How Leaders Can Deal with Becoming Overwhelmed

A leader not only has personal responsibilities to care for, but they also are accountable for those that they are leading. This can add a lot of pressure onto one’s shoulder as well as their reputation. Thus, it can become quite overwhelming sometimes. It’s essential to pace one’s self and set clear guidelines for others to follow. If employees or other team members see an overwhelmed leader, this can trickle down onto them. So, it is advised that leaders manage such feelings to maintain the productivity of the team members and project.

Expressing Concerns

People are not mind readers, so it is best to voice one’s concerns regarding a matter. Sometimes, people fear expressing themselves because they might be misunderstood. So, they develop tolerance for things they might not really like. When leaders don’t express themselves to other team members, frustration builds up and they become very overwhelmed. As a result, the project tends to be what suffers. There is an effective and respectful way to give constructive criticism without it being taken negatively. A person can greatly benefit from developing communication skills so that all matters are addressed and discussed appropriately.

Don’t Micromanage

Feeling overwhelmed could just be a personal issue where a person has the habit of micromanaging. Some people feel a bit more secure when they micromanage others. This is because they lack confidence in other people’s abilities to do their jobs effectively. Not only does this make a leader overwhelmed, but it makes workers feel as though their leader doesn’t believe in they are capable. Everyone has their individual job to do, so leaders should respect these boundaries instead of trying to control every variable of a project.

Be Assertive

A leader shouldn’t be afraid to make demands. It is not about being a dictator. It is primarily about being stern as a leader. As a leader, one must give clear and concise guidance to their workers as they are looking for direction. One may be surprised at how accommodating team members are as they work to meet the demands and meet deadlines. It is crucial that when making demands, a leader steps aside so that others have the opportunity to do their job which requires receptivity on the leaders behalf to accept help being offered. In addition to being assertive, it is also good to practice gratitude to foster healthy work connections.