Over the past few years, I’ve thought a lot about the intersection of covering, coping, and burnout. This intersection was brought further into focus with how many people experienced the disruption of COVID-19 and changes brought on by the socio-political environment and push for racial justice.
Today, I want to focus on burnout.
When my husband Theo and I were in Berlin in early 2022, he found the book The Happiness of Burnout at an art museum. It’s the case study of an artist’s life – one who built a name and career for themselves and then burned out and worked to find their way back, with boundaries and new ways of working.
There is a quote by psychotherapist Dina Glauber that resonated with me.
"When we burnout, it is our old personality that burns itself out. It is our old way of living that turns into ashes. It becomes evident that a new style of life is necessary. The self needs to be better cultivated. Burnout is the last form of resistance. The body collapses."
Whether it’s been work or other life events, I think most of us can relate to this feeling. There are times and situations that we cannot push through. Where we mentally or physically collapse. We recognize that a new way of being – finding harmony – is necessary.
During a recent talk I gave for the Colorado Culture First community, I asked participants how *covering made them feel. “Inauthentic, Fake, Exhausted” were a few of their responses.
They were the type of responses and feelings that lead to burnout. It is a cyclical process with covering, coping, and burnout slowly impacting each other over time. Sometimes the cumulative impact can take years to identify.
Burnout can range from low energy and exhaustion to disengagement and even quitting to find something more fulfilling – like what we’ve seen through the great resignation.
And, just like covering can negatively impact a person’s capacity to contribute at work and their mental and emotional well-being, there are costs to burnout.
The World Economic Forum estimates burnout’s global cost to be $322 billion.
We also know that burnout isn’t only impacting frontline employees and middle management but the c-suite as well. And it’s estimated that burnout can generate a loss to a company of 34% of someone’s salary annually if that employee feels burned out.
So, how do we prevent and mitigate burnout within ourselves and with others?
Laura Campbell of InspireCorps said that one of the prompts they use is to ask people, “What do you need to be at your best?”
Harvard Business Review notes, "Situational factors are the biggest contributors to burnout, so changes at the job, team, or organizational level are often required to address all the underlying issues."
University of Colorado Denver’s Imaginator Academy takes a cultural analytics approach, looking at how factors including hope, trust, and belonging impact people’s experience in the workplace.
One of the things I recommend asking yourself and your team/leadership is, "Are there cultural norms and expectations that may be contributing to covering in our workplace that could lead to burnout?"
Within our organization, we encourage people to unplug and take personal time to recharge. My colleague texted me on the first summer vacation day and asked, “Are you working?” It was a friendly reminder – GO OUT AND EXPERIENCE THE WORLD!
We’re also cognizant of moving meetings or deadlines when the team feels depleted.
It’s when you can talk openly about how schedules, travel and world and life events are impacting you that you can find a way of working together to prevent burnout from impacting what you’re able to accomplish.
Do you have an experience with burnout or processes that you and your team use to prevent burnout from impacting your company? Add it in the comments or send me an email at connect@joshmiller.ventures
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Covering – when we downplay, hide or filter parts of ourselves at work, with different social groups, at school, or with family. [Read more here]
Coping - adjusting to or tolerating adverse events or realities while trying to keep your positive self-image and emotional equilibrium (Cleveland Clinic). This can include self-isolation, self-soothing, use of social media, and searching out external support. [Read more here]
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About: Josh Miller is a queer changemaker, public speaker, photographer, and outdoor explorer. He is the owner of Josh Miller Ventures and the co-founder + CEO of IDEAS xLab—an organization that uses the art of storytelling and community collaboration to impact public health. Miller’s work has been featured by The New York Times, the Aspen Institute, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He is a Soros Equality Fellow, received the 2022 Nonprofit Visionary Leader Award from Louisville Business First, and was selected for Business Equality Magazine’s Forty LGBTQ+ Leaders under 40 and Louisville Business First's Forty under 40. Miller is a two-time TEDx speaker and has been described as a "force in our community.” He holds an MBA from Indiana University and an undergraduate degree from Bellarmine University. Previously, he served as an advisor to the Derby Diversity & Business Summit and co-chair for the Louisville Health advisory board’s communications committee.