The Leading Cause of Leadership Burnout

More and more, leaders who come to work with me are just burnt out. I can hear it in their voice and see it in their eyes. And nearly every time, when I delve into what is at the root of the burnout, they reveal that they are exhausted by solving problems for employees who can’t seem to proactively come up with answers to the same questions over and over again.

What many leaders miss, how they end up in that situation, is that they don't distinguish between three distinct roles of leadership.

The 3 Roles of Leaders

At every level of leadership there are 3 roles that leaders must be able to move between effortlessly: 

Manager

You are directing and closely overseeing the work of those who report to you. The manager role is most effective early in the employee’s training, when someone is taking on a brand new task, or when an employee is struggling or on a performance improvement plan.

This is a short-term tool set, applied only when necessary, and focused on building employee skills so that managing their day-to-day work becomes less of a burden on you.

Mentor

You are helping an employee by sharing the path you traveled to reach the goal that they now desire. Mentoring is most helpful in situations where you’ve had direct experience in a nuanced area. Areas such as how to collaborate, negotiate conflict, find a career path, understand company politics, or apply their skills in new ways.

In this role, you are the expert, telling your story and advising the employee so they can see how to apply the story to themselves.

Coach

The coaching role is one of the most misunderstood yet most effective tools a leader can use. This is applicable when an employee has the skills they need to do the work and there are opportunities for them to grow further. In the coaching role, the leader is operating under the belief that the employee has the skills, talents, expertise, and ability to solve their own challenges, and innovate using their own ideas.

When coaching, you are not the expert. Instead you are empowering the employee through a self-discovery process. Your role is to ask open-ended questions that stimulate thinking, and then encourage the employee to select a course of action or next step. Once they have applied the learning from the coaching session, the follow-up reflection or debrief helps them to take that learning and either shift the approach, or apply it to new challenges.

Coaching is what develops self-sufficiency, capability, and the kind of employees who are able to solve problems in meaningful ways.

Often, clients come to me who believe they are coaching but what they are actually doing is a combination of mentoring and managing. The end result is that they are training their employees to be dependent on them for the solutions and answers. And while this may feel good for a little while, trust me, it leads to burnout quickly.

Are you ready for less burnout?

In 2022, I am opening a limited number of slots in my 1:1 mentoring, advising, and coaching program. 

Now you can learn to use these three roles with less effort and more fluidity. 

Schedule a time with me to learn more about how this program will help you avoid burnout.