Many leaders face burnout, sometimes in the form of exhaustion and overwhelm, sometimes as a numb feeling that nothing matters. How do you restore your energy and passion?
Be present to purpose.
What is your purpose? What do you value as a leader? Flip your focus from your malaise to serving others or in service of a bigger mission.
My colleague Madeleine Blanchard writes about finding your purpose:
My experience with clients is that having a clear purpose is especially useful when you are committed to doing hard things over a long period of time or when you are going through times that are tedious. If you have never done purpose work—often referred to by Simon Sinek as your “WHY”— now is the perfect time to give it some thought. Of course, there are entire books and courses devoted to this topic, so here are some questions to get you started:
Questions to ask to define your purpose:
What do you do easily and naturally that you are known for, that people come to you for, and that others thank you for?
What are you doing when you are in the zone, lose track of time, and would do it for free if you didn’t need a paycheck?
What are you willing to do despite knowing you might be judged by others or that it might make you look foolish?
What dream did you have when you were younger that you meant to defer but then forgot about?
Considering what is important to you, and your purpose to the extent that you have a sense of it, what do you see is reasonably possible (with a fair amount of work and commitment) for you?
Can you paint a detailed picture?
What does the picture tell you?
What could you do now—just as a first step—so that the picture can be manifested in reality some day?
You will have to experiment a little and notice what gives you joy and feels like the right direction. That’s okay, you have time, and you will start feeling better once you start picking up clues and penciling out a plan.
You can read her full post here: https://leaderchat.org/2020/08/08/lost-your-motivation-ask-madeleine/