Do you hate your job?

January 25, 2019

So far this year, my gut check blogs have focused on what I believe are some critical things that leaders need to pay attention to.

I started by asking whether you are making your main thing, your main thing? Until one is clearly focused on what really matters, then I don’t believe one will have a chance of being truly successful. We each run the risk of completely losing focus on the distractions that can fill our day.

In my next blog, I questioned whether it’s time to challenge your fundamental assumptions about your business? In disruptive times, leaders need to challenge their own personal status quo or the risk being locked in to old patterns and outdated ways of thinking. Both of which lead to ineffective decisions and actions.

In this blog, I want to deal with another pressing issue that’s been in the back of my mind for a while. As a leader, do you hate your job?

I’ve met many leaders who are really struggling in their roles. This is an observation forged through the many conversations and interactions I have with leaders, either through the speeches I deliver, the sessions I facilitate or the questions and comments I receive on social media.

This issue really came into focus for me this week, when I read an article in Huffington Post by Monica Torres entitled, This Is What Happens to Your Body When you Hate Your Job.

While her article focuses on employees in general, I think it’s critical for leaders to pause and reflect on whether they actually enjoy their jobs and find meaning in them, or downright hate them.

In my mind, if you are an employee and hate your job, that’s an important issue that needs to be addressed.

But when someone in a leadership role hates their job, it’s even more critical that action is taken to remedy the situation. The reasons are obvious. One can’t do an effective job of leading others if one isn’t fulfilled in their work, or worse, it’s a job you hate.

In the article, Torres cites several telltale signs that emerge when you are in a job that you hate:

Trouble sleeping
Frequent headaches
Generalized muscle pain
Depleted mental health
You feel “sick” and “run down” all the time
You lose interest in sex and intimacy with your partner
Your appetite changes – either not eating at all or eating too much of the wrong things

Are you experiencing any of the above telltale signs on an ongoing and regular basis? I’m not talking about these things happening occasionally. I’m talking about this being your every-day state – a chronic situation.

If you are experiencing some of the telltale signs above, you need to act. You’re not only putting your own health at risk, you are also likely failing at your job as a leader. When your health suffers, the health of your team suffers as well, as does the performance of the company.

This weeks Gut Check for leaders asks do you hate your job?

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