Leadership Secrets: Monday Morning Dread (And What To Do About It)
Are You Hiding a Monday Morning Secret?
One of the best kept Leadership Secrets, even prior to the pandemic, is that a majority of professionals and students dread Monday mornings.
As employers stumble through awkward and often painful pandemic pivots, millions in the workforce are struggling with a secret that is increasingly harder to hide: Monday Morning Dread.
A 2019 LinkedIn survey found that a whopping 80% of professionals lose a majority of the day prior to heading back to work to anxiety-inducing dread, stealing time from personal pursuits and time with loved ones and friends: https://bit.ly/2ZViH0z.
Droves of workers are signing up for resigning (https://bit.ly/3l4NCiT), but millions more either want to stay in their jobs, or feel like they have to stay in their jobs because of financial or family constraints.
Does that describe you? Maybe it describes someone you know? If so, keep reading…
THERE IS HOPE.
Images of the monster under the bed come to mind as I describe this hidden shame that countless otherwise productive members of the workforce struggle to admit they’re facing.
Is resigning the only option?
For some, it may be the right option. For others, I believe (and have always believed) that there are options.
There’s no doubt that employers, across industries, are faced with understanding the driver’s of an unprecedented wave of attrition, with an alarming number of workers - even top talent - having no job in hand: https://mck.co/3pzekDg (Source: mckinsey.com).
I want to challenge us, however, to resist the temptation to believe that the drivers of Monday Morning Dread rest with employers alone.
Let’s explore the personal agency we each have to silence the dread that can keep us stuck and overwhelmed.
BUILDING ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE
But first, an unscientific prediction for …
Employers who take a business-as-usual approach to Future of Work issues, or otherwise neglect the opportunity to understand, constructively engage with employees and organizationally address underlying attrition drivers like Monday Morning Dread, may find themselves hard-pressed to maintain, retain or scale an engaged workforce.
Building organizational resilience must be addressed cross-functionally, and in collaboration with employees.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO TOLERATE MONDAY MORNING DREAD
If you’re still reading, I would love to know what’s resonated with you? If you have a different perspective, what would you add to the discussion? Have some research you’d like to share? Drop me a note via email: Thoughts on Monday Morning Dread.
If you’re the one struggling with Monday Morning Dread, imagine we’re sitting across from each other, and you have no distractions. Here’s what I’d say to you:
HEALTH AND WELLNESS CHECK: If the catalyst or cause of your feelings is a result of imminent or future physical or psychological danger to yourself or others, seek help immediately by calling your local emergency number (911 in many U.S. territories), local law enforcement, crisis prevention authorities or your workplace leadership (Human Resources, etc).
Stress is real.
You’re not alone.
Dread can be dismantled.
There is hope.
You have options.
POWER PLAYS TO SILENCE DREAD
Pick any one, or all of these Dread-Crushing Power Plays to begin dismantling dread, and reclaim your leadership, or your life.
POWER PLAY #1 - STOP. BREATHE. I mean right now. BREATHE. Connect with the literal life-giving force of your breath. Focus on your breathing in this moment. Slow your breathing to a safe pace. Feel your lungs as they move in and out. Your breathing is one of the first things that dread, stress and anxiety can steal from you. A majority of my clients suffer with this symptom of stress/anxiety, which left unchecked can keep you on an unrelenting gerbil wheel of fear, overwhelm and simply going through the motions. Reclaim your breath. It’s a physiological necessity; it’s also a tool and a strategy to begin shutting down the devastating effects of dread.
POWER PLAY #2 - GET HELP. Asking for help is a sign of strength not a sign of weakness. Virtually every leader I’ve worked with in the past 24 months has been impacted by the psychological impact of the global pandemic of our generation. Whether you have been directly impacted by COVID-19 or not, your psychological wellness is a worthy, and even critical priority. Contact your healthcare provider immediately (look on the back of your insurance card) or contact one of the countless resources available through your local/regional state/provincial agencies (Ex. U.S. specific - https://bit.ly/3ouR3BR). Talk to a licensed counselor/therapist or coach to discuss setting some simple goals to help you make progress in prioritizing the practice of reclaiming your breath. And remember, this practice is one to do daily, whether stress is a factor or not.
Here’s another resource that may be of interest: https://mayocl.in/2ZVglyI.
POWER PLAY #3 - FORGIVE. YOURSELF. Dread comes from a deep-seated anticipation of something terrible coming, an expectation of the worst outcome and a belief that even your best effort won’t prevent or control the outcome. Dread is a very present sense of foreboding. There’s an anticipation that whatever is coming is something you can’t handle, or possibly something that has crushed you in the past. I invite you to consider that you already have evidence that you can get through hard things. You may not have all the answers right now. You can however let go of anything that has caused you to judge yourself for not knowing what to do in the past. The truth is that judging yourself doesn’t change or alter what has disappeared under the bridge of yesterday. Make space for progress by forgiving yourself.
POWER PLAY #4 - BECOME THE STUDENT. As hard as your hardest lesson or your biggest lesson may be, it will only crush you or curse you if you give it permission to do so. In this moment, your greatest power is in becoming The Student. Every person that you think has it made, every person you admire as successful has discovered this life-changing Power Play. The mistake, the failure, the pain, the oversight, The Whatever is now a Life Class. Listen in. What’s being said? What (not how, for now) does it make you feel/think? That feeling/thought is the beginning of the step to what’s next. Take notes. Review. Apply. Revisit your results. And keep learning.
POWER PLAY #5 - RESIST FEAR. EMBRACE CURIOSITY. Most of us avoid the lessons that terrify us. And in some cases for all of us, that will protect us. Until it doesn’t. Any emotion can work for us...until it doesn’t. Fear activates parts of our brain that can indeed protect us from danger (https://bit.ly/3mkCDBA), however, prolonged immersion in fear can shut down the capacities we innately possess as humans to create, overcome, hope and move forward. When you allow fear to go unchecked, dread will be hard to shake.
POWER PLAY #6 - TAKE PRODUCTIVE ACTION. Most of the leaders I have the privilege of working with are wired for doing, fixing and solving. But you and I know that activity doesn’t guarantee productivity.
Need a place to start? Download a personal copy of our Personal Leadership Journal to explore how you can “Silence Monday Morning Dread”.
POWER PLAY #7 - AFFIRM YOUR OPTIONS. Dread is fed by a mental fixation that brings to life the worst possible outcomes. It’s a debilitating narrative that thrives on the absence of hope, personal agency and healthy mental practices.
Study the most successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, athletes and students, and you will find the common denominator of having the ability to overcome limiting beliefs, real challenges and self-defeating mindsets.
In the midst of overwhelming odds, the most inspiring among us have discovered the power of affirming not just what is true, but also what they wish to be true. And the evidence is compelling that positive affirmation, what I call Productive Scripting, engages the creative and strategic parts of the brain that can ignite hope, open the door to innovation and collaboration, and build a bridge to uncommon action - individual and collective.
For more insight on the power of affirmation: ps://bit.ly/2WD8nJb. Need some practical inspiration of real people who have no doubt experienced dread and practiced at least a few of the strategies shared here? Click here: https://bit.ly/3osmXyD.
“...Productive Scripting, engages the creative and strategic parts of the brain that can ignite hope, open the door to innovation and collaboration, and build a bridge to uncommon action - individual and collective ”
POWER PLAY #7 - FOCUS ON WHAT IS YOURS TO CONTROL/INFLUENCE AND TAKE ACTION. An early exercise in my executive coaching engagement often uncovers an exhausting and self-limiting behavior that productive leaders adopt when challenges and issues begin to leak outside of their area of expertise/experience - setting goals, building development plans and conducting milestone check-ins around things that are outside of the control/influence of the individual.
WARNING SIGNS
Whatever you’re facing ahead of your Monday (whatever day of the week that might happen to be), you don’t have to tolerate dread.
Consider the potential warning signs, and take productive action. Even small steps can have major impact.
Pressing through if you’re struggling with Monday Morning Dread (regardless of what day your work week starts) will eventually show up in how you lead, and in how you live.
The strategies we discuss herein won’t remove the reality of what you are experiencing (impact, outcomes, consequences).
They may however help you reclaim your sense of personal agency, discover a path forward.
Silencing dread can begin right now.
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About Coach Karen
Karen Hilton is retained Executive Coach, Organizational Strategist, HR Consultant, Speaker and Author, based in the metro-Atlanta area (Georgia US).
Karen’s passion is to help productive leaders and the organizations that they serve, through three pillars:
“Get Focused. Connect to Your Purpose. Develop Perspective”.
When she’s not in her garden, cooking for a crowd, or watching movies with her family, you’ll find Karen dreaming about her next trip to Maine.
For more information and to contact the T.A.P. Executive Team, visit us at www.tapexecutivecoaching.com or via our social media outlets.
