How to inspire your team when you’re feeling uninspired

You don’t have to be a cheerleader to keep your team’s spirits up. Next time you aren’t feeling up to motivating others, consider these options.

You’re prepping your team for an upcoming project and you know you need the best ideas on the table. But when you try to get up the motivation to work on the project, you struggle to focus. You just don’t seem to have the same energy for the project as you usually do. How can you get the best ideas and productivity out of your team when you, their leader, are feeling uninspired, and perhaps even unmotivated?

Cheri Torres, business leadership coach and the author of Conversations Worth Having, says good leaders don’t have to be cheerleaders. “Sometimes we feel like we have to be the cheerleader, that our energy is what is contagious. This is a focus that says, ‘It’s all about me’,” says Torres. The pressure that comes from feeling like you need to be the team cheerleader can make it even harder to emerge from your slump.

Next time you find yourself uninspired to inspire, try having these conversations with yourself and your team first:

ASK YOURSELF SOME “DIG DEEP” QUESTIONS
To get inspired, you need to be in a physical, mental, and emotional state that generates inspiration. Begin by checking in with your physical state. Are you eating well? Are you getting enough sleep? “Sometimes the body is what is impacting energy and inspiration,” says Torres.

Next, check in with your mental self. What are you ruminating about? What is your inner dialogue like? Keeping a journal of your thoughts can help you uncover how you are speaking to yourself. If your mind is full of negative self-talk, it’s no doubt you’re feeling uninspired.
Lastly, check in with your emotional state. Is there something that is going on in your personal life that is preventing you from being inspired at work?