“I am having a quarter-life crisis!”
That is the first thing that he said, half-jokingly, as we sat down for our first executive coaching session. A sharp, high-achieving Director in a large heath system, Juan (not his real name) was in his early thirties. After finishing graduate school, he couldn’t wait to start working in healthcare to fulfill his passion for helping others. A few years later, the passion was all gone.
Fighting back tears, he described how in his first year, he used to get butterflies when he was handed a new project. Not anymore. His current job was so demanding and reactionary in nature that he didn’t know what he liked or didn’t like anymore. He had become too numb to be able think clearly and that is why has was reaching out to me.
As the Director of a large department, Juan had about 15 employees reporting to him. At any given point in time, he had a dozen different fires to put off. The employee issues that he had to deal with on a daily basis and the constant emergencies were getting really old for him. He was getting burnt out from being on call, managing tardiness and interpersonal conflict, responding to complaints by emails, and being pulled in many different directions. When I asked him to rate his job satisfaction on a scale of 1-10, he gave it a 5. “The only reason I am not giving it a lower score is because the pay is decent and I have a good relationship with my boss,” he remarked.
In the late 1960’s, Frederick Herzberg taught us the fundamentals of what motivates people at work. In his research, he had found that employees can be in three different states: unmotivated, neutral, and motivated. The factors that workers to go from the unmotivated to the neutral state were very different from the ones that allowed them to get from the neutral to the motivated state. Being paid a reasonable salary, having a decent relationship with the boss and having job security were what Herzberg called the “hygiene” factors- necessary but not sufficient. Having these in place meant that you didn’t hate your job, but you didn’t love it either. To become motivated, you needed much more: you had to feel that your responsibilities are meaningful, that you are achieving something of high value, and that you were in control of your work.
Clearly, Juan was stuck in the neutral state. Throughout his high-school and college years, he had played competitive basketball and he had always known how to motivate himself. But not anymore- The spark was gone and everything was too hazy.
After listening to him describe his situation for two full hours, I finally asked him: “Tell me about a peak experience you have had in your professional life in the past, a time when you felt most alive, most involved or most excited about what you were doing.” I could tell right away that something inside him shifted. He became all excited as he described a project that he had worked on during his first year on the job when he had to create a business plan from scratch for a new service line that the organization was considering to offer. The project was very challenging, and he had to work with others to put different pieces of information together. But the final product was a resounding success and the new service was now fully operational and profitable, largely due to his original work. Juan described how he had excelled in critical thinking, strategic analyses and presenting the work to the executive team. And then all of a sudden it hit him: None of these activities were part of what he was doing in his current role.
Building on that peak experience, we worked on the next exercise- the miracle question: “Imagine that you go home tonight and go to bed. While you were sleeping, a miracle has happened and all your wishes for your professional life have been fully implemented. Now you are at work the first day after your wishes have been implemented. Wander around: what does it look like? What does it feel like? Who would you be working with? On what?”
Once again, the energy and the excitement were palpable in his tone and body language: “I am in a prep meeting with my staff and were are working on an important project. I am going to present it to the executives, we are trying to get buy-in. I am the face of the project but my staff is helping me put the pieces together. My team is diverse, I have nurses and IT people and managers. The work is mostly strategic, although it has an operational aspect to it. I have time to plan, reflect and think. I am in control of my schedule.”
A few more sessions later, and we finally had a list of factors that Juan wanted in his next job: a mix of 70% strategic and 30% operational/reactionary work, working with a multidisciplinary team of leaders (not front-line staff), a learning and challenging environment, and a reasonable schedule that allows balance. Armed with these criteria, the spark was back. His career had a newly-found direction and he knew what to look for.
Putting it All Together
The constant challenges of putting out operational fires and dealing with employee issues can take a significant toll on leaders, which can lead to burnout and disengagement. Taking time to think, reflect and plan- preferably with the help of an executive coach- can provide new insights and clear direction for the future.
————————————————————————————————————-
Dr. Amer Kaissi is a Professional Speaker, Executive Coach and an expert on Leadership, Humility & Ambition, Assuming Positive Intent, Psychological Safety & Accountability, Growth Mindsets & Resilience.
