Avoiding burnout and staying motivated is essential in all stages of one’s career. However, it is especially important for managers to stay inspired to lead their team as best as possible. Instead of waiting for inspiration to come to them, administrators should seek ways to stay creative and motivated in order to prevent themselves from growing fatigued in their position. Thankfully, there are many proven ways to stay motivated as a manager.
Find a Positive Role Model
In order for leaders to inspire their employees, it is important to have a source of inspiration for themselves. In a figurative sense, managers need to be able to fill their cups in order to add to their subordinates’ cups. If bosses find themselves running dry from continually giving of themselves, it may be time to find a source of inspiration they can be reenergized and reinspired by.
Looking to other organizations is a great way to find a potential role model to look up to. It might also be beneficial to look at some popular influential leaders, as many of them may have seminars or podcasts meant for motivating leaders. With these helpful and often free resources being available, it has never been easier to find a new source of inspiration.
Set Rewards for Milestones
It can often be exhausting to continually be working on long, detailed projects. While it may seem to be a long time until a project is completed, it is important to recognize small milestones met along the way. In order to stay motivated, it is necessary first to acknowledge what these achievements are and then reward the entire team for meeting them. This reward certainly does not have to be grandiose or lavish. It can be something as small as bringing cookies to the office. Whatever reward is decided upon will undoubtedly be a source of motivation for managers and their employees who put time and effort into the project.
Delegate Tasks to Others
Oftentimes, managers put too many tasks on their own plate rather than delegating them to others. This can easily lead to overextending oneself. While leaders do naturally have to carry more weight on their shoulders than their subordinates, they must also be able to recognize when it may benefit them to hand a project off to another qualified individual. Having too many projects going on at once can take away from one’s creativity and leave them feeling unambitious. Relieve some pressure from yourself and regain some confidence in yourself by delegating certain tasks.
Overall, it is important for leaders to avoid burnout as much as possible. However, it is sometimes inevitable. There is no shame in feeling overwhelmed and needing to find a way to become motivated once more. Some of the best managers can recognize when they need to take a step back to be reinspired to approach their job with a fresh perspective and influence their coworkers to do the same.