Manage Burnout for Peak Performance: Your Emotional Energy

Energy management has four dimensions: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual (or ritual). In this blog, I focus on emotional energy. What is your approach to emotional energy management? How do you prevent emotional fatigue?

Emotional management is a frequent topic in coaching conversations when discussing peak performance, energy management, and burnout. For that very reason, emotional intelligence is the foundation of the executive coaching programs I have developed to help women thrive in their work and life.

We know that we are running critically low in our emotional energy when negative emotions become predominant and jeopardize our personal power and well-being. Fortunately, there are ways to manage negativity and build positive emotions.

• Give yourself permission to play, even at work. Step back, seek humour, and allow openness. Play with your senses: listen to people laughing; watch funny videos; pull out a colouring book; take a doodle break; play with words or phrases or do anything that helps you engage a playful mindset or attitude. Play can energize you physically, mentally, AND emotionally. Play can help you see new patterns, spark curiosity and creativity, trigger ideas and innovation, or simply encourage your mind to wander into positive imagery.
• Phone a friend. Sometimes, picking up the phone can be the last thing we want to do even though hearing another person’s voice, especially a friend’s voice, can be just what we need to boost our emotional energy. If you have not done so already, hone this skill. Identify three people you could call if you needed someone to “just talk and listen”. Ask them if they would be open to receiving an occasional call just to stay connected. A confidante is a precious gift. Develop a practice of checking in. Schedule a quiet time with your friend and confidante. A short call lets both parties know that there is another person there. “I’m just calling because I thought of you.” or, “I’m just checking in. Tell me about your day.”
• Find a way to make someone else feel acknowledged. When we spend too much time in our own heads, we lose perspective and forget that we’re not alone. Find a way to offer help or practise a random act of kindness. A simple nod and a smile with your eyes tells someone that they are seen and that they are not invisible.

Emotional Energy for Organizations

Many organizations, small, medium, large, and micro-sized are experiencing the effects of waning emotional energy. Emotional exhaustion spreads through organizations like wildfire if unattended. The following are simple ways to get those wildfires under control.

• Provide resources for employees to learn how to express the full range of emotions in a healthy way. These emotions include sadness, anger, disappointment, helplessness, hopelessness, defeat, depression, fear, AND joy.
• Establish networks for executive-level peer support. There are many peer support communities that have found ways to meet virtually and provide emotional support to business owners and executives that are critical at this time. There are virtual advisory boards for women business owners of all sizes and membership sites where confidentiality is respected and where support is given graciously. These networks include, and are not limited to, Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), GroYourBiz, WEConnect International, Women Building Empires, Company of Women
• Provide quality coaching resources for your employees AND yourself. A qualified coach can also offer emotional support for executives, leaders, and managers. My coaching programs focus on a foundation of emotional intelligence.
• Be intentional in recognizing and celebrating small victories at work. Add a segue in your meetings to set a positive tone with recognition of what is going well – both personally and professionally. Frustration, anger, or fear are toxic and can block peak performance. Good feelings are contagious and can replenish our emotional energy.

What do you think? What is your strategy for emotional energy management? What action are you willing to take to restore emotional energy in your work and life? How can you be a positive influence in your organization to avoid burnout and set an environment for a new level of peak performance?

Emotional intelligence is key to leading in this particular time of drain on emotional energy for you and the people around you. Contact me to learn how I bring the concept of emotional intelligence to my work with my clients. We start with an EQ-i 2.0 and EQ360 assessment and then design a full coaching program that will benefit you and your organization. If you are curious about emotional intelligence, check out the online mini-course Your Building Blocks to Emotional Well-Being and Resilience.

This continuing series dives deep into the four dimensions of energy as each pertains to burnout: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experience on this topic. How have you been managing burnout? Let me know how you are doing. You can reach me on LinkedIn, and on Maestro’s Facebook.