How Managers Can Avoid Burnout

I will never forget the morning I froze in front of a client. I was a vice president at Kearney, the global management consulting firm, presenting our proposal to a three-person client subcommittee. Mid-sentence, my mind went completely blank. Not the normal "lost my train of thought" blank rather the kind of blank that leaves a scary emptiness where confidence used to live.

I'd been putting on a mask each day. I'd tried to be positive and stay on top of everything. But that morning, I couldn't do it anymore. I felt anxious and exhausted at the same time. My mind was racing, and my body was depleted. The mask had finally cracked in the worst possible place.

What I didn't know then was how common my experience has become. Recent Wiley research reveals that 47 percent of managers describe their work stress as severe, compared to 37 percent of employees who carry less stress and are often most coddled when discussing burnout. The people responsible for preventing team burnout are burning out faster than the teams they're protecting.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.