It isn\u2019t unusual to leave work exhausted.<\/p>\n
The demands on leaders \u2013 pressure for performance, budget constraints, meeting after meeting, workforce issues and conflicts, ever-expanding expectations, burdensome reporting requirements, and tiresome organizational dysfunctions mixed with constant change \u2013 all take their daily toll. It\u2019s easy to understand why many leaders feel overwhelmed and unable to perform at their peak.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, they\u2019ve done their best, but many must doubt if their efforts really made much of a difference?<\/p>\n
There is a solution though \u2013 not that you still won\u2019t go home tired \u2013 but that you can leave work with the satisfaction of knowing the work you put in has strengthened your work group and made it more capable and able to succeed.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s this solution?<\/strong><\/p>\n The solution is a daily attention to relationships.<\/p>\n Relationships are leading indicators of performance. People\u2019s efforts are highly dependent on the relationship they have with their work, with their co-workers, with their boss. When you regularly stitch the human fabric of the organization, you create a dynamic (positive) tension much like an isometric exercise strengthens a muscle little-by-little. If you neglect this, because you\u2019re too busy, or distracted, or you just think it\u2019s a waste of time, organizational atrophy sets in.<\/p>\n So you don\u2019t neglect it. You focus on relationships every day.<\/p>\n You look for ways to improve your knowledge of people. Who they are? What\u2019s important to them? What opinions they have? How they can be helped, or encouraged, or motivated? You listen. You engage. You enjoy every opportunity to increase your understanding, appreciation, and personal connections with them.<\/p>\n Communicating your interest in others communicates strong leadership. \u2013 Jerry Strom<\/p>\n Twitter: @JerryRStrom. For more information about our leadership and team development programs, please visit http:\/\/www.JerryStrom.com . Join the mailing list to receive new articles as they are published. This article is based on research conducted for the *\u2018The Relationships Report: The Linkage between Leadership and Relationships,\u2019 by Jerry Strom & Company, Inc. Find \u2018How Leaders Build Relationships at Work\u2019 at http:\/\/www.jerrystrom.com\/research\/js_relationships.html short insights on Twitter at #RelationshipsRPT<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It isn\u2019t unusual to leave work exhausted. The demands on leaders \u2013 pressure for performance, budget constraints, meeting after meeting, workforce issues and conflicts, ever-expanding expectations, burdensome reporting requirements, and tiresome organizational dysfunctions mixed with constant change \u2013 all take … Continue reading
\nAnd that\u2019s why, no matter how exhausted you are, you can go home assured your organization is stronger at the end of the day.<\/p>\n