Is your employer contributing to personal burnout??

Careers with high levels of stress, tight deadlines, and family issues are all just the tip of the iceberg when considering actions that contribute to burnout conditions. Some individuals even go so far as to show physical symptoms such as insomnia, depression, negativity, anger, or detachment from friends and family when stressors take over one’s life. Unfortunately, there are several factors that contribute to burnout and excessive stress situations. I will detail a host of causes that are often times correlated to an improper work-life balance.

Generally, employers have an innate sense to increase expected productivity levels. This increases the expected workload which eventually leads to longer hours and time away from home. Not only does this promote the inability to effectively manage one’s personal and professional work-life balance, but your expectations of co-workers and family can increase exponentially.

Furthermore, when your boss becomes reliant upon your “Can Do” or “Yes, Sir” attitude, the individuals who generally suffer are your family, friends, religious affiliations, or volunteer events that rely on your time. Unless you physically take a step back and look at your current situation, in an attempt to address and treat burnout, the effects will continue to erode away at your job productivity. Worse yet, the quality of your work will decrease; the attitude about your job will diminish; and in some cases could manifest into physical ailments or death.

According to the website, http://www.workplaceissues.com/arburnout.htm, “Studies have shown that more heart attacks occur on Monday morning than any other time of the week. The common factor here is that people are going back to work after a weekend off. What a shocking realization, that people are not dying to go to work but are dying because they are going to work.”

Personally, I enjoy the challenge of working a career that keeps me on my toes; however, I have taken a stance that there must be a clear work-life balance. All too often I have seen fellow co-workers, friends, and even family members lose focus of this and have fallen into burnout type of situations. Remember, at the end of the day, you must enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Dr. John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change

Drawing upon the April 26th class discussion, I was a bit intrigued to investigate Dr. John Kotter’s 8 Steps for Leading Change. The following 8 Steps within Kotter’s theorized process, includes the following key tasks (identified in order of completion):

I. Acting With, or Creating, Urgency
II. Form a Powerful Coalition
III. Develop and/or Create a Vision for Change
IV. Communicate the Vision
V. Remove Obstacles to Empower Broad-based Actions
VI. Generate Short-Term Wins
VII. Build on Changes and Gain Momentum
VIII. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture

Derived from Dr. John Kotter’s website, http://www.kotterinternational.com/kotterprinciples.

With over 30-years of research and trial & error efforts to his name, Dr. Kotter has proved that nearly 70% of major changes within organizations FAIL. It is Kotter’s belief, with a high certainty of success that organizations who do not adapt to change will not prosper. Since technology and employee-bases are ever-changing variables, Kotter recommends that executive management teams implement a holistic approach to improve change. Without embracing the holistic approach, the team will identify the lack thereof of change, and management could be taking a one-way ride on a rollercoaster that has already been embarked upon. Remember, the end goal is to Lead Change and eventually Anchor the Changes into the existing framework of corporate culture. Resistance to acknowledge change is only a temporary band-aid to the problem which could ultimately pose negative results.