Jennifer Currence, MBA, SHRM-SCP, PCC

One thing that's truly worked for me is to set a 10-year plan for myself, then chunk it down from there. For example, I knew I wanted to speak at a national level, so I identified what I needed to do to get there. To do so, I set goals to volunteer for local presentations in year one and two, then submit for statewide presentations in years three and four, then get paid for presentations in years five and six, and finally submit for national presentations in year seven. By following my plan, I actually hit my 10-year goal in 4-years! Being intentional about your goals and writing them down so you see them every day WORKS!

First of all, congratulate yourself for identifying why your team is experiencing burnout! Now it's time to get down to work setting those boundaries: 1. Set clear expectations. This can be done through a job description for individuals or through a group conversation for a team project. 2. Encourage life balance. Don't expect employees to work all the time. Humans must disengage from time to time in order to function properly. 3. Check in and communicate clearly. Don't wait for them to come to you; you must go to them. 4. Be flexible when possible, but show the same flexibility for everyone. I once worked for a manager who let us go home a couple hours early every year on the first beautiful day of spring. What a welcome little benefit!

When you're facing any mental obstacle, one of the best ways to become "unstuck" is to change your scenery. Take a walk, go on a team lunch off-site, do an unrelated team activity. Here are some random activities to consider: Improv course, cooking class, scavenger hunt (in teams), obstacle course, respond to the prompt (i.e., what will the world be like in 2050?), or play a game like Taboo or Charades. Getting your mind off the task at hand can provide the brain with a much-needed rest period. When you get back to work, your team won't be as fixed in the mindset they were in when they could break through.

Constructive Feedback can be tough to hear, but it's often the most beneficial for our career growth, because it makes us aware of our blind spots and behaviors that might be holding us back from success. Here are five things you can do when you receive feedback: 1. Say, "Thank you for your feedback." 2. Ask clarifying questions. Try to ask three questions to learn more, such as: "What impact does this have?" or "What advice to you have for me?" 3. Find the 1% that you can agree with (hopefully it's more, but there's always something). 4. Take action. Whenever possible, incorporate the giver of your feedback in your action plan: "Would you be willing to help me ....?" 5. Follow up one week later: "How am I doing?"

It's important to stay engaged - in various ways! Take your 45 minutes of feeling sorry for yourself, then get up and dust yourself off. I've heard so many people (myself included!) who have suffered a blow you didn't see coming... then realized it was the best thing that could have happened to them. Adopt of mindset of "Next!" and stay connected to your community and friends through networking events and LinkedIn. It's also a GREAT time to take some classes or do some research you've been meaning to do. Hire a coach to talk through next options with you (I can help!).