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What price are we willing to pay for stress? What is the price of indifference toward this problem? What can be the strategy for a leader to prevent stress from degenerating into burnout?
More and more often we hear about “burnout” and, what until recently seemed to be an extraordinary condition of life, today affects an increasing number of managers and top managers. How can we manage and overcome this problem strategically?
The results of the 8th Censis-Eudaimon Report on corporate welfare present a worrying situation: 31.8% of employees have experienced feelings of exhaustion and negative emotions toward their work, i.e., forms of burnout. The WHO (World Health Organization) defines burnout as a chronic work-related stress characterized by energy depletion, mental distance from one’s work, and reduced professional efficacy. Globally, based on data from the American Psychological Association (APA), we are witnessing an exponential growth of the phenomenon: over 50% of workers report suffering from it. These are worrying data that cannot be underestimated.
This category of professionals – precisely because of their role of extreme responsibility, the constant demands to be managed, and strong decisional stress – is often particularly exposed to this risk. This causes repercussions on the state of psycho-physical well-being of people, on their effectiveness, as well as on corporate results.
The well-being of leaders is an essential requirement because the health and well-being of every enterprise depends on its leaders.
Burnout syndrome is characterized by severe physical and mental fatigue usually caused by – or in any case correlated to – a continuous high level of work stress. The most common symptoms can be of a physical, psychological, and behavioral nature.
Among the physical symptoms, we can mention tiredness, chronic headache, tachycardia, gastric disorders, and insomnia; the most recurrent psychological symptoms are difficulty concentrating, low self-esteem, and a sense of frustration; regarding the behavioral sphere, burnout increases nervousness, aggressiveness, and distraction.
Training activity aimed at developing resilience as a courageous and strategic choice of a leader can represent a truly effective action, capable of facing and concretely overcoming the risks of burnout.
Resilience can be a powerful ally for today’s leader.
Meanwhile, it can be useful to analyze the meaning and etymology of the word “resilience”. It is a term that finds its origins in the physics of metals and indicates precisely the capacity of a metal to withstand shocks or forces applied to it without breaking. Resilience is therefore a fairly young term, but this mental attitude is part of the human being and ancient philosophers called it “strength of soul” (forza d’animo).
Resilience is therefore the capacity of a person to cope, resist, integrate, build, and positively reorganize their life, despite situations of crisis, stress, and difficulty.
Certainly, any mental attitude that defines behaviors, emotions, and moods cannot be reduced to a formula; we are certainly not talking about a mathematical equation. But wanting to summarize what are some important and essential elements that help the development of resilience, we could say that:
R=(O+F+C+C)×(V+A)
Where R is precisely Resilience, O represents Optimism, i.e., the clear conviction of being able to face and resolve situations; F identifies Flexibility; the first C indicates Collaboration with others and the following C depicts Self-awareness (Consapevolezza), that is, the ability to carry out an honest and positive internal dialogue.
This result, however, loses all meaning if it is multiplied – as mathematics teaches – by zero. The multiplier of this formula is represented by the Truth (V) and Authenticity (A) of a leader, that is, by their coherence, their belief, their being in depth the sincere expression of what they show on the outside.
It can be inferred that resilient leadership is the application of resilience to the role of a leader. But this can be a reductive definition, confined to a mechanistic vision of leadership.
Being a leader, as we have seen, means being guided by one’s own values and vision; having the ability to look beyond and through; having the flexibility and speed to adapt choices and behaviors to circumstances; having the integrity to follow not only the mind, but also the soul.
We can say that leaders are the modern samurai. The samurai were noble warriors capable of facing every challenge with fearlessness and audacity. It is also interesting to dwell on the origin of this word which means “servant.” In the same way, the leader is moved by high purposes and goals, has the strength to courageously face their own internal dialogue, manages complex situations with confidence, but is at the service of a greater good: the achievement of goals and the growth of their team.
It would almost seem a contradiction to bring together two terms so different from each other. In fact, succeeding in preventing burnout, with all the unpleasant consequences for a person’s health, is essentially a strategic matter. It is, that is, a conscious choice, carefully defined, aimed at maintaining psycho-physical well-being.
Top managers, precisely because of the importance of their role and the heavy responsibilities they have toward companies and many people, are increasingly attentive to preventing states of exaggerated and continuous stress, potentially a cause of burnout.
Here are some useful indications on how to prevent burnout:
Sport is a precious metaphor that offers numerous insights and techniques on how to face and overcome particularly intense situations and periods, in which one faces important challenges for which no intermediate solutions are provided: all or nothing. Sport, whether experienced directly, offered by professionals, or told through literature or films, can represent a valid tool to reposition ourselves and find the energy and balance necessary to hold the course, even when the sea is stormy.
Sport is a model and source of inspiration for the training of leaders and can inspire the journey of developing one’s own wisdom of the soul, indispensable for interpreting and living life at its best, as well as a role as important as it is delicate like that of the leader.
A good book is always an extraordinary journey. In this case, “Un viaggio straordinario” is also the title of the volume that tells the journey that Giorgio Petrosyan, a legend of martial arts, completes in stages, each of which is linked to the mental preparation for matches, where every detail is cared for with millimetric dedication.
It is a book in which whoever reads it will be accompanied into the heart of the practical work of coaching and how one can truly integrate head and heart to elevate our quality of life.
Reading a good book is certainly a powerful strategy to prevent burnout problems; it is also a precious tool to support, reinforce, and enhance targeted and personalized training and coaching activity.
Yes, facing a corporate consultancy path in an organic, personalized, and targeted way can be a valid strategy to offer the leaders of an enterprise methods, tools, and actions to face the challenges of the world, the market, and teams with extreme effectiveness and better well-being for all.
