Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm specializing in helping teams and organizations create better working experiences that deliver better results.

I have been fortunate in recent weeks to take some amazing time off. I traveled with my family, we saw some new parts of the world, I rested deeply,

and I'm feeling very recharged. Before we headed out, I knew how badly I needed a break,

but candidly, given that I am my own boss, I have no one to blame but myself for the toll

that I let these last few months take. But now, in this state of

refresh and recharge, I'm noting how many people around me, some aware and some not so aware,

seem equally overwhelmed, like overworked, overburdened, and kind of afraid of taking some

breathing space.

We're in this interesting moment.

Workplace wellness is finding the spotlight.

Leaders are recognizing the importance of having healthy, rested humans making up the workforce.

But also, the economy has tightened up. And we've seen layoffs and budget cuts and customers demanding more and better,

and leaders are feeling kind of stuck in the middle. How do we maintain healthy workloads

while meeting customer demands and while resources are constrained? There is, of course,

no perfect answer. But let's talk about some strategies we can all be using to keep the

collective us in a high-performing but not working to the bone zone. So start with a check-in.

This can be with yourself or with your team if you lead one. There are no hard and fast criteria

here, but just start with a scan. How do you

where your people seem? How does the energy feel? What kind of hours are people working, honestly?

How engaged do you or your team feel? Does showing up for work seem fun and exciting,

at least sometimes? Or are you seeing a whole bunch of eyelids only half open?

How do people seem to be handling stressful moments? What's the collective mood like?

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