Canadian Government Executive - Volume 27 - Issue 03

B urnout is on the rise. Our frenzied work styles and the increased pressure to produce have taken their toll over the years. Now the confusion, anxiety, and isolation of the pandemic had added to the problem. A 2018 Gallup study found 23 per cent of people feel burned out at work often or always. A poll before the pandemic took effect, by Blind, an anonymous work- place community app, recorded 61 per cent of pro- fessionals considering themselves burned out. A few months into the pandemic, that rose to 73 per cent. Interestingly, the World Health Organization, which globally has overseen the coronavirus pandem- ic, has also labelled burnout as a pandemic. It defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic work- place stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: • feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; • increased mental distance from one’s job, or feel- ings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and • reduced professional efficacy. “Burnout refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life,” WHO cautions. As well as sometimes confusing what burnout is, we can easily slide into believing four common myths about burnout that New Zealand consultant Suzi McAlpine identifies in her book Beyond Burnout. The first myth is that burnout is all about the per- son – not the workplace. That puts too much onus on the individual to prevent, treat and recover from burnout in the workplace. The notion of individual responsibility is accentuated by the many articles on the internet and tips on television shows, from yoga to mindfulness to resilience courses, or better work- place habits like developing priorities and learning to say no to requests. Those strategies can be helpful but she stresses they are not enough – nor is it mere- ly the individual’s responsibility to tackle burnout. Burnout is bigger than the individual. We operate in an ecosystem and usually that’s the cause of burnout. If the water in a goldfish bowl becomes contaminated, it’s not the fish who are responsible for being sick. Treating burnout as an individual responsibility leads us to miss the systemic issues causing burnout. It also makes it easy for us to overlook those in our organisation who are also suffering from burnout but are hiding it and still pressing forward. It means we don’t treat the root causes of burnout and leave the individuals suffering to feel they are at fault, adding to the stigma of being burned out. The second myth follows from that last point: Peo- ple who suffered from burnout are presumed to be mentally weak or poor performers who can’t handle stress. “In many cases it’s quite the opposite. In fact, it may be that the highest-performing, most dedicated, and passionate workers are most at risk from burn- out. A five-year study in the UK, released in 2017, found that the mental health of 20 per cent of the top- preforming leaders of British businesses was affected by corporate burnout,” she writes, noting burnout has even been described as “overachiever syndrome.” High performers may be more at risk of burnout because their personal thirst for excellence creates pressure to be perfect and their willingness to always take on more means sacrificing work-life balance. But again, that ignores the organization and sur- rounding ecosystem. High performers are often the ones assigned the most challenging projects and the breaks between those projects tend to be short. No matter how busy they are, the assumption is they can do more and should because they will produce top quality work. As the saying goes, “If you want some- thing done, give it to the busiest person” – and McAl- pine adds, the highest performing. The third myth, when we start to feel signs of burn- out, is that we can just take a holiday or few days off and everything will be hunky-dory again. But in a 2018 American Psychological Association survey of more than 1,500 U.S. workers, two-thirds of respon- dents said that the mental benefits of a vacation had disappeared within a few days of their return. “Rest and a complete break can help people start the process of recovering from burnout. But it’s not enough on its own. Sometimes it’s not enough, pe- riod,” she says. Beyond Burnout By Suzi McAlpine Random House New Zealand, 288 pages, $9.95 (Kindle) 26 / Canadian Government Executive // May/June 2021 THE LEADER’S BOOKSHELF BY HARVEY SCHACHTER BEYOND BURNOUT BY SUZI McALPINE