Burnout to Balance: 5 Strategies for Sustainable Leadership | 003

And today we're gonna be talking about burnout to balance strategies for sustainable leadership. This is important because so many people are experiencing burnout right now, and you're gonna learn actionable strategies on managing stress and avoiding burnout while at the same time leading. Effectively.

So the name of the podcast is Coffee with Mike, and I'm drinking coffee right now. I'm from. Greenwood Lake

Roasters in Greenwood Lake, New York. It's some of the best coffee I've ever had in my life, and I'm very glad that they are about 20 minutes from my home in the Hudson Valley, and I encourage you to check them out.

They are not sponsoring the show. They're getting some free advertising, so. You're welcome, Greenwood Lake. But no, check them out. There's some really nice people and they make some great, great coffee. So I invite you to join me if you're getting coffee right now. We're getting coffee together. That's kind of cool.

People who were. Deeply committed to their work, but began to feel depleted and disillusioned over time.

They don't have to go away, but for the most part, I've got it to a place where they have become managed and it's not. Completely debilitating my life like it once used to, and I'm grateful for that. That's one of the reasons I'm able to record this podcast actually, because I'm in a better mental state.

On top of that.

On top

If you just pick up your phone for a second, there's. Things happening politically, culturally in the environment, in the economy that are just causing stress everywhere. So this is happening and this is causing a lot of burnout for people, and I know that I'm not alone here. Employees everywhere are feeling this burnout, which includes you, which is probably why you're listening to this episode.

And according to Moodle employees. Who have burnout. They find that it's driven by a few things, like feeling like they have more work to complete than time to do it. 24% of those employees feel that way. I feel that way. Um, not having enough resources or the right tools to do their job properly, that's 24% of them.

And a perception of a poor economy, which is impacting their wellbeing at work, 20%. So let's go back through the krisa. I'm sorry, I, that's my clap to stop me. I'm gonna go back and do that whole section again. Sorry. Starting at the Moodle.

This

is segment two. This is doing segment two over.

Employees

Their role. So these statistics are really important to understand what's on people's mind. Another term that I use, and I've been putting this in my workplace, mental health presentations, is consumer sentiment. We don't usually hear that term in the mental health and wellness world, and consumer sentiment is how excited or scared people are about spending money, and that's important to understand.

Get news a certain way and it affects how people think and feel and how they go about things. So it's important to understand that whatever story someone is telling themselves is true, and you have to validate that. As a starting point for addressing this in the workplace. Now, here are some strategies.

I'm gonna give you five for sustainable leadership around burnout, and I, I encourage you to imply these five strategies and once they become a habit. Bring them to your employees. But the key is here, you have to master them first. That's your assignment here. And chances are you setting an example may be all that you need to do.

And I remember there was one time at dinner. I mean, she decided to flex her muscles and show us how lean she was or whatever, and, and basically was picking on my brother and I saying we need to get our act together. And I mean, she was doing it lightly and in jest. But you know, fast forward to today,

fitness

is a major part of my life and my brother's life because my mom set that example.

And so as a leader, it's the same thing. You set the example, you can't. Invest in mental wellness for your organization, and you're the one who's stressed out and neurotic setting that type of tone, it just doesn't work. So it's important that you start with yourself. Everyone will follow you. So let's start with your central nervous system.

In

your head, it's actually in your body. Your central nervous system consists of your brain, your spinal cord, and the nerves in your body. And when you experience stress, one way to look at what stress is, it's actually an imprint left on your central nervous system.

And when triggered, your body shifts into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn leading to chronic dysregulation. Now, let me explain. Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, what that means. Back in the day when we were in the woods, our ancestors maybe encountered a lion in the woods and they had four choices.

Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn

That's

one choice. Number two, flight. I am gonna run as fast as I can. I'm gonna try to zigzag and maybe run up a tree and hope the lion just gets away from me.

Freeze mode. That's number three, is where you freeze. I'm just gonna pause, be still, and pray. That the lion just goes away. And number four. Fawning. Negotiating with the lion. You say to the lion, look, um, I know you really want to eat me. You're hungry, but I promise you, if you don't eat me, I will bring you to three other people that I know definitely need to be eaten.

So keep in mind that our body still has that in our central nervous system, fight flight, a freeze or fawn. And some of it is actually. An inherited thing that we inherit in our DNA, and that's how we respond to stress. So when you begin to experience stress, you start to get irritable, uh, feel fatigued.

pour his coffee.

and start the day.

Sometimes that day would start at 6:30 AM and Rocket Boots would focus, focus, focus, boom, boom, boom, get stuff done. And because I'm in New York City, I mean, that's how you have to be. That's what this culture's all about in New York City. And she. Patiently listen to me, and then she asked me a question I'll never forget.

And the body and how that leads to weight gain. And one of the signs of feeling stress or having a lot of stress or a central nervous system that's not regulated is weight gain. So that was a game changer for me to really hear that like that. And since then. I can't say that rocket boots is completely gone.

Burnout thrives in over commitment. Sustainable leadership requires setting boundaries with your time, your calendar, and your energy. Saying no is not just selfish. It's strategic in the book. Let's see if I can remember The Power of a Positive No by William Yuri, who is a former hostage negotiator. He opens the book by sharing a fact about saying no, that we often.

don't want

to say no because we feel it will damage a relationship, but we end up saying yes and resenting the fact that we said yes. And his book gives you a formula for saying no in a way that actually builds relationships. And I'm not gonna go too much into that formula right now because that's its own episode.

that will

help you with learning to say no. Another book

Boundaries by

Dr. Henry Cloud is probably the best book on learning boundaries and reading it the first time. I mean. I was bothered by how much I never knew about boundaries, and most of us are never taught boundaries.

We come from cultures and families where you're expected to say yes.

Number four, build micro moments of recovery into your day. You don't need a week long vacation to reset. No short intentional pauses, like deep breaths between meetings or a 10 minute walk create consistent restoration for your brain and your body. Sometimes we want to see a profound. Change in something.

I

took a break. I had done a recording previously for another podcast episode, and

I

felt good about it, and I was ready to go right into this one, but I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hustle, New York City. Um, and you know, that is an outdated. Image I had in my mind about success, and I had to really define what success is for me, and it looks a lot different than when I started out on my journey.

Success to me now is actually being able to sit here with you and. Deliver this podcast episode to you. Be able to be relaxed and have fun and share tools that can help you in a non-stressful way. And so that's something that I've learned to do. So one question you can always ask yourself, what story am I telling myself and how do I know it to be true?

And actually when I started recording, I was actually feeling nervous because I said to myself, you know, I haven't been on top of my self care as much as I would've. Like to, and that's me being transparent. But the beautiful thing about sharing all this content with you, it's like I have clarity right now and know what I need to do.

So after I'm done, I'm actually supposed to record another episode, but I'm not gonna do that. Actually, I am going to go to the gym and get my workout in, and when I get back, if I feel like it, I will record the next one or just leave it until next week. That being said, thanks for listening and let's get coffee again sometime.

Take care.