As many of you know, part of our Future Ready Leadership program is dedicated to learning from existing leaders. One way we do this is in a panel format; asking senior leaders to volunteer a few hours of their time to share their individual leadership journeys with our participants. It has proven to be a highlight for our clients and for us at MCE. In the next few newsletters, I will be sharing some of their insights with you.

Let’s start with some positive advice on how to stave off burnout, something many of you may be experiencing as you try and juggle home, children, and work during the pandemic.

When the question was posed to Rene Gatien, President and CEO of Waterloo North Hydro, he provided three suggestions I am pretty sure each of us could implement.

I would like to share how we do these things at MCE.

I believe I speak on behalf of my team when I say we have fun together. In the article below you will see a reference to a Christmas activity we did together via zoom. This was a planned event. And there is always a fair bit of friendly banter on our weekly team calls usually involving the team making fun of me, especially when my internet freezes and my frozen face is on display for all to see.

In the face to face environment of the past, those of us in the office always had lunch together. We have had Zoom lunches now which aren’t quite the same but offer a time together to talk about things other than business.

I have always encouraged the team to look after each other whether that was scheduled “buddy” time to chat and get to know one another or just to reach out when you sense a teammate is struggling. As leaders, it is up to us to create an environment where it is okay to seek help. It is our responsibility to watch for burnout in others because regardless of how open the environment is, they may still be reluctant to ask for help.

“Leaders tend to be high-energy people when it comes to work.”, explained Helga Reidel, President and Chief Executive Officer of the ENWIN Group of Companies. This doesn’t mean leaders won’t burn out, it might just take a bit longer. Helga offers some practical tips such as aligning personal and work schedules into one calendar so you won’t miss important events, and, to keep working on those organizational and time management skills.

You can’t lead if you are burned out. Please check out Donna’s article on resilience below.

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