Three Ways to Lead Loudly and Stand Up to Burnout

By Erayna Sargent, Burnout Relief Specialist & Hooky Wellness, Founder

Everything is quiet. Quiet quitting. Quiet firing. Quiet thriving. However, the impact of burnout is far from quiet. While burnout awareness has grown, so has its hold on the global workforce. In honor of Mental Health month, I wanted to shed some more light on this “occupational phenomenon.”

Five years ago, my therapist put me on timeout. Yes, this was to help me learn a lesson, but it was far from a punishment. Working harder was no longer working. I was in the midst of an intense battle with burnout, and though I was aware of what was going on, I had yet to understand the power that being proactive and playing hooky could have for my health.

This empowering experience was the catalyst to my transition from a marketing leader to burnout relief specialist. As founder and Chief Anti-Burnout Champion at Hooky Wellness, I’ve equipped high-performance professionals from clients like Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, and LVMH, with the “Cliffs Notes to Burnout,” thus enabling them to take proactive steps before they are too overwhelmed and exhausted.

I recently completed a LinkedIn Audio series titled “Leading Loudly,” where my listeners and I discussed the nuances of the burnout relief journey and how leaders can be an employee advocate. Here are three takeaways for you and your organization’s leaders to face burnout and lead loudly:

1. It’s not new. We’re just new at talking about it.

“Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” This condition was coined in the 1970s and is characterized by feelings of cynicism, disillusionment and a lack of accomplishment.

Bringing awareness to burnout is one thing, but the transformation lies in collective actions to do something about it.

Often misunderstood and discounted, burnout is not the same as stress. Burnout can affect your performance at work, relationships, health and energy levels. It creates full-body exhaustion that ultimately results in a long-term withdrawal from work and personal activities.

Contrary to popular belief, this is an affliction of high-performers. These are the individuals driven to perform and solve problems, yet they’re often unaware that sustainable performance requires a different pace and proactive rest breaks.

It's important to recognize that this complex issue is a result of systemic structures, processes and systems, cultural norms and expectations — all impacted by individual experiences and behaviors.

2. Think long-term, act in real-time.

Beating burnout on a universal level will take years — policy changes, organizational structures, and the very ways in which we work need to be rethought and tested until we get different results. It can feel overwhelming to be tasked with combating burnout, but the small changes we make today will add up.

From LinkedIn to L.L. Bean, there are great examples of new support strategies. If your organization isn’t ready for a big change like shifting to a 4-day work week or going fully remote, consider other ways that you can bring flexibility and intention to the way people work. To create new results, we must think differently making innovation a responsibility of the entire organization.

3. Understand your role and responsibility as a leader, but don’t let it overwhelm you.

Let’s be honest. Leaders are often the first ones to experience burnout. You live in an intense environment where you have a constant stream of pressures and demands. You’re charged with leading yourself, your team and supporting employees across the organization.

I encourage you to look at this as an opportunity. You can influence others by setting an example of how to deal with challenges in a healthy way, and have some fun along the way.

It’s imperative to be proactive in taking care of yourself so you have the energy and bandwidth to be effective. Let’s say you know you’ll be busy next week, and don't know exactly how you will support yourself during that time. Take steps now, like working ahead or canceling meetings that could be handled via email so you won't get overloaded during an already busy week.

A leader can also help mitigate burnout for others by ensuring that their team has the tools needed to be successful on the job. Create an environment that is psychologically safe and team members feel secure in raising important questions or concerns. Providing clear expectations, priorities and feedback can lower stress by organizing the team around a clear vision of success.

Change starts on an individual level, and by modeling intentional self-care you can inspire team members to find balance between their professional and personal lives. Self-care can sound “woo woo” and selfish, but practiced en masse it creates a movement of collective action.

Tackling burnout is daunting, and it’s easy to feel helpless to take on this global problem. But thankfully, you don’t have to figure it all out yourself. Seek a helping hand from specialists dedicated to bringing relief to burned-out professionals in the workplace so they are equipped, empowered and refreshed. To share your stories, drop us a note at info@hookywellness.com.

RELATED RESOURCES C2HR has a variety of resources on the topic of workplace wellness, mental health and burnout. Visit the Knowledge Center for a curated collection of timely resources, and check out the on demand wellness webinars in the HR Learning Series.