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When Mohamed El-Erian abruptly resigned from his high-profile, and highly lucrative, position as Pimco’s co-chief investment officer a year ago, most observers were shocked. I wasn’t.

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As Printed in the Harvard Business Review Blog

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Successful leaders keep their promises. They take their responsibilities to others seriously, and, when necessary, they put aside their own needs for the good of the organization. As … Read More

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Listen as CBC Founder & CEO Mike Kibler coaches WNYC radio host Charlie Herman on how to regain his passion for work and prevent Executive Brownout™.  From WNYC’s June 13th podcast:

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Facebook Link to WNYC ... &url=https://corporatebalance.com/?p=698"> Twitter Google+ Fall in Love With Your Job All Over Again

&summary=Link to WNYC Broadcast [1] Listen as CBC Founder & CEO Mike Kibler coaches WNYC radio host Charlie Herman on how to regain his passion for work and prevent Executive Brownout™.  From WNYC's June 13th podcast: [audio mp3="http://corporatebalance.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/moneytalking20150611_hbrkibler_pod.mp3"][/audio] The words you use to describe how you feel at work matter. Take the term "burnout." It's so generic, people throw it around all the time in the office when they’re feeling exhausted. But really, few people are at the point where they’re about to chuck it all, quit their job, and start all over. A more accurate description for how people are feeling might be the one that Mike Kibler, founder and CEO of Corporate Balance Concepts, calls "brown out." Kibler describes this as a "graduated loss of passion, of openness, of ‘collaborative-ness’" at work. Consider it the state you reach before you completely burn out. Through his work, Kibler has seen a lot of people in this state: they’re dissatisfied with their job, but they can’t quite pinpoint what’s wrong. He says it’s not surprising considering how work is changing because of globalization, technology, market consolidation and the workforce itself, as Baby Boomers retire and Millennials start to replace them. In an article for the Harvard Business Review, Kibler says there is a solution for a boss trying to spark some life back into a “browned-out” employee. And it’s pretty simple: Talk to them. Show them you care. One of the easiest places Kibler recommends doing this is during the annual review. If taken seriously, this can be a time when you as a manager can broach not just professional issues, but more personal questions and take a moment to consider an employee as a "whole person.” And if you are the employee, it can be a time of reflection on what motivates and excites you. "It has to be customized for every person," Kibler said. [1] http://www.wnyc.org/story/fall-in-love-with-your-job-all-over-again/"> Linkedin

As Printed in the Harvard Business Review Blog

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Much has been written on a leader’s role in motivating, engaging, and bringing out the best in others. Yet research suggests there is still much more that could … Read More

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&summary=As Printed in the Harvard Business Review Blog Link to HBR Article [1] Much has been written on a leader’s role in motivating, engaging, and bringing out the best in others. Yet research suggests there is still much more that could be done. Frequently cited is the 2014 Deloitte study [2] that found that “up to 87% of America’s workforce is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work.” This passion gap is important because “passionate workers are committed to continually achieving higher levels of performance.” Robert Kaplan, author of What You’re Really Meant to Do [3], states that “numerous studies of highly effective people point to a strong correlation between believing in the mission, enjoying the job, and performing at a high level.” If passion plays an important role in the potential and high performance of others, how does a leader develop others toward their passions? Adopt a servant leader’s mindset. In the face of heavy workloads [4], it’s easy to have every interaction with your direct reports turn into a rushed conversation focused on getting stuff done or fixing problems. Developing others toward their passions requires a mindset shift. While many authors have written about the concept of servant leadership, one of the best definitions still comes from Robert Greenleaf [5], who originally coined the phrase in an essay published back in 1970. In it, Greenleaf writes, “The servant-leader is servant first…it begins with that natural feeling that one wants to serve. The best test, which is difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?” Help to unlock and discover people’s passions. You can help to explore what drives passion on the job for your employees by giving them a chance to pause and reflect. Choose natural points in the workflow to ask questions such as: In advance of new experiences: What are you excited about for this upcoming project or initiative? What are ways you hope to develop, learn, or grow with this experience? After key milestones: What’s something you felt great about or were especially proud of on that team or project? What was especially rewarding, meaningful, or inspiring coming out of that project, initiative, or event? At annual performance reviews: What did you most enjoy working on this past year and why? What are the types of things you’d like to get more experience in next year? In career development conversations: What is your career aspiration over the next three to five years? How do you see this role helping you get there? What inspires you now? Prioritize work at the intersection of passion and contribution. With greater information in hand, you can help to better identify that sweet spot where your employee’s passion and contribution to your team or organization overlap. In January 2017 I wrote an HBR article about prioritizing those activities where passion and contribution intersect [6]. While the article focused on how to prioritize your own work, you can apply the same framework to helping your direct reports prioritize theirs. This ensures that passion is included in the equation. Be careful of assuming that throwing more opportunities or stretch assignments at your employee is the key to unlocking passion. At some point, this can lead to what Michael E. Kibler calls a “brownout” [7] — a term used to describe part of the life cycle of a star. As Kibler says, these people “seem to be performing fine: putting in massive hours in meetings and calls across time zones, grinding out work while leading or contributing to global teams, and saying all the right things in meetings. However, these executives are often operating in a silent state of continual overwhelm, and the predictable consequence is disengagement.” Know when it’s time to help someone move on. Practically, you aren’t always going to have work or opportunities that hit the “passion contribution” zone for your employees. The key is to recognize when a role has run its course. Don’t become the boss who keeps others “in a box” or gets locked into a view of someone from the past. Not allowing a protégé to move on or spread their wings can create a passion drain. One of the things that most struck me in Sydney Finkelstein’s 2016 HBR article “Secrets of the Superbosses,” [8] which was based on his review of thousands of articles and books as well as more than 200 interviews, was how superbosses “accept churn.” They recognize that “smart, creative, flexible people tend to have fast-paced careers. Even after someone moves out of their organization, superbosses continue to offer advice, personal introductions, and membership into their networks.” Helping others to develop toward their passions can be a rewarding part of being a leader. By adopting a servant leader’s mindset, helping others to explore, prioritizing for passion contribution, and supporting others’ careers beyond their current role, you will not have only increased engagement but also be more likely to build long-lasting relationships. [1] https://hbr.org/2017/09/how-to-help-someone-discover-work-that-excites-them#comment-section [2] https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/topics/talent/worker-passion-employee-behavior.html [3] https://hbr.org/product/what-you-re-really-meant-to-do-a-road-map-for-reaching-your-unique-potential/11370-HBK-ENG?referral=02559 [4] https://hbr.org/video/5504333533001/whiteboard-session-manage-the-workload-of-being-a-leader [5] https://www.greenleaf.org/products-page/servant-leadership-a-journey-into-the-nature-of-legitimate-power-and-greatness/ [6] https://hbr.org/2017/01/how-to-prioritize-your-work-when-your-manager-doesnt [7] https://hbr.org/2015/01/prevent-your-star-performers-from-losing-passion-in-their-work [8] https://hbr.org/2016/01/secrets-of-the-superbosses"> Linkedin

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&summary=Click the links within the logos to view articles featuring Executive Brownout. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2015/nov/10/how-to-beat-demotivated-work [2] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unhappy-at-work-youre-not-suffering-burnout-but-brownout-867df6br2zn [3] https://www.angloinfo.com/blogs/global/angloinfo-world-expat-life/how-to-protect-office-stars-from-a-brownout/ [4] https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/how-to-prevent-executive-brownout.html [5] https://www.caribbeanleadership.org/blog/posts/view/executive-brownout-dona-t-let-it-make-your-brown-eyes-blue [6] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11866571/Are-you-suffering-from-brownout.html [7] https://www.skywatersearch.com/5-rules-for-keeping-your-best-managers/ [8] https://wtop.com/news/2015/02/brownout-new-name-workplace-stress/ [9] http://workingcapitalreview.com/2016/11/how-to-prevent-executive-brownout/"> Linkedin