In conversation with Brene Brown on her Unlocking Us podcast, authors Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski helpfully distil the phenomenon of burnout as an experience of:
Emotional exhaustion
Decreased sense of accomplishment – feelings of futility; and
Depersonalisation – a depletion of empathy, care and compassion
What a powerful and potentially destructive combination! Perhaps just reading those, connects you to some of what you are presently feeling.
As we seek out higher levels of performance, workplace stress and burnout have woven themselves into the fabric of our professional lives, especially as we find ourselves with greater levels of leadership responsibility.
Problems start emerging the longer these go unnoticed and unnamed. So, as leaders, our ability to understand these challenges and embrace strategies to mitigate their impact is pivotal. The costs of not noticing and naming indicators of burnout are simply too high - both personally and organisationally; especially so, if we don’t proactively work on recalibrating where our energy is coming from and going.
If you or one of your colleagues are showing possible signs of burnout, here are four threads to follow as you start to find your way through:
Pause to name the experience
Working our way through burnout begins with honestly naming our experience. You may be noticing levels of fatigue, cynicism, or diminished efficacy creeping in.
Acknowledging their presence, without being harsh with ourselves, does two things:
It helps us begin to recognise and connect with the things that hold deep meaning for us, things that may not be receiving the attention they truly deserve.
It opens up the possibility for us to engage in the next vital step in navigating stress and burnout: opening up a courageous conversation.
Open up a courageous conversation
Thank goodness that businesses, and society more generally, are recognising the importance of creating spaces where mental health conversations are normalised.
Even so, initiating conversations of this kind still takes courage. Sometimes having more formalised check-in processes can be helpful here. Personally, I love Oasis’s 4Boxes platform that supports me and my line manager to stay on the ‘same page’ about how I’m tracking and also able to show up for work.
If we don’t see those processes or conversations as being available to us within our work setting, then utilising your organisation’s EAP service or requesting the support of a skilled coach is another way to help us identify resourceful ways through our present experience of burnout.
Learn how to make and respond to requests more effectively
Taking on too much can quickly lead to unhealthy levels of stress and ultimately burnout. Learning how to delegate more effectively will not only alleviate our stress but will also empower your team. Enlisting the support of others fosters trust and responsibility among team members.
Equally important is knowing how to respond more effectively to the requests of others. Believe it or not, “YES” is not the only legitimate response.
As leaders, developing a coaching approach is an essential leadership skill that strengthens relational trust and boosts confidence in others to take ownership of their actions.
Being a participant in one of our Leader as Coach programs is one simple yet powerful way of developing your delegation and task management skills.
Continuous Learning and Adaptation
It’s not uncommon for people and organisations to initiate learning and development as a reaction to their own or their team’s present experience of burnout. Then again, we may also hear ourselves saying “I’m just too busy to down tools for workshops or coaching.”
I can’t overstate it: continuous learning is essential to organisational and relational health and wellbeing.
At Oasis, we think the smart way to learn and develop is through an integrated learning approach – an approach that engages us in what we call real-play (as opposed to roleplay). Real-play takes learning seriously by supporting you to find ways to immediately apply learning principles to the most pressing issues at hand.
Oasis workshops and programs are designed with this in mind, to help you individually and collectively find the most productive way through your present challenges. If you are wondering where to begin, then perhaps speak with an Oasis team member about one of our introductory workshops on:
Navigating Challenging Conversations
Enhancing Emotional Mastery
Giving & Receiving Feedback
The Art of Making and Managing Commitments
By addressing workplace stress and burnout proactively, you will enhance not only personal levels of resilience but you’ll also cultivate a healthier, more productive work environment.
Remember, sustainable success is built on a foundation of wellbeing and balance.