Chances are managers in your organization are feeling burned out. Middle managers have felt the squeeze of having to execute strategy from above while coaching and developing their teams below them — often without receiving the same type of development or empowerment from more senior managers. Often under-resourced, they frequently roll up their sleeves to do the work alongside their teams, particularly given higher rates of turnover in the last few years.
Managers Are Burned Out. Here’s How to Help Them Recharge.
Organizations need to step in when work becomes unsustainable.
August 02, 2023
Summary.
As a leader of leaders, you “create the weather” for your team. It’s your job to not only support your burned-out leaders, but also to keep burnout at bay going forward. In this article, the author offers six strategies to help recharge the burned-out managers on your team: 1) Recognize and acknowledge their burnout; 2) Create opportunities for personal connection both in person and virtually; 3) Re-assess, re-prioritize, and re-distribute their work; 4) Revise team agreements about how you all work together; 5) Touch base one-on-one with your leaders on a regular basis; and 6) Set the expectation with team members that they use all of their vacation time — it can be easy to put off or skip vacation when there’s so much to do.
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New!
HBR Learning
Stress Management Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Stress Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to build resilience at work.