As a CEO, and the top leadership interface between your
organization’s members, customers and staff, have you experienced burnout? Do you know CEOs who have gone through
burnout? It’s no surprise that leaders,
with the challenge of being responsible for planning and performance of their
organizations, can become victims of burnout.
The continuous, never-ending burden of top leadership can wear anyone
down.
Are there some ways to reduce or avoid burnout?
A recent Internet article from LeaderPoint notes that while
the weight of being in charge can overcome the most successful leaders, burnout
is often a function of not delegating and working through others
effectively. Harvard Business Review
blogger John Baldoni is quoted as stating that the “best way to overcome the
drive than made (CEOs) successful in the first place—the relentless pursuit of
perfection—is to shift focus from one’s own success to the success of the
executive team.”
Here are some suggestions from the article to help avoid
burnout:
--Lead through
others: Being a CEO widens the scope
and increases the magnitude of the results to be achieved. Assign others the significant outcomes so
that the CEO is not the bottleneck, consumed with personal problem-solving.
--Knowing everything: No CEO can do everything well. Accepting that no one can possibly know
everything allows one to ask more questions, learn more and allows the work to
remain with those show should be doing it.
--Enabling others: Motivating others is a challenge. Sometimes it works and sometimes it
doesn’t. Instead, focus on the work to
be done, the desired outcome and assign these to key staff. Big jobs with significant outcomes tend to
motivate people.
The bottom line is about getting results, consistently over
time. It’s hard to do that without the support
and assistance from others. One of the best ways for CEOs to achieve success is
to drop their invincibility posture.
Successful leadership and successful organizations are not a solo act.
To read the article “Avoid Burnout by Focusing on Your
Team”, by John Baldoni, go here: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/avoid_burnout_by_focusing_on_y.html#
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