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If you're expending more energy than you're taking in, burnout is inevitable.

Management by Coaching

When the fire burns too bright

Burnout: how to spot it and how to stop it

By Kimberly Paterson, CEC

Sweating key account renewals, making payroll, finding ways to grow, keeping key employees happy, meeting insurance company volume requirements, complying with ever-changing regulations, maximizing technology. The day-to-day pressures are enough to run down even the most tireless agency owner.

Turns out that executive burnout is a growing problem. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a Harvard Medical School Study that showed 96% of senior leaders were experiencing some degree of burnout. To make matters worse, it's a problem most executives don't take the time to recognize, let alone admit. The reality is, that in our intensely competitive business environment, our worth is too often measured by the hours we work, the commitments on our calendar and the number of e-mails we handle in a day. Overwork has become a badge of honor and to appear burnt out, stressed, fatigued or overwhelmed is viewed as a sign of weakness.

When the chief motivator is running on empty

Todd, a 44-year-old CEO of a successful agency, had always loved his job. In his five short years in the top spot, the agency had developed some key specialties, made several acquisitions, grown its sales force to 15 producers and was turning a respectable profit. Despite the success, Todd had begun to dread Monday mornings.

Putting on his "game face," he'd arrive at the office with a clear agenda and a commitment to keep a positive attitude, but things always seemed to spiral out of control. No matter how many hours he worked, he just couldn't keep pace. Todd's answer was to just keep pushing harder.

What Todd couldn't see was how his attitude was taking a toll on the agency. He was becoming increasingly critical and impatient with employees. They began seeing him as unreasonable and unapproachable. Todd was finding it more and more difficult to think clearly, stay focused and make decisions. Key initiatives always seemed to be in a holding pattern.

Like many CEOs, Todd tried to compensate for his feelings by powering his way through the problem. As the leader, he felt he had to keep going—no matter what. He couldn't stop running long enough to see that something was amiss. In a large corporation, this blind spot can cost an executive a career; in an agency, it can cost a principal his or her business.

Stress versus burnout

Stress is a part of life. It is the natural way we gear up to meet life's demands. The right level of stress is healthy; it keeps us alert, engaged and doing our best work.

Burnout is a prolonged and accumulated level of stress that leaves you feeling depleted, overwhelmed, dispirited and unmotivated. Eventually, you feel like you have nothing more to give.

The prolonged exposure to stress has physical as well as emotional consequences. One of these is adrenal fatigue, which comes from over stimulating the hormones that fuel high-energy behavior. In the beginning, it feels great. You can work like a super hero, compensating for exhaustion with adrenaline, caffeine, or straight-up willpower. But eventually your high-activity hormones run low. Your body slows down while you're trying to speed up. Illness, memory loss, and accidents replace achievement.

Who's most at risk

You can "burn out" only if you have been "alight" in the first place. That is the sad part about burnout: It tends to strike people who are highly committed, passionate, hard working and successful.

The three most common risk factors associated with executive job burnout: a high-pressure job that requires constant attention and focus, being so absorbed in the job that the person has no energy left for life outside of work, and poor fit between the job and the person's skills and interests.

Recognizing the red flags

Burnout symptoms fall into three categories: physical, emotional and behavioral. Physical symptoms can include low energy, muscle tension, headaches, digestive disorders, frequent colds or changes in sleep patterns. Emotional symptoms can include experiencing a loss of meaning, or feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, bored, frustrated, sad, irritable, unappreciated or trapped. Behavioral symptoms can include growing detachment from colleagues, finding reasons to stay out of the office, an increased harshness in dealing with staff and an increased use of alcohol, drugs or food to self-soothe.

Reversing the burnout cycle

Unchecked, job burnout can have serious consequences—from heart attack and substance abuse to divorce and job loss. The good news is, when you see the warning signs and take action, the burnout cycle is reversible.

The first step in stopping burnout is being honest with yourself and acknowledging you've got a problem. The second is getting a handle on what's fueling your burnout and the third is developing some simple strategies to protect yourself. People typically jump to the conclusion that they just need a vacation or time to recharge. That may help for a week or two, but if you don't change the conditions that led to your burnout in the first place, you'll be right back where you were in no time.

In coaching insurance executives, here are the common sources of burnout I hear about and some basic strategies addressing the problem.

• No matter how many hours I work, I just can't get ahead—That's because many of us fall into the trap of measuring the time spent working and tasks ticked off the list rather than the impact of our efforts. If you're like most people, an 80/20 analysis will likely reveal that 20% of your tasks consume 80% of your time, but 20% of your tasks produce 80% of your results. Shifting your focus to high-impact tasks will dramatically improve your results and feelings of accomplishment.

• There simply aren't enough hours in the day—For some of us, the problem isn't prioritizing; it's over committing. As a result, we lack the time and space we need to stay energized and focused. The strategy here is learning to say no to others and yes to ourselves. The action step is putting adequate amounts of personal time on the calendar and honoring it.

• Always on—Whether it's the family dinner, driving in our car or sitting on a beach in the Caribbean, today's technology makes it possible to work anytime, anywhere. And the problem is that we do. The inability to escape the job is a major cause of executive burnout. For the technology addict, unplugging is a must. Having a set time each day and for prolonged periods during the year when you go off the grid is essential.

If you are a person who finds it difficult to let go of work, it is important to structure your free time; otherwise, you'll end up working. Use your free time for a hobby that commands your full attention. For me it's painting. When I paint, I'm 100% absorbed in the process.

• It's just not fun anymore—This is a symptom of a mismatch between the job and your talents or interests. Usually it means you've changed or the job has changed.

Unless you're planning a career move, focus on better aligning your job and your interests. Review your work and calendar for a few recent weeks. Make a list of your main activities. Note which tasks are giving you energy and which rob you of energy.

Increase the time you are spending on the tasks that energize you.

• Lonely at the top—Being the boss has its advantages, but let's face it, it's a lonely job. You can't freely express all of your concerns and fears with your employees. No matter how engaged they are in the business, they don't feel the full weight of your responsibilities. It's important to have someone you can commiserate with and be candid with without worrying about the consequences. Whether you choose a coach, peer, or friend, find someone you can talk to who appreciates the challenges you face.

• I just don't have the energy—First rule out any possible medical issues, then look at your sleep, exercise and eating patterns. We all know the importance of sleep, food and exercise for good health, but the impact they have on our present physical and mental states is highly underestimated. Without adequate sleep (7-8 hours for most people), good nutrition and exercise on a fairly routine basis, you won't have the energy and mental acuity to meet the demands of your day.

No matter what is triggering your burnout, burnout ultimately gets down to math.

The formula is simple. If you're expending more energy than you're taking in, burnout is inevitable. Whether that energy source is as simple as getting enough sleep or as complex as the meaning and satisfaction you get from the work you do, the "energy coming in" has to be at least equal to the "energy going out." The best way to avoid burnout is to keep your eye on this formula.

If you'd like to assess your risk for job burnout, just e-mail me and I'll send you a free self-assessment tool.

The author

Kimberly Paterson is a business and Certified Energy Leadership Coach. She is president of CIM (www.cim-co.com), where she works with insurance organizations to build the vision, strategy, customer insight and leadership skills to energize people and achieve outstanding results. She can be reached at kpaterson@cim-co.com.

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