How does the Project Leader avoid BURNOUT and achieve SUSTAINABILITY

Being the leader of a project is a prestigious position. You have the assurance that someone else has recognized your leadership qualities, and has put his trust in you that you have what it takes to get things done. It often comes with a generous remuneration package, and a string of valuable perks. In the course of exercising your role you may meet the “who is who” of society.

The position also comes, unfortunately, with many hurdles that test your abilities to the limit. Often you wonder how you will make it to the next day without imploding. Burnout – that is, reaching the stage where you do not know where to turn, and simply do not have the strength to do anything, is a very real possibility in this job where others often expect of you the impossible.

If you have been in this kind of work for some time, you know that any day you can experience the good, the bad and the ugly. The good is when your team does what you expect of them, and the project is moving on nicely, according to the planned schedule. You feel at ease and satisfied, glad that you chose this kind of work. The bad occurs when people let you down and just do not fulfill what they promised when you engaged them for specific tasks. You start running around wondering how you can get back on track, debating if, and when, you need to tell the client that the expected date of completion of the project may be delayed. The ugly happens when there are hostile elements that are hell-bent on destroying you and your project for whatever reason, and you try and salvage whatever you can, and hope you will come out in one piece. That is when you wish you had listened to your parents when they advised you to become a lawyer or a doctor, whose lives are more predictable.

Typical reactions when things go wrong 

You don’t like things going wrong. You do your best that they don’t. Despite your best efforts, they still do. You react as any normal person would. You get angry at people that let you down. You cannot sleep, wondering how you and your team can make up lost time. You dread having to explain, once again, to the client that there will be a delay. Your stress levels rise, and your family at home bear the brunt of your bad temper. The bad experiences (which were not your fault) accumulate in your body memory, and you start doubting your ability. Because of the lack of sleep. You often wake up tired. You skip sessions at the gym because you just do not feel up to it. You start wondering if at some stage you will be a victim of BURNOUT.

Steps towards SUSTAINABILITY 

You realize that, for you, life CANNOT go on like this.

Let me invite you on a journey out of this hole, towards a manageable work lifestyle and personal fulfillment.

1. Deal with the present crisis. 
   Beware of being controlled by your anger. Resist the temptation to be confrontational by letting the offender know how disappointed you are. Try and understand what led to the present “bad situation”. Put yourself into the position of the one who caused it. Remember that at some stage you yourself have let others down.

   Try and feel the pressures he is under.

   Once you have worked through the anger you are feeling, make a plan to talk the situation over with “him/her”. Think of the words you will use so that he will listen. Give him time to explain. Be determined not to interrupt while he speaks, and think about what he says, before you respond. Explore a way to move forward. You want to restore a situation where both of you feel at ease and can get on with the work without feeling resentful. Give yourself time to let the issue settle in your spirit before you plan your next move. Meantime, do not rush to the next task.

2. Reflect on the interaction, and the relationship with the person that caused the present crisis. 
   Try and visualize how he/she feels about you, and the way you connected with him to resolve the crisis. Do you think he listened? Are there new insights you gained? Do you think it was a genuine lapse and is not likely to be repeated, or is it likely to occur again? How will you react if it does? More importantly, do you think this person brings value to your operation, and does it make sense to establish a long-term relationship, or will you look for someone else to do his kind of work on the next project? Think about how you will communicate with him the next time you meet. You want to be sure the person understands the significant impact his lack of performance had on the project as a whole, and get to the point that you feel reasonably sure that this kind of lapse will not happen in the future. At the back of your mind has to be whether, or not, this person will become a regular collaborator, or if you will look for someone else who will in future provide the service you need. In other words, you need to assess if this person can be trusted to deliver what they promise, and if they respond to correction.
3. Are there things YOU can do to prevent people forgetting to do what they promised?
   While there will always be unexpected events that pose a challenge, you can minimize the frequency of others letting you down by being proactive. Give them a call a few days before their service is required, just to make sure they are ready. Then just check in with them the day before, to make sure everything is on track. In this way they have no excuse for not delivering what they had agreed to do. This will also take the worry away, and you are likely to sleep better, because you can be reasonably sure that there will be no unexpected surprises the next day. In this way your contractors get the message that you expect reliable service.
4. Be fully informed on progress on all project activities. 
   There is only one way to execute a project: Do EVERYTHING right, to the best of your ability. Your team members need to know that you are totally committed to excellence. They must embrace the same passion. They will know that if they take shortcuts, they will be found out. In fact, they must keep you fully informed of progress on the activities that you have entrusted to them, and for which they are held accountable. You can only be satisfied with a project that has been completed according to your high standards. That will give you a feeling of pride and satisfaction.
5. The power of HARMONY.
   Life is meaningless if there is disharmony between what you believe in and what you do. If you persist in doing what for you has no meaning, then at some stage you run the risk of burnout, because you cannot see why you should exhaust yourself sorting out problems, when you see no purpose behind it.

   Not everything you do revolves about your current project. You believe your life has a purpose. Achievement of that purpose is not a lucky one-time success, like hitting a jackpot. It is something that is worked out daily.

   The purposes of the project must align with your life values. You cannot put your heart and soul into a project if you are not convinced that it will achieve something that is precious to you in the long term, and of benefit to your community. That is the motivating force to give of your best.

   Your broader purpose surely takes cognizance of the whole of life: your role as father or mother, and your aspirations. It accommodates hardships. It even includes acceptance of the inevitability of death, and being ok that we do not live on this earth forever.

Harmony does not happen spontaneously. We need to create it for ourselves. How:

It is important to see life as the rich tapestry of valued experiences that it is. It will become that for us when:

• We recognize our own limitations, accept our failings and do our best to improve on them.
• We are totally committed to fairness, honesty and justice.
• We dedicate ourselves to accept others as they are. We commit to listening actively and give them the freedom to choose their own methods and work out their own problems.
• We are fully present for our family and those who depend on our help and enabling.
• We remember that money is not the overriding aim in any venture. People are infinitely more valuable, and we will do our best to earn their trust at all times.
• We do all we can to keep our bodies and minds healthy by doing appropriate exercise, getting enough rest and educating ourselves by reading good books.

Is your project part of the joyful expression of your dreams and hopes?

Written by Dr. Wolfgang Bernhardt‬.