How to serve without burning out?

I misunderstood what servant leadership meant in my early days as a manager.

The mindset shift that changed how I see servant leadership as a catalyst.

Early on, when I took over managing a team, I wanted to "do it all".

Letting go of my "doer" mentality was challenging. 

When leading a team or an organization, you have to move from the “doer” to be the “catalyst”. You have to learn to unlearn previous habits.

New managers and leaders particularly have this challenge of balancing saying “Yes” to all requests to establish credibility and getting bogged down by solving all of them.

The result? 

↳Burnout from overworking.

↳No time to do the things that matter the most.

↳Less time with the team members means you are not building the relationship required with your team.

Here are 3 strategies to safeguard your time and be more effective at leading.

𝟭. 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗯𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀

- Learn to say No to requests that don’t need your time.

- Befriend the "Why?" question as default. 

Understand the purpose before taking any action.

𝟮. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 with intent

- Create a framework for when the buck stops with you. 

- Remove being the bottleneck.

- Empower your team by delegate tasks of high value to your team members.

𝟯. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀

- Prioritize 1:1 with your team members.

- Listen actively to what they are saying or not saying.

- Ask them "How can I help?", "Where can I support you to meet your goals?". Words of support and encouragement builds immediate trust.

Practicing the above really gave me time to focus on what truly matters and reduce the noise. 

Caring about your team and safeguarding your energy are really the key as you grow into a manager or leadership role.