Summer is Ending. The Work (and Burnout) Continues.

I love August. Not only because it is my birthday month, but also because it is the last month of Summer, the month that for me always represented the calm before the storm of Fall. While September is about going back to school, working hard to prepare for the end of the year, and making up for the “lost” time of summer, August holds the promise of beach days, bbqs with family and friends, and reading trashy novels on my favorite hammock.

Well..Not this August. This August was like none other. Between the exciting athletes who gave it their all at the Paris Olympics to the many inspiring speeches at this year’s unparalleled Democratic convention, August 2024 has been less about calm and so much more about heart-pumping hope.

Hope is a state of mind that involves an optimistic expectation of positive outcomes in life or the world.

But it is hard to feel hopeful when so many of us are exhausted, burned out, and overworked. 

I see this again and again in my executive coaching practice. Senior leaders who are stretched to their breaking point in part because they are picking up the slack for their overextended employees and teammates. As one of my clients said, “There are Doers and the rest. Being a Doer is about winning and I want to win. But, if you are a Doer, then you’re exhausted because most of those around you just can’t keep up.” Doers, he told me, don’t pause. “You’ve got to be in it to win it,” he said.

I hear him. Leaders are Doers. It is nearly impossible to step back and say, “I need a break.”  “This is too much.” Or even harder, “I need help.” I get it. I’ve been a Doer all my life. Being a Doer defined me. It still does. But, winning can’t happen if your doing has become harmful to yourself -  and those around you. At that point, you’re not a winner, you’re a loser.

It isn’t news that burnout, despair, and the rise of mental health challenges across every working age group has become a serious problem in the workplace. According to Mercer, 82% of American workers report feeling burned-out. Another study revealed that employees who report feeling burned-out are 3x more likely to be actively job hunting and are significantly less likely to go above and beyond. The World Health Organization claims that workplace burnout is a global phenomenon resulting in: 

• Energy depletion/exhaustion

• Increasingly negative feelings toward the job

• Reduced professional efficacy.

It makes sense then that Leaders (ie: Doers) are feeling forced to pick up the slack. When our teams stop being Doers, we do for them. Why? Because we’re Doers and we want to win. 

But what happens when the leader is stressed out and overworked? Lower productivity, reduced satisfaction across the employees base, and either slower decision making or, alternatively, decisions made too quickly and in a vacuum. None of this is good for your company’s innovation, culture or business competitiveness.

And, it’s not good for you.

So how does one cope with all of this? If you are a Doer, it is nearly impossible to consider not doing and focus on being. A different executive advising client shared that he was afraid he would be perceived as weak, not ambitious, a failure if he stepped back. I get that too. I had the same fear. Then again, some of us hit a wall so hard, we realize our options are limited. Like Simone Biles, I had to step away so that I could come back stronger and become a winner again. 

But let’s be honest, the vast majority of us can’t “step back” or step off or step anywhere but ahead. So what can you do? 

This is where hope or, rather, our mindset comes in. A Boston University study found that hope actually accounts for 14% of productivity in the workplace—more than intelligence, optimism, or self-efficacy. This increased productivity is because hopeful employees are more engaged. Gallup reports that more engaged employees means: 

• 20% higher sales

• 21% higher profitability

• 40% fewer product defects 

• 40% lower absenteeism 

• 70% fewer safety issues 

• 24- 59% less turnover across all organizations. 

So, Leaders, hope matters. The good news is…

Hope is a way of thinking or a state of being. This means that hope can be taught.

Professor Chan Hellmen who is the founding director of the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma offers six proven ways to become more hopeful:

1. Give yourself permission to feel hope

2. Set at least one meaningful goal

3. Brainstorm solutions to help you achieve that goal

4. Call your support team

5. Seek out success stories

6. Use your imagination (to dream of a better future)

Hope can be taught; it can also be put into action. In her speech at the Democratic convention, Michelle Obama talked about the “contagious power of hope.” She went on to say, "Hope is making a comeback...we all have the power to do something.” 

So, let’s do something.

Here is what I am going to do:

• Give myself permission to see the future differently. As my friend, Dr. Angela Jackson, author of the upcoming must-read book, The Win-Win Workplace, said to me (in a reference to President Obama’s own book), “I finally have the audacity of hope.” I do too. 

• Co-host this How Women Lead must-attend masterclass on burnout and leadership with Daisy Auger-Domínguez. We’ll be discussing her new book, From Burnt Out to Lit Up: How to Reignite the Joy of Leading People, how she found hope in the midst of her own darkness, and her advice to leaders everywhere who are trying to manage their own and their teams’ mental health. 

• Participate in my first mini-triathalon. Yep, you’ve heard it here first. I’ll be swimming ⅓ of a mile, biking 13.2 miles, and running (probably very slowly!) 3.1 miles on September 15th in Buzzard’s Bay, Massachusetts. I am running in honor of my mother who died of a rare brain disease called Progressive SupraNuclear Palsy. If you’d like to support me and CurePSP, please consider donating here. 

#DoSomething

Lead On!

Lisen

Need help managing your own—or your team’s—burnout?

Schedule a free 30 minute consultation with me to discuss how I can help.