Are You Protecting Your People?

September 2022

It’s amazing how many people have confided in me, “I just can’t take it anymore. The hours required at work and the unrealistic expectations of management are killing me.”

Have you ever felt that way, or do know someone who has? Chances are that your answer is YES.

I admit, I’ve been in those shoes myself. Yet after having been a Project Manager and having led global project management teams, I know how critical it is for Project Managers to balance client expectations with the ability to deliver best-in-class results while protecting your team from burnout. The best Project Managers know how to assess what can realistically be accomplished while keeping both the client and project team members happy—clients happy with timely results and perceived value; and project teams happy with their work/life balance.

That said, it’s not always possible for Project Managers, or department heads, or senior executives to weigh reasonable versus overload if everyone on the project team automatically responds Yes Sir or Yes Ma’am to every request.  It’s incumbent upon the professionals on the team to be realistic about their abilities and personal needs and push back when demands are unreasonably aggressive and threaten the quality of outcome.

While it’s vital for leaders to protect their people, leaders won’t know when to negotiate more reasonable stakeholder expectations if no one on the project team admits the work can’t be done in a best-in-class way within the timeframe requested. Leadership is a two-way street. Honest communication, both up and down the line, is key.

Over the years, I’ve mentored many high-performers who confided that they had grown sick and tired of the rat race, putting in 60 to 80-hour work weeks just because it had become the expected norm. Inevitably, when I asked them, “Have you discussed with your manager that you believe these demands are not only unrealistic, but they’re detrimental to morale and performance? Have you explained that something needs to come off your plate to accommodate the new request?” the answer would be akin to, “Of course not! That would be committing career suicide.”  

So, the high performer would begrudgingly continue to accommodate the ever-increasing demands, regardless of how the added workload impacted their attitude, performance, and overall quality of life.

But now—thanks to a series of viral posts on TikTok— a new term has recently come into vogue: “Quiet Quitting.”

Quiet Quitting encompasses the variety of last-resort methods workers are using these days to reduce the time and energy they commit to their jobs—essentially quitting the practice of going above and beyond; and quitting the norm of “living to work” in favor of working just enough hours to get by and have a more fulfilling life outside of work.

One of the most important responsibilities a leader has is to build a strong, cohesive team. A great leader will generally take notice when a team member is faltering or unhappy, and they will do everything in their power to mitigate the problem—because great leaders protect their people. 

When a leader fails to notice when a team member is suffering from burnout, and the team member is afraid to engage in a candid discussion about their condition, something is very wrong. It’s impossible for a leader to build and maintain a strong, cohesive team when their people feel put upon and burned out.

Trusting relationships are the foundation of best place to work cultures. In best places to work, open and honest two-way dialog is an everyday occurrence. In best places to work, a best-ever boss would never let things get to the point where team members feel they can’t take it anymore. In best places to work, if a leader has even the slightest inkling that a team member is struggling, frustrated, or unhappy, they will proactively engage in honest, caring dialog with that team member to determine what needs to be done to correct the situation. Sometimes the solution is to move the suffering team member into a position better suited to their abilities and desires.

Even best-ever bosses cannot always read minds, so it’s incumbent upon team members to proactively share concerns with their manager, unemotionally and candidly.  If the manager responds by suggesting the team member should just “suck it up,” while it’s understandable that the team member might feel like quietly quitting, the reality is that doing so, or walking out the door in righteous indignation, will not resolve the broader problem.

It's likely that other team members are feeling the same way. It’s best to do everyone a favor and protect each other. Step up and be a role model. Engage in candid dialog with your peers. Explain your concerns to them in a meaningful, brainstorming way—not in a complaining way—and then together explore potential solutions. At least by having each other’s backs, you and the team will build stronger bonds and together you can try to coach your manager on how to address the overall situation appropriately.

After that, if your manager still doesn’t get it, then request a skip-level meeting with your second-line manager. At least your second-line will then become more aware of what’s really going on. It could be that your manager would benefit by moving on to a position better suited to their abilities and desires.

Regardless of the position you hold, your objective should always be to create a best place to work environment for everyone.  Doing so is all about negotiating solutions that lead to what I call Infinite-Win outcomes. An Infinite-Win is when you and the other person each attain the outcomes you respectively desire, and the broader community realizes a better outcome as well. 

I discuss the responsibility of leaders to protect their people and how to achieve Infinite-Win outcomes in my book Women on Top: What’s Keeping You from Executive Leadership? In it, Lt. General Kathleen Gainey, US Army (retired), offers her suggestions on how to advance your career and have a better life. General Gainey nets it out like this:

“Take care of people. If you invest in people, they will invest in you. When you learn how to invest in people, then you can learn how to build teams. If you build teams, teams will succeed. You, acting alone, will only partially succeed.”

Whether you are a team leader or a manager, a senior executive, or the CEO, protect your people. Take care of them. Invest in them. The loyalty returned will be well worth the investment.

Whether you are an individual contributor or a manager, partner up with your peers and protect each other. By investing in each other, you’ll each learn to become better leaders.  Through working together and by keeping everyone’s best interests at heart, you’ll build a stronger, more cohesive team—and strong, cohesive teams can be unstoppable.

That’s an Infinite-Win.