It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it. – Lou Holtz
Burnout is on the minds of far too many leaders. Especially in the world of non-profit leadership. Last month I started a three-part series on this subject to offer hope and a pathway to move away from burnout to purposeful and sustainable leadership.
What is burnout?
A state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that occurs when we feel overwhelmed by too many demands, too few resources, and too little recovery time. — Clinical definition
The first step in dealing with burnout, once you’ve recognized the symptoms and are ready to change your life, is to increase self-awareness. Review here the four practices to do that.
Once you’ve grown in self-awareness, you’re ready to build a foundation of “being.” Zig Ziglar said, “You’ve got to be before you can do and do before you can have.” To avoid the ditch of burnout you have to focus on who you want to “be” before you focus on what you are to “do.”
Four Ways to BE in Order to Avoid the Ditch of Burnout
1. Be authentic
Authenticity is a character quality that keeps you from becoming disconnected from reality and unable to see what’s “really” going on. Being authentic is being honest about what’s going on — within and without.
Authentic leaders are positive people with truthful self-concepts who promote openness. — Wikipedia
Being authentic is having your reputation match your character. Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is, and the tree is the real thing.”
We have overstretched our personal boundaries and forgotten that true happiness comes from living an authentic life fueled with a sense of purpose and balance. – Dr. Kathleen Hall
2. Be resilient
Resiliency is something you do, but at the core it’s more about who you are on the inside. It’s a mindset and a state of being.
The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun. — Napoleon Hill
Resilient leaders practice mindfulness, have the ability to focus on one task at a time, appreciate the need to manage energy, cultivate compassion, and step back from a problem to approach it rationally, rather than emotionally.
Resiliency says, “I have hope for a better future but maintain a healthy dose of realism as I deal with the stuff of life.”
3. Be curious
Curiosity is a mindset you learn to live with. It’s witnessed in the lives of children but often missing in adults. It’s fueled by an inner desire to learn and observe and see things others miss because they are simply moving too fast.
Curiosity is a choice you make to wonder instead of direct. It takes the pressure off the need to know the answer right away. It’s a quality in those leaders you seek to emulate and it slows the pace of life down to a manageable speed.
Being curious changes your perceptions and helps you focus on what’s real. Curiosity can be the antidote to stress and help you handle the challenges that come your way.
4. Be human (not super-human)
One of the symptoms of burnout is an inflated self-concept. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We think we have super human strength and can solve any problem thrown at us. But, alas, we are only human after all.
A more realistic adage goes like this: “You can’t do everything but you can do something.”
Knowing your limits and knowing when to say “no” is a mindset you bring to the challenges and opportunities you face. You say “yes” because you want to help or because you can’t say no. Then, you groan inwardly as your yeses start to add up and fill your capacity to overflowing.
For fast-acting relief, try slowing down. – Lily Tomlin
Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long. Michael Gungor
Take action
Have you been so focused and caught up in the “doing” that you’ve neglected yourself as a human “being?”
What can you do this week to focus on and pay attention to the engine of being that drives action?
If you’re ready for a partner to support you in assessing and avoiding burnout, send me a message & try out a free 30 minutes sample of leadership coaching.
