Burning Out, Survival of the Fittest and Thriving - The Manager Newsletter
Cultivated Management
Newsletter
Edition 15 - Burning Out, Survival of the fittest and thriving
Hi,
Hope you've had a fabulous weekend and are all set for the week ahead.
In this week's newsletter I'll be talking about burnout and what really causes it, my book of the week is Survival of the fittest by Mike Stroud and I've also launch my 2nd book of the year "How to thrive as a Web Tester: Over 30 Ideas to guide your web testing, and some thoughts on how to thrive in the industry".
In a previous newsletter when I talked about blogging, I mentioned I had some goals for this year. I'm a very goal orientated person. I like to have goals for myself and my teams. I think it's important to be striving and pushing a little, but these goals need to be grounded in reality, have suitable measures (not just targets) and be on the path to something bigger.
My life ambition is to be a writer. A full time, fully paid up writer. I've got a long way to go. This year is all about blogging daily to the Cultivated Management blog, writing and publishing 5 books! and also publishing one new mini-book or guide to my other platform Parent Brain.
Ambitious, but achievable given my new routines. And all of these goals contribute to something bigger - becoming a writer. Most people set goals, achieve the goal and then wonder "What next?" - thats often why goal setting fails - the goals become the end in themselves, not a path to something really big.
What are your goals for this year?
Hit reply to this email and share them with me if you like? I'd be keen to hear what they are if you're happy to share.
Enjoy.
Rob..
Burning Out
Being a manager puts you in contact with people who are burning out. People who are frazzled and have had enough. The stress and competing demands of management may also mean you too could be suffering from burnout.
Severe burnout often results in weeks or months off work - unable to function well and with severe physical and mental pain. The goal of a manager is to prevent burnout, spot it when it does happen and stop it before it becomes too severe - in both your direct reports and yourself.
But this is easier said than done.
The symptoms of burnout are similar to stress, depression, physical tiredness; chronic fatigue, dizzyness, lack of appetite, eating too much, drinking too much and many more. It's tricky to spot these in your direct reports. It's easier to spot them in yourself though.
Brownout is a new term for HR teams to describe the period leading up to burnout. The period of downward spiralling out of control where everything is becoming too much and the next stop is full on burnout. I've been here myself - it properly sucks. Trust me.
I've seen stress, depression, brownout and burnout in the workplace before and it's not good. It should be the company's morale and ethical obligation to look after the very people who are working for them - yet many companies have no policies in place and upper management often don't care. Replace them. Give them time off. Pension them off.
But what causes burnout?
The mainstream belief seems to be that burnout is caused by overwork and the stress that comes with. I don't agree that this is complete. I do believe it comes from prolonged periods of stress, but I don't think that comes from overwork. I believe burnout comes from the stress of working, for prolonged periods of time, on something you don't believe in, or for people you do not believe in or trust.
I know plenty of people who are working lots of hours on stuff they enjoy. And they are thriving. I know plenty of people who are working 5 hours a day for people who don't care, and they are burning out. Burnout is not just down to hours worked, days worked or energy committed to a project. It is down to how much of that energy is committed to something you don't believe in, or how much return you get for that commitment.
It is hard-work committing to work you don't believe in, or working for people you do not trust, or working in a company that has no mission or purpose. It is stressful protecting yourself, guarding your work, worrying about getting fired or constantly trying to escape the work you are in. It takes its toil.
This is precisely why I encourage all managers and execs to be crystal clear about what the business is doing and why, what success looks like, how people will be measured, how people are contributing to this success, who can help people when they get stuck and how others are also contributing to the success of the business. I also advocate very clear and frequent communication that people can trust and the fair treatment of employees against each other. It's unnerving knowing you can earn a lot more money simply by knowing the boss rather than actually contributing value to the business.
Everyone I know who has been through burnout has said the same thing. I'm working hard (not just long hours, but committing energy) towards something I don't believe in, or for people who don't care about me and my contribution. It's why Engagement is such a hot topic right now - people are disengaged and not as productive as they could be. Why? Most likely because they don't believe in the business or the people running it - so to avoid burnout it's easier to switch off and disengage. Those that burnout are often those that cannot switch off and disengage. They feel they must do a good job, even if it's not appreciated or towards something that doesn't matter - so they burnout.
I'm not normally a fan of Engagement models but the BlessingWhite model does make sense. The crash and burners are those who simply aren't getting what they need from the business despite their contributions.
So, to avoid burnout yourself, find a company doing stuff you believe in and run by people who care and commit (this can be an epic challenge in itself). Or disengage and protect yourself. Burnout is not about hours worked, it's about whether the energy you commit gives you a return. If not, you'll crash and burn, even if you're not working epic hours on it. If you do get a return for your commitment and feel you are contributing to something worthwhile, for people who care - then you'll thrive.
Avoid burnout at all costs though - I've seen the effect of it and it's not good at all.
Communication Workshop
The communication workshop is this Friday in Winchester!!!
There are still a couple of tickets left if anyone can make such short notice.
Thriving as a Web Tester
My second book this year has hit the Amazon bookshelf. The book is called "How To Thrive As A Web Tester" and is aimed at anyone new to software testing or those testing websites. The reality is the book is for all testers as it's split in to two halves.
The first half is hard hitting advice I wish I had had when I first started out.
The second half is over 30 ideas on how to test websites.
You can find out more about the book, read a few sample chapters and find a link to buy it here:
http://cultivatedmanagement.com/thrive/
Book of the Week
Another reasonable old book this week and it's about fitness.
I've come to realise that there is a strong correlating pattern between those who achieve more, appear to live happier lives and have the energy to commit to those projects and people they want to - they all take care of their health. This doesn't just mean fitness. It could be that they eat well, they lead active social lives, they sleep well, they destress well or they simply get out and wander the forests often (forest bathing, as the Japanese call it, is outstanding at curing mental health challenges).
And so I read this book to look out for nuggets of information on how the fittest stay fit and well. It is written by Mike Stroud who is a medical doctor well known for his exploration antics with Sir Ranulph Fiennes. He's a survival medical specialist and his knowledge is in this book Survival of the Fittest.
In the book he writes about the many expeditions, Sahara races, 7 day extreme races and more, that he has completed and how the human body can survive such intense situations. He also tells many stories of 70+ year olds running 40 mile races and thriving in some of the most extreme races on the planet. It seems it's not how old you are but how you look after your body.
Between each segment regaling his expeditions, he digs deep in to the body and mind and how it can survive such extremes. There's plenty of good stuff to glean if you're interested in human fitness and survival, but there is also much to learn for the keen manager who is wanting to get more done, have more energy and achieve more in their career. It's a good read with plenty of insights, science and data to back up many of his claims.
If you feel anywhere near brownout or burnout or just need a boost - this is an interesting book.
Survival of the Fittest - Mike Stroud.
Articles of the week
This week's articles are:
Why your agile training doesn't work - a good article about why classroom based only training in agile doesn't work. Couldn't agree more.
Preventing Burnout - a decent summary of the symptoms of burnout and some good advice for dealing with it
Smile - it's the best ROI you will ever get - a good case for why smiling is so important.
Be like water - Bruce Lee on brainpickings.
For stationery freaks like me, you might enjoy looking through famous people's notebooks. Here are Paul Klee's on Open Culture.
This week on Cultivated Management
This week on the blog:
Hiring the right person requires knowing what problems you have
A short post on my new book "How to Thrive"
A communication plan for managers
Future proofing your career - S-Curve yourself
Some thoughts on starting a blog
Thank you for reading The Manager.
If you have any questions you want answered hit reply to the email - I respond to all emails.
Until Next Time
Rob..
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