Leadership Fatigue

Leaders have always been prone to fatigue. Sometimes, it can feel as though every decision is critical, every decision is vital, and every decision is entirely yours. It can even feel as though you’re out on the ledge alone, with people standing behind you waiting to see if your decision turns into an updraft lifting you up, or you end up being swept down to the street below!

With the pace of technology and change, internally and amongst customers, that fatigue element in leaders has never been more critical. With the constant demands for strategic thinking, decision-making (that ledge-standing paradigm), and managing diverse teams, many leaders experience a unique form of exhaustion that goes beyond physical tiredness.

This kind of fatigue, which can be exacerbated by stress and by workplace culture, can really impact a leader’s ability to lead, and reduce productivity. Tired minds rarely make the best decisions! If you are a leader, it can be worthwhile looking for some of these experiences – if you notice this in yourself, or your leader, then this post is very relevant!

Decision Fatigue: The constant need to make big and hairy decisions can impact your available mental resources.

Emotional Drain: As you’ll have seen from the post about empathy in leadership, leaders frequently deal with interpersonal conflicts, team dynamics, and organisational challenges, which can take a heavy emotional toll – especially in a change environment!

Isolation: Does the cheese stand alone? The role of a leader can be very isolating, as you can often feel detached from the organisation.

Work-Life Imbalance: The blurred boundaries between professional and personal life can exacerbate your fatigue, and the way that we can always be connected and available adds to the challenge of “switching off”.

There are some things that, as a leader, or as a human, you can do to help manage this level of fatigue. None of this will be rocket science – but then, it can be the first thing we forget to do!

Prioritise Self-Care: physical well-being is a foundation for our mental health. Things like eating healthily and a balanced diet, regular physical exercise, and enough sleep, are critical. Other things such as mindfulness and meditation can help with your stress levels too – although that takes us into a “circle of concern” conversation, for another time!

Delegate: as a leader, when you feel the responsibility and accountability, and you feel the isolation, delegating can be one of the hardest things to do. But if you have strong people in supporting roles, try and let them take a small amount of the load! It can help alleviate your stress and workload, but also empower your team.

Set Boundaries: of all of the strategies, this can be the hardest to do (believe me, I know – I am terrible at this!). However, trying to establish a clear boundary between work and personal time allows you to connect with yourself as an individual, and allows you to remember the life that is your “why” – your friends, family, loved ones. This can fill your cup and bring you back to a level of energy!

There are many other things that you can do to help – but this last message is for anyone who sees a leader experiencing this. Please, take a moment to think about what role you might play in contributing either to their fatigue, or helping with it. Think about the culture that you are part of – whilst a leader can lead the direction, a culture of support (or one without it) is everyone’s input!