Many of us dream of becoming a leader with the high salary, recognition, and the power to make change and influence outcomes of the businesses we work in.
Sadly, the reality for most is very different. I have been talking to leaders in our network and already many are feeling the burden of leadership after only a couple of weeks back, these include:
- Long hours, yet still no time to do the important things
- The expectations of others on you as a leader
- The pressure of achieving results
- Lack of good resources
- Managing constant changes
- People issues
- Cost restraints
- An aging workforce
- Managing risk
- Obsolescence
- Time constraints
As I'm sure you are aware, this is only a very short list, I could probably fill the page. These are some of the things can leave you stressed and on occasions a feeling of being overwhelmed and sometimes anxious.
We mostly carry the burden of leadership ourselves by not reaching out for assistance. There are several reasons we do not do this; we do not recognise the need, lack of internal resources, limited network, no trust in consultants, no mechanism to do so, and the list goes on! We can always find a reason for not putting our hand up and reaching out.
If you are already on the treadmill to feeling overwhelmed, consider:
- Asking why do you feel that way?
- Improve the capabilities in your team
- Talking to other senior leaders in your network
- Improving your personal knowledge through reading, events, podcasts
- Building relationships with trusted consultants and trainers
If all else fails, consider reaching out to IPA who can assist you in these area's, thus creating that feeling of accomplishment by getting support from like-minded peers.
Gary Silversides; CEO
Related content: Change Management Leader
