Separating my personal and professional life never really made sense to me. How does the 40–50 hours at work each week and the people we work with and for not impact the rest of our life? Our personal and professional life are two parts of one holistic life where the parts are interrelated and not separate.
In August 2018, Gallup reported that employee engagement was on the rise in the U.S. this is good news and yet only 34% of employees were engaged. The remaining 16.5% were actively disengaged and 53% not engaged. Translation, for most of us “work sucks”.
Side note, I highly recommend listening to Adam Grant’s podcast WorkLife where he explores how to make work not suck.
Here are three areas of our lives that are impacted when work sucks.
1. Self
I used to find myself caught in patterns of negative self-talk because I had a rough day at work. It took years of being stuck in this pattern before I realized that my day at work disproportionally influenced how I felt about myself. What are the things you say to yourself after a long day at work?
2. Energy
Too often I came home feeling lethargic and constantly yawning. The simplest chores and errands felt like impossible tasks to complete. Let’s not even bring up going to the gym, going out for a simple walk or doing volunteer work. What are you not doing because you do not have any energy after a long day?
3. Relationships
Are you ready to engage with your loved ones when you get home from work? I rarely was ready to engage with my partner and most days needed at least an hour to decompress because I still had work on my mind.
Although we are all responsible for our workplace environments, I am going to focus on what leaders can do. Leaders who are self-awareand care about serving others rather than their own ego can influence and impact others in a way that team members often cannot.
*Build real relationships with the people. Learn about what they do and who they are and also show people who you are (this requires being vulnerable, but you can do it). Help people feel safe so they can bring their complete and authentic self to work. Care about the person and relationship and not just the job title and the work they do for you.
*Show people they are valued. Give people autonomy, flexibility and involve them in decisions that impact them. Seek their opinions and learn from them. Just because you are the leader doesn’t mean you have the best ideas.
*Help people make meaning in the work they do. Align the work with the values that people care about and show how it contributes to the organization and the people you serve. Show people the importance of “why” and not just the “what” and “how” per Simon Sinek.
Work doesn’t have to suck. When we can work better, we can live better.
