As a manager you're often faced with motivating your troops. Your job is to make sure you enable them to succeed, even in the most challenging situations. But what happens when you're faced with someone that no longer seems to be excelling, the 'team spirit' has gone away and there's a considerable change to their day to day?
During my professional career one thing that has become apparent is although we recognise everyone is different, everyone has a background, what we often forget is what that history means. When you judge someone's performance do realise that each of us have values and behaviours. We can be motivated differently, and focusing on what has worked for others doesn't mean it will work for that person.
Personally, my values and behaviours are feeling: like I'm making a difference, a sense of value to the team, being included, and most importantly being respected. In the beginning of my career however, I didn't know this. I knew that I would start every thing with such passion, I would be happy to go above and beyond and put my all into everything. Then there would come a time when, I just couldn't any more. It wasn't burn out, I knew what that was, it was this feeling of anxiety, of distrust, of outright dislike for the place and/or people. I couldn't figure out where that came from or why it happened, until I was asked by a boss "What are your values and behaviours?"
That seemingly small question sparked a journey of learning to what makes me tick, it brought a whole new understanding to who I am. Why do I get excited, why am I discouraged, and most importantly how do I get motivated again?
The thing is, our mental health matters. The way we're treated matters. If you are a manager, and your team is feeling low, it's your job to support them. If that means helping each team member discover what's wrong, then speak to them, share your experiences. Always ask, what is important to you, because at the end of the day an unmotivated team isn't going to succeed. Humans are the most valuable asset to a company, their physical safety along with their mental health.