Modern leadership positions, despite their many rewards, often carry the risk of burnout and lack of engagement. Leaders, who devote much energy and attention to maintaining engagement within their teams, may themselves lose their motivation to act. This requires not only an abundance of energy but also constant motivation and mindfulness. Magda Pietkiewicz, a labor market expert and the creator of the Enpulse platform, which supports building employee engagement based on data, discusses the challenges faced by team leaders and potential solutions.
Leaders can also lose motivation
Burnout does not skip managers. Professionals in managerial positions, who are committed to their work, often fall into burnout, striving to maximize engagement in their teams. The responsibility of motivating, developing, and sustaining team engagement is a formidable task. Managers often take their employees’ problems upon themselves, increasing their own emotional burden.
“Engagement, although crucial for effective team management, can lead to exhaustion. Those who commit a lot to the organization and put a lot of energy into their work often feel overwhelmed, especially when their efforts do not yield the expected results,” says Magda Pietkiewicz, a labor market expert.
Lack of engagement within the team despite the manager’s effort
“Managers, who are deeply involved in their responsibilities, can often experience frustration when their team is not as involved, or when their work does not yield the expected results. They put a lot of effort into their work but do not always understand why others do not engage in the same way. The reasons can vary, and the fault does not necessarily lie on the side of the manager,” emphasizes the expert.
It is important to keep in mind many people keep to themselves and do not disclose everything happening in their private life, especially at work. You cannot always discern if someone is stressed or worried. It’s easy to commit a cognitive error, judging someone as unengaged for no reason as they seem cheerful, joking, and not visibly overwhelmed.
“Family problems or other random life events can affect the level of employee engagement. It’s essential to remember that everyone has a different life situation. It is easy to overlook subtle signals in the hustle and bustle of work,” says Magda Pietkiewicz.
Communication Crisis
“The crisis in managers’ engagement often stems from communication problems. We have lost the ability to listen and communicate with people. We should develop active listening skills to better understand what to do and why we should do it,” argues Magda Pietkiewicz, the founder of the Enpulse platform.
Understanding and empathy make information transmission more effective, and messages received better. When employees feel they are being heard, they are more willing to share their ideas and suggestions. This, in turn, leads to innovative solutions and process improvements at work.
Communication is not helped by generational differences and remote work. Young people entering the job market were raised differently than older generations. Managers should keep in mind that people of different ages communicate differently. When working remotely, our communication can suffer even more. It’s harder to talk with co-workers when we don’t know them at all or know them very little.
Loneliness at work
Loneliness is an issue that impacts not only private life but also professional life. Team leaders can feel isolated in their roles. The emotional burden experienced by those in managerial positions is often unnoticed by others.
“Remote work amplifies this problem, but also, people working in office settings can feel lonely. It is crucial to understand why we feel lonely and think about how we can change it,” says Magda Pietkiewicz.
How to change it?
“Let’s start with ourselves. Let’s talk to people. Look for someone who can help us at work – it could be a manager, or not necessarily, because remember, managers are also overloaded. It may turn out that everyone feels the same and wants to do something together at work, even something small like a short joint meal and conversation. Small things produce big results. The hardest part is to start,” says Magda Pietkiewicz, the founder of the Enpulse platform.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/wypalenie-zawodowe-liderow-cena-zaangazowania-79007
