2020 will be a long chapter in the history books. There’s a global pandemic that activated quarantine measures for 4B+ people around the world, 41M+ are unemployed in the US and there’s civil unrest… and it’s just the beginning of June.
As companies, organizations, teams and individuals juggle macro events with their own personal and professional lives, it’s important to take a quick pause and do a fuel check.
I first started using the concept of fuel check when I was at Facebook in 2014. The business was growing rapidly and most people were passionately working to solve complex problems, at scale, across every organization from engineering and product to sales and marketing. Fuel check became an integral part of my Facebook experience because it focused me back to my core.
Fuel check, in short, is a concept that makes you reflect on your energy. It’s a forcing function to make you ask “how are you, really?”
Typically, you can do a fuel check with the following people:
- Yourself
- Your team
- Your family and friends
When things feel clustered or I hear sighs in meetings, I quickly like to pause and fuel check my team. Just because I’m passionate doesn’t mean that my team will share that passion. Just because I’m up against a hard deadline doesn’t mean everyone will feel that pressure. They can be overwhelmed with work and for it to go unnoticed. Doing a fuel check on the team centers all of us, and gives us an opportunity to re-align.
For individuals, I like to do this in a 1:1 setting. It becomes a safe space for them to discuss how they’re really doing. Most people mask it by saying “I’m good.” The conversation should never start and end there. Create a safe space for people to discuss their fuel with you and offer to help to the best of your ability.
Most high performers do not fuel check themselves, and that’s a mistake. Fuel checking avoids burnout and gives you an opportunity to leverage your fuel intake accordingly. Sometimes shifting your energy to other things or projects will re-fuel you. Do that.
A few ways people refuel:
- PTO and vacation; albeit vacationing in the midst of COVID is tough
- Focusing on their hobbies that would get neglected otherwise
- Advise or help with projects that are ancillary
Refueling simply comes down to shifting gears and doing something else that’s not redundant.
There’s no prescriptive way to do this. It starts with asking and taking action once you recognize that it’s time for refuel.