When You’re Worn Down—and Your Team Is Too

Key takeaways

Focusing on joy and well-being at work is essential for combating burnout and improving engagement.
Joy at work comes from meaningful connections, purpose, recognition, and well-being, rather than just happiness or superficial positivity.
Managers can cultivate joy by reconnecting with their purpose, embracing curiosity and a beginner’s mindset, and practicing gratitude.
Small, intentional actions—like starting meetings with gratitude or personal questions—can significantly enhance team morale and collaboration.
Leading oneself with kindness and awareness sets the foundation for a positive work environment where teams can thrive, especially during challenging times.

Summary

The Concept of Joy in Management

Daisy Auger-Dominguez discusses her understanding of joy at work, clarifying that it’s not about daily happiness but about deep, lasting satisfaction derived from meaningful connections, inclusivity, purpose, and empowerment. Joy is closely tied to how managers foster engagement, purpose, alignment, and well-being within their teams.

Challenges to Engagement and Joy in the Workplace

The conversation addresses how low employee engagement signals often reflect systemic issues like lack of recognition, unclear expectations, or disconnect from meaningful work. Daisy explains how burnout manifests through anger, frustration, cynicism, and fear, and highlights its transferability from managers to teams, especially intensified for middle managers under relentless pressures.

Shifting Focus from Burnout to Joy and Positivity

Daisy advocates for a positive approach to improve workplace well-being. By emphasizing joy, humor, and small moments of gratitude, managers can reduce burnout, strengthen team bonds, and foster resilience. She underscores the importance of managing systemic issues but encourages focusing on what can be controlled immediately—finding joy in small, present moments to build momentum for systemic change.

Strategies for Cultivating Joy as a Manager

Practical methods include reconnecting with one’s 'why' or purpose, embracing a beginner’s mindset to foster curiosity, and creating personal 'happy folders' of positive messages. These acts help managers stay centered, inspire their teams, and develop a culture of gratitude and celebration. Daisy stresses that leading oneself kindly is foundational before effectively leading others.

Creating a Culture of Appreciation and Positivity

Examples of fostering team joy include starting meetings with personal questions, gratitude exercises, and offering team members space to express their needs ('witness, help, or distract'). Daisy emphasizes that consistent positive signals and intentional actions—like mindful communication—can reduce tension, improve collaboration, and make teams more resilient and engaged.

Recognizing When Joy Is Restored in Teams

The effectiveness of these efforts is reflected in improved team energy, collaboration, reduced tensions, and willingness to go the extra mile. A positive, trusting environment enables teams to handle challenges better, with members more inclined to support each other and respond flexibly to demands.

Show notes

There’s nothing easy about being a manager today. But for team leaders who are feeling burnt out or overwhelmed with their job, workplace strategist Daisy Auger-Domínguez has advice on how to regain some of your joy at work. She recommends various techniques to incorporate optimism and well-being into your role. They include remembering your purpose, embracing a beginner’s mindset, keeping a folder of positive feedback as inspiration, and celebrating the contributions of team members. Auger-Domínguez is a workplace strategist, global people leader, and the author of the HBR article “Finding Joy as a Manager—Even on Bad Days.”