Leadership burnout: A candid discussion on creating a safe space

Vicky Hope

February 15, 2024

Culture

I’ve ticked many boxes when reading the recent wave of ‘Are you suffering from burnout’ articles; Drained of emotional energy, negative, irritated by the small things, emotional, unappreciated, feel like you’re in the wrong place, frustrated, can’t talk about it …... tick, tick, tick.

Addressing the elephant in the room: Leadership burnout

I’m lucky to have come through it now but feel we have a responsibility not to shy away from this subject. Leaders need to be honest as it’s very likely that members of their team could be suffering too.

Management Today supports leadership moving away from giving direction to being more about providing support.

Establishing a burnout-resilient culture

My approach has always been to inspire with vision but to be there to support in equal measures. Having empathy can be a superpower. It’s easier to be authentic when it’s who you are.

The ‘Great Resignation’ is defining new rules in the workplace. To retain talent there needs to be an alignment of our values with the business we’re working for. Covid has given us the wake-up call to start prioritising the personal over the corporate.

A happy team should be able to align their work life with their real human life. It’s essential to work on creating a burnout-resilient culture. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to spot the signs of misalignment. Lead authentically from the front. To protect your team, but also remember to protect yourself.

Ask yourself, where do you get your nourishment from?

Leadership burnout feels like you’re living in a survival zone. Your instincts to survive become so honed on the workplace battlefield, you’re hardly aware it’s eating you alive.

A coach is a great help, and I was lucky my employer offered me one (and even luckier to be surrounded by an amazing team with close friendships at work). Having someone to speak to helps you understand yourself to gain more self-awareness. My big learn was that I’ve tonnes of empathy for others but forget to save some for myself. It’s a double whammy having empathy and a strong emotional IQ. They might make great leadership traits, but also increase your risk of burnout.

Break the cycle, take the risk to let go

The only cure is to be vulnerable and honest. It’s a big step for me to be able to write this and reflect now I’m through it. If reading this helps even one person, then it’s worth being brave rather than shying away from this thorny subject.

The (perceived) strongest people should share their weaknesses. Let’s break the cycle of ‘brave facing it’ which just leads to overload – then burnout. I’m privileged to have been part of a workplace culture where we encouraged everyone to be their true, authentic self.

Another essential for recovery is adequate rest. Real proper, emotional, and mental rest. A great tip is to put white space in your calendar, and plan to do nothing for 2/3 hours once a week – absolute torture for a busy person!

Think of it as an investment in time. For all your future business adventures and the new, stronger, back-to-being an even better version of yourself.

If that’s too much, take small steps. Every few hours, plan a 5-minute recovery break. The time it takes to blast out your favourite Kanye track. This will sustain your high performance throughout the day.

Or just take a macro-view, chunk your day into three blocks, and don’t let the boundaries blur:

8 hours work
8 hours fun
8 hours sleep

A unified front against burnout

We can only look after everyone in the workplace if we start with ourselves. Showing compassion for yourself is one of the hardest leadership skills to learn. Be a true role model and you’ll never look back.

Credits:

Management Today Leadership Lessons