1) You are working shorter hours.
And it's not because your workload is less. You find it difficult to motivate yourself to go into the office in the morning, and by mid afternoon you are already watching the clock to determine how soon you can slip out. Your days are measured by time put in, and not the work which you have accomplished - or still need to do. Focus on the work, not the hours. Your days will go faster and you will find your sense of accomplishment improves.

2) Routine tasks are not getting done.
Your staff level is adequate, but the membership renewals went out a month late. Last year you only published three quarterly newsletters. No membership directory advertising was offered or sold. You promoted your convention later than usual. Members are starting to grumble, and you find yourself making excuses to an increasingly impatient Board. Chances are your staff has picked up on your indifference, and may feel that their jobs are unimportant too. Set timetables for yourself and stick to them. By reestablishing a productive routine, you can get back on track.

3) You often feel overwhelmed.
This feeling often results from procrastinating and as work continues to pile up, you panic in fear over your inability to get it all done. Think about those days when you complete a major project or are particularly efficient. Don't you enjoy a professional "high" or euphoria which results from a job well done? One way to get beyond feeling overwhelmed is to begin slugging your way through the projects you need to address, look to delegate where possible, and keep working! The sense of accomplishment, even if only for completing small tasks, will rejuvenate you!

4) No idea is a good idea.
Nope, that idea won't work. We did that before. Yep, we tried that promotion six years ago and it failed. Often ideas which initially didn't work simply needed to be "tweaked," implemented with a better strategy or applied with more perseverence. People who have been on the job too long like to complain about "unsolvable" problems, discounting every suggested solution as too simplistic or unoriginal. It is safer to wait for the "miracle cure" which never arrives than work hard at a more practical solution.

5) Mediocre performance becomes acceptable.
Membership is down 20%? Not my fault,we're in a recession. We haven't earned a profit for the past three years? We can't find any new member services to generate revenue. Your newsletter contains typos and misprints regularly? It's behind schedule, we needed to get it out. Burnout breeds indifference, which leads to mediocrity. When the person in charge no longer cares about the quality of their work, it's evident that the time has come to move on.

6) You ignore long term planning.
If your organization has no vision or plan, how can you make decisions about where to lead the association? What prospective services are appropriate for Board consideration? Where will future growth come from, and how should resources be allocated? Planning is hard work, and when an executive resists it or finds excuses to avoid it, the Board will eventually recognize that the executive is no longer leading the association.

7) Your service profile is unchanged.
How do your current service offerings compare to those you were offering five years ago? Have you added any new services? More important, have you eliminated any obsolete services? Have you embraced technology? If you hold your association up to a mirror and see the identical organization as existed five or more years ago, your creative juices have likely dried up. Sooner or later, your Board will notice.

8) You are distracted by outside interests.
Are you investing your energy more and more in volunteer activities or outside interests? Is your free time spent working on alternative revenue sources for yourself or a work-at-home evening business instead of focusing on your association? There is nothing wrong with pursuing any of these activities as long as they don't replace your primary responsibility to your association. Focusing exclusively on hobbies or outside interests may represent an escape from your current job. If you can re-channel your energy toward your primary employer, you will find you can keep outside activities in their proper priority.

Well, believe me I'm no Doctor, so don't accuse me of offering medical or psychological advice! The ideas listed above are derived from observation, personal experience and common sense. Two of the qualities I have always admired in top executives, coaches or other leaders are the ability to recognize when the time has come to move on, and the courage to act on that feeling. It is often extremely difficult to leave the perceived security of your current job. But if you see yourself in several of the above examples, you may want to do some soul searching. Many fellow executives I know who have changed jobs look back on their past position and exclaim, "how could I have been so blind as to have stayed there so long?" Recognizing the need for a change is a difficult task. But as a good friend once told me when I was struggling in my career . . . "good people land on their feet." I'm betting you will still be standing when all is said and done.

Until next time...