Els Niemegeerts’ Post

We’ve all seen it: companies claim to value well-being, yet the reality is long hours, relentless pressure, and a culture that values busyness over balance. As leaders in “middle management”, we face unique challenges—expected to do more with less, faster, while keeping our teams happy and engaged, and avoiding burnout ourselves. Here’s where the struggle is real: 1. Leading by Example: How do you show balanced work behavior when the culture rewards overwork? What small, consistent actions help your team see it’s okay to take a break? 2. Setting Priorities: In a sea of tasks, how do you help your team focus on what truly matters without feeling overwhelmed? 3. Encouraging Breaks: In a fast-paced environment, breaks can seem like a luxury. How do you create a culture where breaks boost productivity rather than seem like a waste of time? 4. Promoting Fun and Engagement: How do you inject fun into the workday and boost team morale without sacrificing productivity? 5. Managing Workload and Expectations: How do you handle unrealistic workloads and unclear expectations? What strategies help you keep things fair and clear? 6. Open Communication: How do you foster an atmosphere where your team feels safe discussing stress and workload? What’s worked for you in addressing these concerns quickly? Balancing well-being with productivity is tougher than ever, especially when organizational actions don’t match their words. But by sharing our experiences and strategies, we can support each other in making meaningful changes. I also encourage you to share your obstacles, even if you don’t have solutions yet. We’re all in this together, and sometimes just acknowledging the challenges can be the first step to finding answers. Let's face it: our own leaders can sometimes contribute to the chaos, uncertainty, and lack of focus. How do you lead well in such an environment? What works? What doesn’t? Let’s start a conversation. - What has worked for you? - What obstacles have you faced, and how have you overcome them? - Your insights—and your struggles—could help another leader navigate this complex landscape. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and stories. Let’s humanize leadership, one conversation at a time. #JustStart ——————- 👋 Hi, I'm Louise. I help leaders develop the skills to lead well through 1:1 and group coaching. Imagine a team that does great work and looks forward to Mondays. Consider a coach to help YOU develop into the leader others want to follow. Reach out to learn more: lreid@humanizingleadership.com —————— Image from IG @linesbyloes Please check her out for other impactful visuals! #Leadership #WellBeing #Productivity #WorkCulture #EmployeeEngagement #MentalHealth #PositiveWorkplace #humanizingleadership #burnout #coaching #mindfulleader #mindfulness

Is "Busyness" the New Discipline Muscle We Must Exercise? In my new role as a business coach and facilitator of Vistage CEO peer groups, I’ve encountered a recurring theme that’s starting to make my skin crawl: BUSYNESS. It’s the number one excuse and deflection to any proposed change. From CEOs to senior management and down the ranks, I hear, “I’m too busy.” This busyness pandemic is rampant. So, okay, you’re busy. But are you finishing anything? 🤔 We’re inundated with reoccurring meetings where thousands of payroll dollars are spent, yet we’re too busy to pivot towards emerging market opportunities. We’re too busy to pick up our kids from school and spend quality time with them. This “I’m too busy” mantra has become a badge of honor. Really? 🏅 Consider this: Slack and Teams users are reportedly checking their messages every 7 minutes. If this is true or even close to reality, YOU ARE SPINNING YOUR WHEELS and getting nothing done. No quality thought can be engaged, executed, and deployed with a distraction every 7 minutes. 🚨 Let’s break down the top three things we waste time on daily in the office, both at the leadership and mid-manager levels: 1.     Unproductive Meetings: Endless meetings with no clear agenda or outcomes. Are we meeting just for the sake of meeting? 📅 2.     Email and Message Overload: Constantly checking and responding to emails and instant messages instead of focusing on strategic tasks. Is your inbox or chat app running your day? 📧 3.     Micromanagement: Leaders and managers spending too much time on tasks that should be delegated. Are you empowering your team or stifling them? 🤹♂️ Busyness is not a sign of productivity. It’s time we shift our mindset and adopt discipline as our tool to manage the increasing load. Discipline helps us prioritize, delegate, and focus on what truly matters. It’s about finishing what we start, making meaningful progress, and achieving work-life balance. CEOs and leaders, it’s time to lead by example. Let’s wear the badge of discipline, not busyness. So, you are busy. Do you ever ask yourself what was done versus what you did? Do you start your day asking what do I need to do versus what I should do? Is your “should do” list getting in the way of your want-to-do or need-to-do? Challenge yourself: Discipline over busyness. 💪 #Leadership #Productivity #BusinessGrowth #DisciplineOverBusyness #Vistage

✨ 𝐔𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐈𝐭 𝐔𝐩! ✨ When a manager or CEO walks out the door, it’s not just experience and skills leaving—it’s also a 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭! Rehiring, onboarding, and training a new manager can cost up to 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 of the departing leader. Eeek! Plus, beyond the dollars, frequent turnover disrupts team morale, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, and makes it harder to maintain a stable, high-performing culture. We all know it; we’ve seen it in action and it’s not great and can lead to low reviews in google. But that’s life, isn’t it? Managers should just SUCK IT UP! It’s their job after all? That’s what they’re getting paid the big bucks for? That may have been the attitude in the past, but it doesn’t fly now. So, what's your company doing about it? 🔍 The standard EAP? Which every business offers now? No, you can do more, standout as a innovative business, and it's easy! We’ve dedicated the last few years developing the 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. It’s: ·        Bespoke ·        Adaptable for individuals right through to large organisations ·        Affordable 💡 And it gets RESULTS! It’s designed specifically to support leaders to avoid burnout. By focusing on personal well-being, resilience, and sustainable work habits, we help managers and leaders find the balance they need to thrive—not just survive—in their roles. Here’s how it helps: • Proactive Support: Regular check-ins and direct 1:1 support for real-time challenges • Focus on Holistic Well-being: Enabling a work-life balance that sustains productivity without burnout • Team Stability: A happy, supported manager is more likely to remain loyal and invested 🌟 Interested to learn more? DM me now or write ME below for an information pack with all the details and affordable pricing. The next step to being a global leader starts here and now. #LeadershipWellbeing #ManagerRetention #SustainableSuccess #EmployeeWellbeing #PreventBurnout #MindfulMission

How easy do you find it to say ‘No’? How do you feel when you need to do it? Our previous post on getting to Alignment and Commitment in teams missed out one fundamental issue: The need to say No – at least at times.   And we can find it SO difficult to do, particularly in cultures with low trust or psychological safety: What will people think? What will the consequences be for me? How will this impact my reputation/image? Will my leader back me up? In a world where ‘busy-ness’ seems to be rewarded, and where there’s a constant pressure to do more and perhaps to people please, the desire to say ‘yes’ even when your brain or gut is screaming ‘no!’ can be overwhelming. There are huge consequences if we DON’T say no – for us, for our teams and for the organisation. For us: Fundamentally, to be able to deliver on the ‘yes’, we have to say ‘no’ to something else. And often it’s ourselves or our own priorities/objectives. So, either another of our work priorities/objectives is not delivered (consequences at appraisal or for our team), or we try to cram it in and work longer hours, saying ‘no’ to our work life balance, perhaps our families or friends, or our health and fitness etc.  Organisations and teams who keep saying ‘yes’ when sometimes it should be a ‘no’ can find themselves delivering quantity over quality, getting distracted from strategic priorities and over time suffering from burnout (with associated higher turnover rates, lower engagement scores, which can both negatively impact profits.) Finally, as leaders, you are paid to ‘Do the Right Thing’ rather than ‘Do Things Right’ – which means making choices and backing your teams to deliver them. So what needs to happen? -         As a team - Choose and align behind the cross-team strategic priorities to deliver key initiatives/KPIs. Discuss fully in the Creative Conflict/Challenge phase so that all perspectives are heard. Then decide and get buy in/Commitment/Alignment to this. -         As part of this – identify what you as a team will need to say No to, in order to deliver the priorities. Get really clear on what this means for individuals, sub teams and other teams/functions/departments – and align behind how to communicate the message consistently. Show up as One Team consistently in your comms. -         Explore how to Say No in different ways, and what that is like for different people. (We often spend time with teams helping them to explore this, and practice ways of saying no. Coaching can help individuals and teams to understand what really stops them here. Clue: It’s often something within themselves, and NOT an external factor!) And ask yourself: What do I want to say Yes to in my life? And what will that mean I need to say No to, to create the space for that? #TeamCoaching #HighPerformingTeams #Priorities #SayingNo Tara Zutshi

Imagine… You walk into your office knowing that your team’s got it. Your employees are motivated, efficient, creative, and have top-notch performance. The few conflicts that arise are handled with integrity, compassion, and candor. Throughout the day, you accomplish your most important tasks. And even if you get stressed, you have practical stress management tools to quickly bring yourself back into balance. You have time to focus on strategic thinking and creative innovation, rather than being bogged down by feeling burnt out and being under constant pressure. Meetings are productive, with team members taking ownership and accountability. And, as the day winds down, you feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. You leave the office knowing that you have made a positive impact, not just on your work but on your team as well. You head home, ready to enjoy quality time with your loved ones, without the lingering stress of unfinished tasks or looming deadlines. Sounds great… but it’s far away from your current reality? I see you. And yet, it’s not impossible. Imposter syndrome, burnout, and ineffective team dynamics don’t need to be your everyday experience. As a coach and a leader, I’ve learned many different frameworks and tools that can turn these challenges around. Can’t promise the transformation will be fast, but it’s definitely possible. Reach out and let’s connect to see what immediate changes you can implement to feel in control of (rather than at the mercy of) your days. #Leadership #FashionIndustry #ExecutiveCoaching #WorkLifeBalance #TeamDynamics #PersonalGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment

'They should just push through' 'People aren't resilient like they used to be' 'We wouldn't have got away with all of this, we had to work through' 'We want to improve performance, but we can't have everyone burned out' Sound familiar? It's a common conversation, and an even more common problem. Whether you actually celebrate the diversity of different generations in the workplace, or find them frustrating, it can still feel frustrating and hamper progress. Having to educate teams that the working day starts at 9, not 12. That 'my cat threw up' isn't a valid reason to miss a presentation That work/life balance is important but that work has to be on one side of that see-saw, not seen as an inconvenience or That expecting everyone to power through is damaging and counter-productive All real-life issues that clients are navigating. Here's the uncomfortable truth: if your teams aren't resilient enough, it's not about their 'backbone' - it's about your foundations. True business resilience isn't built on grit alone. It's built on structures and culture. Building high performing teams is about more than 'powering through'. It's built on effective communication, psychological safety, better decision making, strong alignment to mission and to each other before you look at execution. 💡 Time to rethink what makes teams truly robust? Book our ‘modern resilience’ workshop where we will address these gritty issues and build the foundations for a resilient, energised and happy team. As an introduction to Meraki People - Organisational Health, we are offering 40% off our Building Resilient Teams workshop. Three hours with your senior leadership to: - improve team performance across your organisation - reduce pressure on middle management and SLT - reduce burnout Book before 20 December to get this for £1,500 + VAT (will be £2.500 + VAT in the New Year) We can come to deliver the workshop in January or February 2025. DM me the word 'RESILIENCE' to book in a call to find out more. #BusinessResilience #LeadershipThinking #UKBusiness #ResilientTeam #Leadership #Burnout

Ditch the Burnout: Leading with Clarity, Not Overload https://lnkd.in/e6d8vVzd When we saw this advice from a respected leadership firm, we had the same reaction you might have now—how can a company that claims to build extraordinary cultures encourage burnout? It’s a contradiction: being told to value work-life balance, yet rewarded for overextending ourselves or being judged by perception, not actual results. At Being Collective, we reject the notion that dedication means after-hours emails. Studies show working late doesn’t boost performance—it leads to emotional exhaustion, reduced attention, impaired memory, and stifled creativity. Why advise staying connected 24/7, only to see productivity and engagement decline? Asking employees to respond after hours fosters burnout, not performance. We help create environments where success is measured by results—not hours worked. One client, a high-growth tech firm, struggled with burnout. After shifting to value delivered over time spent, employee satisfaction increased by 27% within six months. The future of leadership lies in valuing human creativity and connection—qualities stifled by an always-on culture. AI and automation are reshaping industries, but the best leaders will build trust and empowerment, knowing true productivity isn’t about constant availability but meaningful work. At Being Collective, we help leaders incubate high-performing cultures without compromising well-being. We don’t just offer advice; we partner with you to drive lasting results. If you’re looking for a partner who truly understands your challenges and goes beyond delivering a 120-page report of charts and recommendations, we’re here to help you, with you, build teams that excel—without burnout Your people deserve environments that challenge, support, and inspire - so they stick around. Let’s create a culture of true excellence together!

Great leadership is not (only) about focus and energy. It’s also putting the mind and the heart of your people in the right place. How do you build the minds and hearts of your high performers? Here are some actionable bits of advice, that should work for you too: 1. When a team member does great work, send them a thoughtful thank-you note. Mention specifics on what they did well and how it helped the team. A bit of genuine appreciation can make someone's whole week. 2. If someone seems stressed or overworked, sit down with them and see how you can help. Maybe you can shift deadlines, bring in help, or just be a listening ear. Let them know their well-being comes first. 3. Look for growth opportunities for your people. Encourage them to take on stretch projects, learn new skills, and attend conferences. Show you're invested in their long-term success, not just what they can do for you now. 4. Create a team culture where it's okay to have a life outside work. Let folks unplug on evenings and weekends. Avoid meetings over lunchtime or late in the day. Check-in if someone's working too much. Model work-life balance yourself. Remind everyone that rest and recharging isn't laziness — it helps them bring their best selves to work. 5. Make space for your team's ideas and input. In meetings, hold back from sharing your opinion right away. Ask folks what they think, then really listen. Draw out the quieter voices. Double down on their ideas. Focus on what they’ve seen that you don’t know. That’s how great decisions are made. 📌 P.S. Thoughts? 🔔 Follow Yiorgos Tzirtzilakis, I help you go from ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ at work.

Balancing Bonds : How to Tackle Underperformance Without Straining Relationships As people work together, a bond often forms over time. This connection can sometimes make it difficult for employees to report underperformance. A high-performing employee might hesitate to report a colleague or junior who isn't meeting expectations, fearing they might jeopardize their colleague’s job or strain their relationship. We started facing this issue as our team grew. When asked for feedback, team members were reluctant to say anything negative about their colleagues, leading to inefficiency and slower overall performance. This problem not only harmed the company's overall performance but also took a toll on the work-life balance of those who didn't report underperformance. Deadlines were being missed, and they were working extra to compensate for the underperformers. After much thought, I found a simple yet effective solution. I scheduled a call with all team leads and anyone with juniors reporting to them. I reminded them that while it's good to help or mentor someone, it shouldn't come at the cost of their work-life balance. I emphasized the importance of keeping professional life and friendships separate. This discussion provided clarity, and many acknowledged that their schedules and work-life balance were suffering. This realization helped solve the problem. Sometimes, when you're very busy, you lose the ability to see things clearly. Having someone make you think about it can bring the necessary clarity. #teamwork #team #business #startups

Why do we push our top performers to burnout —then act surprised when they quit? Here's the Problem: Meet Sarah. She’s a senior leader at a tech company, a rockstar at leadership and problem-solving. She’s critical to her company’s success. But what’s her reward for being a high performer? 😡 Stressful goals: She gets handed the most complex, high-risk projects. 😡 Meeting overload: Her calendar’s packed with back-to-back meetings, forcing her to work nights and weekends. 😡 Lack of mentorship: She’s under-mentored because her leaders are too busy fixing “squeaky wheels.” 😡 Return-to-office pressure: Since she’s a top performer, her company expects her to work from the office more often, limiting her flexibility. And after months of burnout, Sarah quits. Her story isn’t unique—many organizations are so focused on managing low performers that they neglect their best talent. The Solution: To stop this cycle, companies need to build cultures that are obsessed with high performers. Here’s how: ✅ Cut down on unnecessary meetings. → High performers like Sarah don’t need to be in every meeting. → Streamline your calendar to a few critical weekly sessions and give people more time for deep work. ✅ Measure team motivation. → High performers thrive in environments where they can take ownership and see real improvement. → Regularly measure motivation, identify pain points, and make room for problem-solving. ✅ Mentor high performers. → Instead of focusing all development efforts on underperformers, routinely mentor your top talent. → Help them grow in concrete skills that increase their effectiveness and keep them engaged. CTA: → Want to keep your Sarahs? → Start building a culture that supports and nurtures your high performers, before they walk out the door. 🔄 Repost to help your colleagues perform better. 🔔 Follow me – Marc Sniukas – for proven systems to lead better.