Avoid the swamp!

If you have a job description for all of your team, do you have one for yourself? If your first reaction is general dogsbody then you definitely need to complete this exercise. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s oh so easy to create a role that’s made up of all the tasks nobody else wants to do and the likelihood of that keeping you motivated is unlikely.

Let’s start with your job title, does it describe your role accurately? If it has Managing in the title is your main responsibility to manage and are you doing it? Did you intend to become a manager?  

We can all do things well that don’t motivate us for a short while but as time goes by it becomes a problem and can easily turn into resentment. You may well be good at something which you spend a lot of your time doing but if it doesn’t motivate you eventually it will catch up with you.  

Being clear about your ideal role will prevent you getting caught in the swamp. This is a reference to the boiling frog myth that if you put a live frog in a pan of boiling water it will immediately jump out to save itself. If alternatively, you placed the frog in a tepid pan of water and then heated it on the stove, the frog would perish before it realises what is happening and gets boiled to death.

We can easily allow things to creep up on us like the frog and then wonder why we aren’t enjoying what we are doing. Be aware of the environment you are creating and don’t get caught in the swamp!