"Growing Your People Monthly" Newsletter

June 2010

For many, summer means vacation time; however, businesses and leaders must continue to focus on the projects that are underway or perhaps those that were planned for at the beginning of the year but have not yet been started. Many people are telling me about feeling overwhelmed trying to forge ahead, trying to be mindful of how they are spending their time and energies while still focusing on business results. Read on to learn more about the reality of feeling overwhelmed as a business professional and what you can do about it!

Be well,

Yvonne Kinney-Hockert
National Speaker, Business Consultant & Coach
Consulting Solutions, LLC.

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From Overwhelmed to Energized

Most of us spend more time reacting to immediate crises and responding to the expectations of others than we do making considered choices guided by a clear sense of what matters most. - The Power of Full Engagement

Many business professionals often feel overwhelmed because there are so many responsibilities related to building or sustaining a business. Entrepreneurs, for example, pursue their own businesses because they love being their own boss and are passionate about the service or product they offer, but they can find themselves so busy trying to do everything on their own that they get burned out.

Many leaders also struggle with management issues, such as balancing accountability with realistic expectations. They may worry about misreading a situation so they try to pick up the slack for someone who should really be held accountable for poor performance. After spending long hours trying to help cover for the employee, the manager becomes overwhelmed with their own responsibilities.

Ultimately, leaders are feeling overwhelmed, but embarrassed to admit it. They fear it labels them as doing a poor job, and they worry that if others find out how they are feeling, it will reflect negatively on their business or professional role. It's time to acknowledge that being overwhelmed is a natural outcome of life at times, and then make positive changes in order to deal with these demands in a healthy way.
Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz have spent a lot of time working on the concept of peak performance, and have outlined their findings in their article "The Making of a Corporate Athlete," and their book, The Power of Full Engagement. Loehr and Schwartz argue that managing energy is the key to peak performance, and in thus staying on top of responsibilities instead of feeling overwhelmed by them.

One of the most important parts of energy management is the balance between expending and recovering energy. Sports science research has "established that the key to increasing physical strength is a phenomenon know as supercompensation - essentially the creation of balanced work-rest rations." One key point Loehr and Schwartz make is the need to treat life as a series of sprints instead of a marathon. They urge corporate athletes to live their lives "as a series of sprints - fully engaging for periods of time, and then fully disengaging and seeking renewal before jumping back into the fray to face whatever challenges confront [them]."

As a leader, you have the opportunity to set a positive example through your own positive approach to stress. When you are considering the various tools out there to help you or your employees go from overwhelmed to energized, consider the benefits of coaching, whether for executives, leaders, or emerging leaders. Just as coaching helps athletes achieve focus and peak performance, coaching in business helps leaders handle crisis effectively, focus on what's really important or truly overwhelming, and maintain a positive work environment.

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