous years. I dream of many more. We shall see what unfolds …