How often have you seen managers who look like they would prefer to be anywhere else but at their desks?

I’ve worked with managers of different organizations who were exactly in this position. They lacked energy, having worked themselves to exhaustion for their companies. They were starting to be short with their co-workers and their families. And in one case, a manager was internalizing his frustrations and shutting down communication with his boss.

These are familiar signs of burnout, often the result of workplace stress that has gone on too long.

If you’re a manager and you’re feeling trapped, underappreciated or struggling in a company where you have no sense of ownership or purpose, you’re not alone.

If you’re a business owner and one of your managers becomes withdrawn or reluctant to make decisions, don’t assume they’ve lost interest. Sit down with them and ask what has changed. Is the workload becoming unmanageable? Does the manager have the authority and support needed to do the job? Sometimes a few practical changes can make the difference between losing a valuable manager and helping that person regain their enthusiasm.

Michael Gerber puts it well in his book The E-Myth Manager, where he states that there are rules of successful management. I’ll summarize:

To be a great manager, you need to know what you want to become and have a clear vision of what you want to do with your life. You have to be willing and able to take responsibility for your future and managing yourself. You need to decide whether the future you dream of can be achieved doing what you’re doing.

If you want to be a good manager, you need to see yourself as others see you and understand how they hear what you say. And you really have to care about and show interest in those people you supervise.

This process of finding your life’s vision is not always simple. As a successful manager, you may have always thought you had to focus on achieving the company’s objectives.

If the company objective is for you to drive a team of people to achieve high sales goals, you might be invigorated by this if your personal vision is to have lots of money or be a top sales manager.

However, if you decide that working in a low-stress environment and spending more time with your family are more important than achieving high sales or making more money, you’re likely to become unmotivated and eventually burn out.

While it might be counterintuitive, as a manager you must think about what you need first. If the company can provide for many of those needs, you’ll be able to feel energized in managing that business. But even managers who love their jobs can burn out if too much is expected of them or they don’t get the support they need.

As business owners, we need to understand that what motivates us may not be what motivates the people managing our companies.

Ultimately, as Gerber says, once managers decide their position can help them achieve their goals, they need to think like owners and understand where the money is coming from and where it’s going.

A great manager looks at the processes of the business and tries to make them better. A great manager understands the needs of their staff and works to help them reach their potential. Success in these areas can help you feel re-energized and motivated as a manager. But business owners can’t expect managers to think like owners without giving them the authority to make meaningful improvements.

As business leaders, we need to ensure that our managers aren’t burning out by giving them the skills, opportunities and trust to build and improve our organizations. We also need to recognize when the demands we place on them are becoming unreasonable.

We need to encourage, celebrate and enjoy the successes these managers create and not be threatened by them.

Leaders and managers have a responsibility to better their workplaces by creating environments and cultures that are conducive to fulfilling lives, dreams and visions of owners and managers.

David Fuller, MBA, is a commercial realtor and award-winning business coach. A lifelong entrepreneur and author of Profit Yourself Healthy, he specializes in helping business leaders scale growth and manage succession.