When Burnout Sneaks Up On You
- Brainz Magazine
- Sep 17, 2021
- 5 min read
Written by: David Kegley, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Rising To the Top
So many highly talented, bright-minded people pour themselves into their careers with the best of intentions, often to extremes. Our work culture is primed to reward those who appear on the scene downing a caffeine-spiked drink, rushing in from their last meeting somewhat breathlessly, welcoming the new list of to-dos. When asked how they are, the automatic response is something like: “busy, stressed and building-my-career-while-learning-to-fly.”
Many, if not most people experience advances for this demonstration of delayed gratification and hard work. The promotions are not likely to remedy the habit of overwork at the expense of one’s well-being. Most people do not notice this pattern forming while they’re climbing the ladder of success, gaining status and pay increases. It is an insidious pattern and one we often do not want to be aware of.
In his book Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, Atul Gawande writes a chapter entitled “When Good Doctors Go Bad” where one surgeon, Hank Goodman, rose to the peak of his career. He was highly respected, sought after and highly paid (Picador, Henry Holt and Company, New York. 2002., pp. 88-106.). Over a period of time, he continued to take on more and more patients, earning more and more status, respect and expertise. But then he seemed to cross some hidden threshold. Beyond that threshold he no longer had the best interest of his patients in mind, even though he genuinely thought he did. He began to make surgical mistakes, ones that significantly harmed his patients and for many months he refused to admit that the mistakes were his.
This refusal to admit that we are failing on our way to burnout is what Richard Boyatzis and other psychologists call “defensive routines.” This can happen to us when we build ourselves up to be successful, hardworking and in charge at the expense of our own psychological health and at the expense of those around us. These defensive routines serve to protect us from seeing the truth about ourselves, they essentially keep us in a downward spiral toward burnout. (Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion. Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee. Harvard Business School Press, Boston. 2005. p. 44) The surgeon, Hank Goodman, ended up losing his career. By the time his colleagues could penetrate his defensive routines he had done enough damage to patients to become such a liability that no other hospital or clinic would hire him.
Even When Red Flares Began Streaming…
A professor of mine once warned my classmates and me to pay attention to our bodies. He said that we would inevitably get overcommitted, but our bodies would give us away. Unusual weight gain or loss, a rise in blood pressure, feeling stressed, inability to sleep, something will eventually send up a flare. “Watch for it and pay attention when it gives you a warning,” said this sage. It was excellent advice.
Except, his warning was not good enough. The reason I say that is that we can get lulled into thinking that we are OK, when we are seriously not OK. Sleep expert and coach, Stella Loichot, tells of how she once was among the many who fooled her own body into functioning at a very high level for years while depriving herself of sleep. She did it through intense exercise, stress and caffeine. This came at a high price. Eventually the energy was simply… in one day… gone! Her body could no longer sustain the load she was placing on it and she collapsed. (Sleep It Off: A Revolutionary Guide to Losing Weight, Beating Diabetes, and Feeling Your Best Through Optimal Rest, Seattle, Allon-Z Press, 2020. pp. 25-26) Today Stella sleeps better, is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and works with many people who are sleep deprived and at one time did not even realize that they were.
Burnout is like that. We push ourselves with the best of intentions. Our bodies and our minds cooperate with the goal of high achievement. There is nothing wrong with high achievement. There is nothing wrong with a good doctor’s aim to treat patients. Nor is there anything wrong with the goal to achieve in any well-meaning profession. The rub comes when we are out of balance with our bodies and ourselves. We need to do reality checks so we don’t harm ourselves and others. We especially need to forestall habits that can cause long-term systemic damage.
Here’s what I recommend today. Cooperate with your healthcare team and be open to what they are telling you. Listen to your significant other and invite them into your health and well-being evaluations. Hire a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach to follow through on your healthcare team’s recommendations. Your coach may be the best listener you have and you may be surprised by the impact of a good listener. Coaches know how to help you live into a desired future. With coaching, at least with the kind of high-end coaching I’m familiar with, you are not left with only the past and the present. Instead, you can create a new future. That’s what gets exciting!
It’s Never Too Late
Burnout is a serious work-related condition and it’s affecting millions of people world-wide today. It can sneak up on people and our awareness of it can be blocked by defensive routines. We can also be partially burned out which is easier to address. Wouldn’t it be nice if we caught burnout in mid-swing and could put a few corrections in place before things got the way they did for Hank Goodman?
The key? Humility. If you and I can get to the place where we are open and ready to accept information that can change us, it’s never too late. Humility is that powerful.
David is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC).
Want to work with David to chart a new course? You can reach him at: drkegley.com, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
David Kegley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Kegley specializes in coaching well-educated, progressive leaders and executives who have been stopped in their tracks due to health setbacks. His doctorate is in theology and preaching. His first 25-year career was in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., where he was a Pastor and Head of Staff. But, after getting nearly burned out, getting diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, and going through cancer treatment, he emerged as a credentialed coach. Now he Coaches in the areas where he experienced his own humility and growth: Health and Wellness, The Cancer Journey, Burnout Recovery, and Leadership and Executive.
