This was a late learned truth for me - that many HR roles (especially managerial/strategic roles) require significant personal drive, or at least they did for me.
I am someone who likes to make a difference, take on a challenging role and bring change (and yes perhaps I am a perfectionist - perhaps!). This has a cost. To generate and bring to life your ideas takes energy, to get others on board and deliver your vision takes more energy. Some businesses provide this momentum but many roles, particularly more senior ones, require it to be generated from within you.
This can be an invigorating and purposeful feeling, but it can also be depleting and that internal fire needs to be restocked otherwise it will take its toll on your mental and physical health. If this affects you then consider building in time to rest, refuel and allow a space for calm before new ideas and energies come your way.
It's worth considering what season you are in within your role. Is it Spring with new ideas and shoots of change growing in your mind, getting ready to take action, Summer where new plans are put into place and worked through, Autumn where we pause to take stock of what has gone before or Winter when we take a rest to recharge, reflect and refocus. These are not literal seasons but a consideration of where you are with your work role currently, it can’t always be Summer. Without these considerations your motivation will start to ebb (this internal energy can’t be used forever) and you will risk moving into a burnout state.
Some ideas of how to build in these seasonal considerations and refill the personal drive are:
- diarise rest and recharge points in your diary, reflecting each month to make sure you are not running on empty
- to plan out projects and include a pause phase at the end
- build in field trips - conferences, courses and networking to build new ideas and be witness not driver.
- diarise learning slots weekly to listen to pods or read books and articles to refresh our ideas bank
Ideas
Consider your own energies and what you need to refuel - this might be conversation with people, time alone or reading around the subject to generate new ideas.
Action
Identify 3 ways to refuel your personal drive - diarise them monthly (or as needed)
Reading
Julia Cameron - The Artist’s Way
Susan Cain - Quiet
Selina Barker - Burnout
Anna Katharina Schaffner - Exhausted
Photo by Natalya Ukolova on Unsplash