Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of...

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Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale Huey Long City Manager City of Safford

Transcript of Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of...

Page 1: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout?

Cynthia SeelhammerDeputy City Manager

City of Phoenix

Charlie McClendonCity Manager

City of Avondale

Huey LongCity ManagerCity of Safford

Page 2: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Staying Motivated                                                                                                                                                                                    

Page 3: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

What is Motivation?

• Internal state or condition that activates behavior & gives it direction

• Desire or want that energizes & directs goal-oriented behavior

• Influence of needs & desires on the intensity & direction of behavior

Page 4: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

What Causes a Loss of Motivation?

• Feeling unappreciated

• Routine or uninteresting work

• Personal problems

• Overwhelming issues

• Too many personnel issues

• Loss of a key staff person

Page 5: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Things to Avoid

• Drowning in self pity– Give yourself an hour then move on

• Destructive behaviors– We each have our favorite

• Inertia & inaction

• Over analyzing the situation

• Turning on others – or turning to gossip

Page 6: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

What are Some Motivators?

• Advancing in an organization provides recognition, which is a powerful motivating force

• Developing ideas– Creativity is a natural self motivator

• Adventure– Exploring provides a high-powered learning

environment

• Seeking continual change & adapting to it

Page 7: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Motivating Myself

• Take advantage of my support group

• Reward & recognize myself

• Shake up my surroundings

• Take a vacation

• Envision advancement and recognition

• Motivate myself by paying attention to the needs of others

• Develop a plan to address the problem – whatever it is

Page 8: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Keeping Your Staff Motivated

Page 9: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Why Bother to Motivate?

• People who are motivated & happy at work will accomplish more, perform better, build positive relationships with others & encourage others to do the same.

• People who are motivated are engaged in their work & spend their energy accomplishing positive results.

Page 10: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Motivation Advice & Ideas• Motivate yourself

– You should be modeling the behavior & attitude you expect from staff

• Do simple things often – provide recognition & praise – Give constant positive feedback/recognition when deserved

• Be “future-oriented” – Don’t dwell on past problems– Fix the problem, don’t blame & know when to move on 

• Display optimism– Show people where the organization is going, what you want to

become & identify benchmarks– Show people what is possible

Page 11: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Recognize Differences

• People are individuals & motivations are different for each person

• Get to know the individuals in your organization

• Recognize & respect the differences – What motivates one person may not motivate another

• Take the time to learn the dreams & ambitions of people– Help them get there

Page 12: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Environment versus Work

• WORK: Sometimes you can change the work, providing new experiences & new opportunities

– Consider job rotation, cross training, temporary assignments

• ENVIRONMENT: If you can’t change the work, you can probably change the environment

– Remember, the salary is seldom the number one reason people choose to stay in a job or choose to leave a job.

– Other factors may be more important

Page 13: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Changes to the Work Environment

• Job sharing• Flex hours• Telecommuting• Reward programs• Family-friendly policies• Celebrate success• Humor• FISH• Thank-you notes• Congratulation notes• Copies of photos• Publish stories

• In the past some of these options have been hard to implement in the public sector.– Perception of special

treatment

• In today’s job market we are all competing for the same scarce talent & some of these flexible options are now the norm in the private sector.

Page 14: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Alternatives to Monetary Motivation

• What motivates people other than money?

– Recognition– Time off– Involvement in decisions– Promotions– Freedom– Education– Growth– Fun

Page 15: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

What Motivates You?

• Secretary: “Being included so that I know what is going on. Having a personal connection with those I work with. Building positive relationships. Having my work acknowledged.”

• Technical experts: “Freedom to do my projects the way I want to, but knowing I am always able to go to my manager to bounce ideas around or ask advice.”

• “The variety of projects so that it never gets boring. I can always move from one project to the other and switch my focus.”

Page 16: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

What Motivates You?

• Management Assistant: “I know I can completely change jobs or take on a special project if I want to, all I have to do is ask. I know I am not expected to die in the harness doing the exact same thing for many years. I know I will have opportunities.”

 • Department Manager: “Flexibility so I can be with

my family when I need to be, and work a modified schedule when I need to. A culture where my ideas are welcomed and taken seriously. Opportunities for training or learning.”

Page 17: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

BurnoutA Professional Reality

Page 18: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Burnout – A Professional Reality!

• Professional burnout (PBO) is a serious problem

– It can cause executives & families great unhappiness & emotional pain

– It can impair judgment and put their business and career at risk

• PBO is not as easy to spot as chickenpox or strep throat, but it is quite common

Page 19: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Burnout – A Professional Reality!

• A significant percentage of executives will suffer an episode of PBO at some point in their careers.

• City management types are a hardy, hard-working group.– They have to be in order to get to where they are

today

• Some executives find themselves unable to function or, perhaps even worse, are able to function but in a compromised manner that places themselves or their organization in harms way!

Page 20: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Contributing Factors to PBO

• High stress

• Loss of control– personal or career

• Political change

• Staff upsizing & downsizing

• Economic conditions– prosperity – poverty

• Changing behavior to meet political criteria

• Relentless & unforgiving daily demands

• Business conditions & competitive factors

Page 21: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Contributing Factors to PBO

• Pursue high-level business educational success

• Executive trying to do too much– Perfectionism

• Not willing to define your limitations– Superman Complex

• Your leadership role– Being a leader exacts a price

Note:

Maintaining a

powerful family & support

mechanism can be

one of your best

anti-burnout

strategies.

Page 22: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Signs of Burnout• Chronic fatigue –

exhaustion, tiredness & physically rundown

• Anger at those making demands

• Self-criticism for putting up with demands

• Cynicism, negativity & irritability

• Exploding at inconsequential things, frequent headaches, & gastrointestinal disturbances

• Weight loss or gain

• Sleeplessness & depression

• Shortness of breath

• Suspiciousness

• Feelings of helplessness

• Lack of accomplishment

• Increased degree of risk-taking

Page 23: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

Conquering Change

• Managing the stress of change to prevent PBO

– Exercise– Eat right– Create change coping mechanism– Create your plan for change– Know when to get help 

Page 24: Chickenpox, Strep Throat or Professional Burnout? Cynthia Seelhammer Deputy City Manager City of Phoenix Charlie McClendon City Manager City of Avondale.

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