How is your physical and mental health? If you fail to self-care the result could be leadership burnout.
By Declan Noone
Let’s be honest: The demands and pressures on leaders as a result of Covid have increased exponentially. Since March of 2020 more has been asked of leaders than ever before.
This might be that they are stuck at home in a series of lockdowns, sitting through endless zoom calls, dealing with uncertainty in their business or facing new organisational challenges, facilitating transitions into ‘the new normal’, still delivering on the bottom line as well as trying to cope with the demands of their workforce and caring for family at home or being worried for your own and your loved one’s health.
With what help though?
In the middle of a pandemic that was shaking many business sectors to their core the majority of businesses had little or no time, awareness or resources available to equip leaders to cope let alone flourish in this reality. Many leaders were left to their own devices, and became reliant on their wits to get them buy. To survive.However, that phase of survival has moved from just a few months during the initial lockdown to nearly a year long battle. It is inevitable that many will feel mentally stretched, emotionally exhausted, and physically drained, as a result of experiencing chronic stress for too long.
Add into that cauldron the stresses of working from home. The American Psychological Associations report titled ‘ Stress in the time of Covid-19’[1] highlights the multitude of the stressors impacting parents working from home, as well as, the magnitude at which those stressors are felt.
When will all this pressure lead to a tipping point, a wild fire of burn out rates amongst leaders? Many may already be unconsciously displaying the symptoms, for example:
- Poor/disrupted sleep patterns
- Difficulty getting out of bed
- Difficulty with emotional regulation
- A greater degree of self-imposed isolation
- Frantic energy
- High degree of procrastination
- Poor eating habits
- Weight gain
Let’s do something about this!
We in Serrano 99, drawing on our own personal and professional experiences, understand the real world challenges that being a leader during a crisis bring and their true impact. We know, from first-hand experience, having lead through many crises, that Self-Aid is First Aid when it comes to managing your own personal wellbeing. You cannot expect to lead and care for others if you do not care for yourself first. So join us on February 16 at 09:30 for an Executive Briefing on Leader Burn Out as we discuss how caring for your mind, body and soul will help you avoid hitting the wall.
[1] https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/stress-in-america-covid.pdf
