End of year and team energy hitting rock bottom

Christmas songs and the Santa chocolate figures on shelf since August, yup, this was 2 months ago, meaning it's that time of the year again. The time when marketing leaders like you are juggling year-end targets, budget discussions for next year, and a team that's running on fumes. Oh how many times have I been there, I do know that hollow feeling in your stomach when you look at your Q4 dashboard while simultaneously trying to keep your game face on for your team. Let alone agreeing on who will host Christmas this year in the family and getting all the roasted ducks in a row.

Here's what's probably happening right now: your Outlook is flooded with urgent requests, your calendar is jam-packed with planning sessions, and somewhere in between all of this, you need to prepare performance reviews for your team. Oh, and those budget meetings? They're starting to feel like walking into a negotiation where you've already lost.

But here's what's really keeping you up at night - your team's energy. You see it in their eyes during morning-coffee catch-ups. They used to have that amazing spark, that enthusiasm that fueled all those creative campaigns and amazing NPD ideas earlier in the year, they even managed to energise the KAMs (and boy do we know this is an achievement!). And it's now flickering. Some days, it feels like it might go out completely.

The risk? It's bigger than just missing this year's targets. When your team motivation hits rock bottom, the real damage happens silently: innovation dies. Don't even get me started on what happens to influence, then...Your best talent starts updating their LinkedIn profile, and that green banner is now up. And that culture you worked so hard to build? It starts showing cracks that will take months, if not years, to repair.

I learned this the hard way during my 20 years in marketing & in leadership roles. But here's what I've discovered works - both from my own experience and from coaching countless marketing leaders through this exact situation:

Step 1 | Make space for real talk.

Don't try to protect your team from reality. Being a spong that absorb the negativity, the toxicity, the bad news, never is a good strategy in the long run. People see through this and most importantly, it'll burn you out. Instead, create a safe space for honest (read that again) conversations about what's difficult for them right now. In my experience, people can handle tough news - what they can't handle is feeling like their struggles aren't being acknowledged. And read that again, my friend. Perhaps send yourself back in the past when you were in their shoes and your manager back then shielded you from anything negative or pressurising....how did it feel overall? How helpful was it, actually, in the end?

Step 2 | Make time to celebrate the small wins DIFFERENTLY.

Forget the usual "employee of the month" routine. After a while, they become wallpaper activities. Itart highlighting the specific actions and behaviours that show resilience. You can't make things up, you'll have to keep observing your team very well where and when you can (which is one great aspect of your role), and be able to relay back what they did that was really great (do pick what may even seem small). For example, "Emma, the way you turned that brief draft following the CEO's feedback around in 24 hours while keeping your team's morale up - that's exactly what leadership looks like." Take a minute now to think of each person in your team and write next to their name something you've seen / observed they did that you can feedback on.

Step 3 | Give this budget battle a different framing.

If you're facing budget cuts for 2025, involve your team in finding creative solutions. Organise a brainstorm session, marketers do love this. Some of the most innovative campaigns I've seen came from teams who had to think differently because of constraints. Make it a challenge rather than a limitation. It will help them develop resilience and perspective which is absolutely critical in our roles in marketing. You know as well as I do that budget cuts are quite frequent and common. This is definitely not the last time they'll face this news, they might as well learn how to tackle it in a constructive way and find a way forward. It'll serve them well in their career.

Here's the truth - your team doesn't need you to have all the answers right now. Hey - read this again. They need you to be real with them, to show up every day, and to remind them why what they do matters. Everyone wants to be useful, to be a valuable member of a group. Use their strengths to see a way forward, as a group. Your role isn't to prevent the pressure (we'd be very naive to think we can!), it's to build that structure, the right support that will help them manage it.

Let me share something personal: during my last few years in marketing as a leader, I faced a deep budget cut while being asked to deliver way more than the previous year's targets. In one particularly tough week, I caught myself becoming increasingly distant from my team, hiding in back-to-back meetings to avoid facing their questions. The turning point came when one of my best performers said to me she wasn't feeling it anymore in her role, and she felt like she was "working in the dark."

That was my biggest learning as a leader: silence creates stories. Because that's exactly what happens when people don't know what's going on, they're being shielded from the reality of a situation, and yet can sense something's up. There's nothing worse than imagination, at times. And when you do open up to your team about our challenges and what you're struggling with to navigate them, something shifts. Always. You and the team tend to be finally working through the challenges together, rather than suffering through them alone.

But here's the crucial part - sharing your struggles as a leader requires some thinking and finessing. You just don't offlad your anxieties onto your team. Get a coach for this. Instead, frame your vulnerability through the lense of learnt insights: "I've been struggling with this budget situation, and here's what I'm actively doing about it." Share your challenges, yes, but always pair them with your problem-solving approach.

Step 4 | Create certainty where you can.

"Working in the dark" is not enjoyable for anyone. This is a good metaphor for times of uncertainty. During these times, do you know what people crave? Control. Yup, they would do anything to get control back. So give your team ownership over their immediate environment. This could be, say, letting them redesign their work patterns, or choose their focus times, or decide which meetings they really, really (REALLY!) need to attend, how they'd like to approach a task (instead of you giving them all the instructions). Sometimes, the smallest freedoms (can I make that plurial?) can create the biggest impact on morale. Try it.

A slightly longer article than I wanted to write but these situations are too common to leave under that rock. So here's my kicking that rock away and dealing with it.

Reach out to me today to chat about how I can support you in your leadership journey. I have coached marketing leaders like you to develop the confidence, assertiveness, and inspirational presence needed to lead a high-performing, motivated team that drives real impact.

Speak soon,

Mags

Turning overwhelmed marketers into confident and inspiring leaders ? Leadership Coach & Leadership & Management Trainer at the BMW Academy