The signs of executive burnout – and how to avoid it

Incidences of leadership burnout are surging. Ignoring it threatens not only the sufferer’s health, but also the health of the business they are running. And there are few quick fixes.

“People think you can recover from burnout quite quickly – take a long weekend or go on holiday for a week – but that shit isn't true,” says executive coach Lynn Blades.

Blades knows the risks and realities of burnout all too well. Five years ago, she was busy growing her business and running her home, but her physical health was deteriorating and she was “on circuit overload emotionally”. 

She ignored the signs. Then, one day, she went out for a walk and her legs started to hurt. The pain quickly escalated, and she ended up in hospital having emergency back surgery. “Basically, two discs in my lower back had disintegrated. I had to have a titanium cage and three three-inch screws put into my back to walk.”

It took Blades a year to recover from the incident, although she still gets pain to this day. Unfortunately, this story is all too common. A survey of more than 10,000 business leaders by leadership consultancy DDI found that 71 per cent have felt a significant increase in their stress levels since stepping into their current role. Of those, 54 per cent are concerned about burnout and 40 per cent have considered abandoning leadership roles entirely as a result.

For Blades, her experience prompted her to try to help others. So she has written a book titled The Quiet Burn, a bold and honest guide to recognising and preventing burnout. “Your body will tell you something's wrong,” she says.

According to Mental Health UK, the symptoms of burnout can be physical, emotional and behavioural. Physical symptoms include feeling tired or exhausted most of the time, recurring insomnia and sleep disturbances, frequent headaches, muscle or joint pain, gastrointestinal problems, frequent illness, high blood pressure and issues breathing.

Emotional symptoms can include a feeling helpless, trapped, overwhelmed, detached or demotivated, self-doubt, a lack of a sense of satisfaction, loss of interest and enjoyment, and persistent feelings of dread, worry or anxiety.

Behavioural symptoms include procrastination, difficulty concentrating, decreased productivity, becoming isolated and withdrawn, being reliant on food, drugs or alcohol to cope, being irritable or short-tempered and increased tardiness.

There are a number of things that can cause burnout. One of the most common, says Blades, is saying yes to things you shouldn’t because you feel like you need to keep proving yourself. “[People] ignore the signs. It's unsustainable and it's unrealistic.”

However, you can break the cycle. The first thing that Blades recommends is talking about the problem, not only with people you trust in your personal life but also other leaders in your business. Then, reevaluate your workload and responsibilities.

You might feel like because you are running a fast-growing business and you’re a vital cog, everything will shut down if you take a break. But the harsh reality is that this behaviour is more likely to hold your business back.

“When you're ambitious,” says Blades, “you often have that control mode on. The adage is: ‘If you want it done right, do it yourself’. Okay, but you’ll do yourself in. Let go of some of the control, because you cannot be great at everything.”

Instead, play to your strengths. This means focusing on the things where you can really make a difference – and delegating other tasks to people in the business. Delegation also creates buy-in and a feeling of empowerment in those around you.

“Quite frankly, the higher you go, the less you should be in the weeds,” Blades says. “You should be using your time to innovate, think outside the box, see opportunities for scaling further. If you don't take care of yourself, if you let yourself break down, not only do you suffer, but everybody that you feel responsible for suffers as well.

“Burnout looks like me. I'm polished, I'm achieving, I'm a go-getter, I'm successful, but on the inside, I was completely depleted. You can't cover this up.”

Blades recommends blocking out times in your diary every day where you cannot be disturbed. It doesn't matter if it's five minutes, 15 minutes or half an hour, this time makes a huge difference to breaking the cycle.

If this doesn’t appeal to you immediately, use John Cleese’s method of tapping into your creativity during this time. He recommends using this time for what he calls “play” – an unbroken period of focus. That focus could be on problems with your business, fresh thinking on untapped markets, product improvements or new creations. This is how some of his iconic works, such as Monty Python skits and movies, were borne.

Another strategy to reduce burnout is to do some physical activity. This could be going for a walk, doing some gardening or following a yoga session. This creates an increase in adrenaline, cortisol and endorphins, a brain cocktail that has been scientifically proven to help reduce stress.

Blades also highlights the power of saying no. When scaling a business, it can be easy to overstretch and agree to take every meeting and client call and to travel constantly to help everywhere, but this creates an unrealistic cycle that could be affecting growth.

“No is the most beautiful word in the world,” says Blades. “It means self-respect. It means that you care about yourself and setting boundaries that are not going to be compromised. It's hard for us to set boundaries because we feel guilty. We feel guilty when we're not doing the things that we think we should be doing. I say dump the guilt. You will feel so much worse if you are physically unable to do anything.”

Other tips for dealing with burnout include prioritising sleep, reconnecting with your core purpose, taking genuine time off and using your support networks. Talking about your struggles with mentors and peers allows you to share experiences, gain perspective, and get encouragement and practical advice.

“I’ve had people say to me that you should expect burnout,” Blades concludes. “That’s crazy. Take it from one who knows, you should not expect burnout. If you are, you’re living your life wrong. That is not going to help you succeed in the long run – and it's certainly not going to make you happy.”

Lynn Blades's book The Quiet Burn: The ambitious woman's guide to recognising and preventing burnout is available now.