No MBA mumbo-jumbo, just stuff that's worked through 30 years of team-building in business and the military.

Friday, January 20, 2012

When You Don't Feel Like It

A leader's work never ends. Your team demands your leadership every single day.

But sometimes you don't feel like it. Sometimes you're tired or out of sorts and you just want a quiet day with no hassles. Not gonna happen, so what do you do?

First, remember that your problems are yours, not your team's. If you need to vent or want to whine, see your pastor, call your mom, have coffee with your spouse. But don't dump on your team; not only will you drag them down with you, you'll scare them. At work you're like the mom or dad; the kids don't want to think things are too much for you.

Second, you can act your way into feeling. No, really, you can. Just start doing what you do every day. Get out there, talk to your folks, identify their problems and get to work solving them. Forecast demand, measure your resources, start planning. Get your eyes on the vision, that place that you're en route to with your team.

I promise, after an hour of grinding away at your normal leadership work, you'll be a lot more motivated. Your focus will shift from yourself, and the issues will engage you again. It might even be good therapy.

Yeah, the first hour of a down day sucks. But if you don't soldier up and get to work, the whole day is going to suck, plus you'll have to repair your relationship with the team.

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