Career Satisfaction Archives - g.e. wood & associates

The Servant Leadership Smart Management Imperative

"How Can I Serve You?" This one question captures the servant leadership, smart management mindset. There are books in my library that I continue to go back to over time. Often my return visit is to a single well marked page or two, the message of which continues to inspire me to better thinking and improved performance over time. And that is the case with this short passage from Understanding Leadership, published in 1991 and authored by Tom Marshall. A Question of Character, Not a Question of Function There are, Robert Greenleaf in his seminal book "Servant Leadership", says, “two [...]

The Servant Leadership Smart Management ImperativeGary Wood2018-10-29T03:20:52+00:00

What Hinders Productivity and Performance?

What hinders productivity? In most organizations, it's people, their attitudes and actions that will determine performance and productivity. People are critical to success. It's people who interact with each other and the systems that are in place to get the job done. When both leaders and employees or volunteers are aligned with the mission of what needs to happen and the vision of what they want that effort to ultimately achieve and when they are committed to give it their very best, there is no limit to what might be possible. When that is not the case, a downward spiral [...]

What Hinders Productivity and Performance?Gary Wood2018-10-29T04:48:40+00:00

Employee Burnout – There Are Solutions

Dealing with employee burnout and the stressful periods that lead up to it cost organizations huge sums of money every year. But more tragic than this is the fact that all that thought leadership and contribution has been lost. It's gone. Our clients have been men and women who are leaders or professionals in small business, large corporate settings, government, nonprofit and community setting. What that says to you is that overload and burnout happens everywhere across every spectrum of workplace experience. Workplace stress comes in a variety of shades. Recognizing employee burnout and doing something about it will take [...]

Employee Burnout – There Are SolutionsGary Wood2018-10-29T04:49:15+00:00

Career Burnout

Career burnout is often accelerated by subtle (or not so subtle) signals from those above (read, management). If you are the owner ... you may put out these messages. Executives often perceive and talk about negative work attitudes or postures that are taken by those they report to. Even at the highest levels of the organization this can occur. It is clear that one key area of job burnout is the conflict between the values of doing well on the job and doing well at home and in your personal life. Having a healthy total life is crucial for success. [...]

Career BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T04:49:36+00:00

Facing Tough Issues to Beat Burnout

Believe me, facing tough issues to beat burnout is a small price to pay for the peace at the other end. I don't mean dealing with some of the causes of your stress will be simple or that it won't possibly be emotional, but facing those issues once and for all will pay a dividend in the end. Take responsibility to do something about this significant stress - not something that you've done before that hasn't worked but taking those actions that will work, the hard ones. Sounds simple. So why do we so often avoid it? Because we don't want to face [...]

Facing Tough Issues to Beat BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:21:26+00:00

Saying No Can Help Deal With Burnout

Sometimes personal boundaries are violated because we don't speak up for ourselves. It's true that saying no can help deal with burnout. We need to learn how to say 'No' to people who do not respect our time, energy and willingness to contribute. Boundaries are kind of like fences around your property. They stop other people from using or abusing your property. They stop others from throwing their garbage on what belongs to you. If you have no fences, anyone can throw anything they want on your property, and chances are, they will. That's what it's like when we fail to say ‘no’ [...]

Saying No Can Help Deal With BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:21:32+00:00

Lack of Resources and Burnout

Lack of resources and burnout go together . When there's a constant expectation of delivery and you don't have resources to draw from, it's pretty hard to deliver. Sure, we've all pulled off 'the impossible' before. But when it is a chronic feature of the system, one day it will finally be too much. Work stress will spike. Frustration and inability to affect the system will grow. This is one of the causes often linked with career fatigue.. It really ties in with the overburdened to-do list and impractical or impossible time lines. The leader finally has just had enough. And [...]

Lack of Resources and BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:26:04+00:00

Unreasonable Project Deadlines Can Lead to Burnout

Multiple unreasonable project deadlines can lead to burnout. Of course they are not the only contributor to this level of significant stress. They present only one element of the total picture. But when these impractical or impossible expectations just keep coming, they suck the life out of some of the best people the organization should keep. I suppose there are many reasons for it but it does seem that an increasing number of leaders and executives are working with or handing down very impractical or totally impossible time lines and deadlines. It takes Herculean efforts to meet them. Often it [...]

Unreasonable Project Deadlines Can Lead to BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:26:22+00:00

When the To-Do List Can Lead to Burnout

There's one time when the to-do list can lead to burnout. When it's continually unreasonable. Keep giving a person an impossible to do list and burnout will inevitably come. Think about that: the impossible, unreasonable and the inevitable. Talk about a toxic to do list. One of our Fortune 500 clients was given major responsibility to oversee and move forward over 50 projects at one time. Clearly, nobody gave attention to stress and time management as serious concepts. This is what happens when things keep getting downloaded in the midst of an environment that promotes cuts with only one measuring [...]

When the To-Do List Can Lead to BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:26:28+00:00

Good Relationships Reduce Burnout

Good relationships reduce burnout in organizations. When you know and enjoy the people you work with and burnout is non-existent, there's something to look forward to each day when you arrive at work. Otherwise it can be stressful. Real friendships at work that go further than the day-to-day back and forth of business communication are why many key leaders and professionals love their work. We need community. We need positive friendship-based relationships with other people in our organizations. But when that is absent, it's a killer. And sadly, we live in a climate where far too many professionals spend their time looking [...]

Good Relationships Reduce BurnoutGary Wood2018-10-29T05:26:33+00:00