Losing your Spark as a Manager

When You Start Losing Your Spark as a Manager

Sometimes burnout doesn't show up as exhaustion. Sometimes it shows up as feeling lost.

To me, this is a clear sign that you aren't getting your own needs met at work.

The challenge is that a lot of people don't actually know what those needs are, or how to articulate them. As a result, they spend all of their energy servicing the needs of everyone else. Their team gets what they need. Their boss gets what they need. The organization gets what it needs.

And because you're capable and dependable, people are often happy to let that continue.

Eventually, though, something starts to feel off.

You lose some of your enthusiasm. You feel stuck. You start wondering what comes next. You find yourself searching for motivation that used to come naturally.

The good news is that this is often fixable.

Start by figuring out what's important to you. Write it down. Talk about it with people who can help you think through it constructively. Look for patterns in the things that energize you and the things that drain you.

One exercise I like is creating a list of expectations and non-negotiables. What do you need from your work in order to feel engaged? What needs to be present for you to feel successful? What are you no longer willing to tolerate?

Once you know those things, you can start using them to make decisions. You can start asking for what you need instead of hoping someone notices.

That's usually where the spark starts to come back.

With more clarity comes more focus. With more focus comes less burnout. And with less burnout comes the energy to start building something better.