Don’t Be Too Tired to Influence a Better Life

In a recent article in Forbes, the article quoted studies showing that 45% of U.S. workers consider themselves to be modern workaholics. And a recent Gallup study of nearly 7,500 full-time employees found that 67% of employees reported feeling burned out at work sometimes, very often or always.

Many blame technology which allows our emails, texts  and phone calls to always tether us to work. Others blame the executive leadership teams who are demanding more work on faster timelines. Others mention the challenge of semi-recent headcount reductions that have decreased staff but not decreased workload.

Stop waiting for someone to fix these.  I believe the real cause for the modern day workaholic epidemic is a lack of the ability to influence change.  That is something you can actively do to defeat the workaholic epidemic!

Influencing change is about identifying when a project, a person, or an organization are headed down a bad path, and being able to redirect to a better path by partnering with others effectively.  

Think about it.   If you are an Exhausted Hero who is a workaholic:

• Have you courageously had a conversation with your boss about your exhaustion?
• Have you prioritized the work and adjusted due dates?
• Have you asked your team for their ideas or have you taken it on by yourself? 
• Have you delegated work appropriately or are you hoarding work?  

Through many executive coaching engagements at companies of all sizes, I have come to the following conclusion.  Corporate Exhausted Heros tend to try to take it all on. But Strategic Managers take time to influence change. Corporate Exhausted Heros tend to act as fire fighters, reacting to the challenges in real time.  Strategic Managers tend to act as fire chiefs, as they plan for the fires, prevent fires through inspections, and mobilize their teams to effectively fight the fires as they appear.