With worldwide and personal events taking an emotional toll on you as a leader and boss, it’s easy to feel like you’re on a never-ending hamster wheel … the continuous and repetitive cycle that keeps you immobile and uncertain about what to do or going around in circles trying to achieve intended results.
Even though you attempt to hide your true feelings, fears, and concerns, your anxiety, frustration, and anger leak out in unconscious, subtle, and sometimes loud ways. Being conscious of your feelings, which others may also be experiencing, will improve others’ ability to listen to you, brainstorm, and develop workable solutions that positively impact your results.
Tips to Get Off the Hamster Wheel and Create Positive Results
The key is to take focused actions and work with a coach.
First, Get the Facts. The head and heart do not always work well together. It’s essential to work with a coach and/or therapist to decipher what is valid as a fact versus what is true personally for you emotionally. If you don’t, peer pressure, group thinking, and wanting to be liked will take over … and not in a positive way. Continuing on the hamster wheel will hurt your results and future business and career opportunities.
Second, Put Together a Plan. Write out your ideas and talk about a short-term plan with your team to get the immediate issue handled. Keep in mind that decisions made today will impact tomorrow. So, listen and make the best win-win-win decisions. Beware of the trap of making decisions in your own best interests. Bad decisions tend to hang around for a long, long time.
Third, Get into Focused Action. Making a plan can be easy. The hard part is getting into focused action. We have so many excuses! Especially when you must make changes and instead are busy overanalyzing what could go wrong. Taking steps forward will reduce the hum of the hamster wheel in your head. For example, if you have an employee creating mischief on the team, overlooking it and not addressing it will only allow the issue to mushroom! Have the tough conversations!
Fourth, Keep Your Ego Tempered. Many times, to not feel vulnerable and feel in control, you will allow your ego to take over. You’ll issue mandates, micromanage others, or talk in a fear-based manner. Yes, your choice of words matters! Again, talk it out with one or two trusted advisors, your coach, and/or a therapist. Remember, you don’t have the luxury of “shoulding” all over everyone! (Think, it should not be this way; they should know better)
Fifth, Practice Gratitude and Allow for Learning Moments. Removing the hamster wheel will necessitate being open and vulnerable during these challenging times without carrying your emotions and fears around in your actions, on your face, and in your voice. Others will follow your lead! Use the exercise, “What worked? / What didn’t work?” to see the positives and help you determine specifically what can be done right now to impact results.
Sixth, Celebrate Your Wins! You did it! Time to celebrate and update your brags!
©Jeannette Seibly 2023 All Rights Reserved
Jeannette Seibly is a champion for success. As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Jeannette’s depth of experience and wisdom comes from 31 years of transforming bosses from hated to respected! Contact Jeannette for a confidential discussion.
A note from Jeannette about managing the “hamster wheel” of being a leader and a boss: With much change occurring worldwide and personally for everyone, it can be difficult to stay focused on what really matters. We get caught up in the hamster wheel of life and forget we can step off! This week’s article was inspired during one of my hamster wheel episodes, and it works! Contact Jeannette for a confidential sounding board to step off your hamster wheel.
The coach is in! Are you ready to build your confidence and success as a boss? As a leader, do you have bosses that are difficult for teams to work with? Or are you one of those bosses? With my depth of experience and wisdom, I transform bosses from hated to respected! Contact me to learn more about my in-depth, one-on-one, customized coaching programs.
Podcast: When was the last time you patted yourself on the back? Learning how to brag is critical to your business and career successes! Check out my podcast interview with host Frank Agin: https://bit.ly/BragPodcast. Get your brag on by giving it a listen.