How caring leaders can promote well-being AND drive results
Burnout and well-being have been big topics in the working world for a while now. And for good reason: For so long, people’s well-being seemed to fall by the wayside in favor of driving big results for their organizations. People are, understandably, tired of that, and now more than ever, they’re speaking up for their needs and prioritizing their well-being at work.
I love this. I am such a believer in creating cultures that prioritize well-being, that embrace and allow for work-life harmony, and that proactively determine ways to avoid burnout.
And at the same time, what I’ve seen and heard from clients lately is that in some cases, the pendulum might be swinging too far. Some leaders are frustrated. They feel that their people are so focused on avoiding burnout that they’ve lost sight of delivering results. They’ve stopped considering the needs of the organization to the point where they aren’t working anywhere near their capacity, and that leaves the organization in a bind.
The thing is that the leaders who have spoken with me about this CARE about their people. They care so much! They have supportive, people-first cultures. They do not want their people to burn out. And I, as the leader of a team and business owner, have empathy for them. I can understand the challenge they have. As leaders, we want to care for our people. We want to prioritize wellness. And at the same time, we need to get stuff done. Otherwise, the organization will fail, and that will hurt everyone in the end. So how can we balance the two?
On our team, we’ve explored this topic a lot over the years, and I think we’ve been successful in finding harmony. Here are five things we do on our team that help us create a culture that prioritizes well-being while also prioritizing accountability and results:
1. Check in on capacity. I did this with my team at our most recent quarterly review. It looked like this: I asked each person on our team to rate their capacity on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 means you’re at—or over—capacity with your workload and you can't take on one extra thing. You feel very overwhelmed and burned out. 1 is the opposite: You are under-used to the point where you can’t fill your time with productive tasks. I like this method because it causes people to reflect on what their true capacity is, where they can help others more, and where they might need the team’s support. It can start a conversation about restructuring workloads so that each person is moving the needle without feeling overwhelmed.
That conversation in itself can be a huge help for me, too. For example, Monique, our Chief of Growth, spoke up and said she could take on a bigger workload. It prompted me to think about things that I need help with that I feel are beyond my capacity, and I was able to ask for her help with those things. When we have these conversations proactively, not only does it help us prevent people from burning out, but it can also ensure that people are working closer to their capacity and feel they are making a meaningful impact and contribution.
2. Care for the team during sprints. Most teams and organizations naturally cycle through periods of heavier workloads, which, on our team, we call “sprints.” We all know that there will be times when we have to go above and beyond and really push ourselves to hit deadlines, reach goals, and fulfill deliverables, and it might feel a little overwhelming.
One version of a sprint for our team is the Human Leadership Program, which happens at least four times a year. During HLP week, we work longer hours, sit in front of screens longer than we usually do, and have to get all of our regular work done in a shorter amount of time. It's a huge investment of time and energy. But we know it’s coming, and we prepare accordingly. Each person has control of a self-care budget that they can use for things like ordering food, buying groceries, getting massages—anything that will help make that week a little bit easier.
When we’re mindful of our sprints, we can also be mindful of taking reprieves. We have an understanding that after we go through a sprint like that, everyone can work lighter days for a little while. We avoid scheduling team meetings for a few days to allow the space for people to rest and recover. Approaching it this way makes the sprints much more manageable. We all know that the expectation is not that we will constantly live in sprint mode; it’s that we’re going to push hard for a short time, and then we’ll get a break. Caring extra for our people during sprints also helps them want to give more during that sprint.
3. Have courageous conversations. We use a metaphor on our team called The Line, which stands for what it takes for a working relationship to thrive. Meeting at The Line means meeting expectations, asking for help, giving and receiving feedback, being transparent and accountable, and taking ownership
While we will always give people grace when they can’t meet at The Line, we also have an understanding that we can’t carry the same person every day. It’s their responsibility to work toward getting back to The Line. And if they aren’t making an effort or they just aren’t getting there, it means it's time to have a courageous conversation—which is so much easier said than done, I know. As leaders, we want to have empathy when people are struggling and care for them. It's important to remember that giving feedback and having open and courageous conversations is one of the most caring things we can do. It’s kind to hold people accountable to their commitments. Freedom and flexibility can only work if we all agree to meet at The Line and if we're willing to have conversations when someone isn't.
4. Choose deadlines together. Deadlines are tricky. They help keep us accountable to achieving results, but if we’re not intentional with how we choose them, we can cause people unnecessary stress and overwhelm.
We’ve really worked on the way we choose deadlines on our team. We like to look at a calendar, see everything we have going on, and have everyone give input on what the deadline should be. Sometimes, we realize that we’ve assigned competing deadlines and that we need to pause one thing so that we can focus on something else that’s more urgent.
Giving everyone a chance to weigh in on a deadline gives people a feeling of ownership. It also makes it so that we’re more likely to hold ourselves accountable to reaching the deadline because we were able to give input and honor our capacity.
5. Focus on results over hours spent. No one wants to be micromanaged. Besides, for a leader, it's exhausting to try to manage how everyone is spending their day—not to mention unproductive.
To me, results are so much more important than the time it takes to produce them. It’s better to be clear about the results you expect and allow people to arrive there in their own way. It’s only when you’re not getting the results you expect that you should have a conversation about the process.
I don't track hours worked, but I do expect that my team achieves results. If they're not going to be achieved, then I want my team to start a proactive conversation as to why and make a plan for how we're going to get there. This approach allows the team to structure their days how they want, which inspires and empowers them to give their best.
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As a leader and business owner, I know we can't have a culture that abandons results, expectations, and accountability. That makes the organization unsustainable, and it also doesn’t really care for anyone. At the same time, I know that we must prioritize the well-being of our people. If we don’t do that, how can we say that we really care? Work is just one part of a person’s life. If we truly care about our people, we have to build cultures that allow for work/life harmony to be a priority. Both sides of the equation matter, and we can’t truly have one without the other.
I hope this helps give some tangible tips on how to better walk that line together as a team!
Big hugs,
