A while back when our children were small a friend and I used to take our families off on holiday together. Every time when I arrived to pick my friend's family up she would emerge from the house looking totally exhausted- as though she needed a week's sleep before setting off. I didn't need to ask why. Every year in the days before her holiday her boss would find a long list of tasks which were suddenly emergencies. She was told that if they weren't all completed before she took time off the firm would lose funding/ lose clients/ employees would lose jobs/ her position would be at stake. So of course she worked late and early and set off on holiday in a state of total exhaustion.
Now I here the same sort of thing from my coaching clients. They tell me about companies reorganising so that 2 people have to do the work which used to be carried out by 5. They talk about going on line to find literally hundreds of emails which have come in over night. They feel obliged to spend time on box ticking, useless forms and procedures.
Worst of all my clients tell me that they are scared to admit how overwhelmed they are feeling because they will be seen as failing and inadequate and will risk losing their jobs,
The technology is different but the situations remind me of what I've read about 19th Century mill owners- people who were in such a powerful position that they could bully their workers in any way that they chose.
Surely in the 21st Century we should be beyond this kind of unproductive, bullying behavior which leaves people feeling panicky and unable to work strategically. Working like this they can only fire fight the latest crisis instead of moving the company forward.
The time my clients take out for coaching sessions gives them breathing space to prioritise , plan future projects and to celebrate what they are achieving. Through coaching they develop ways to put firm boundaries around their areas of responsibility and the hours they work. And No, they don't lose their jobs, The funny thing is that anyone who does this gets far more respect from their colleagues and managers.
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