Preventing Burnout and Treatment: Self Compassion and Empathy

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Preventing Burnout and Treatment: Self Compassion and Empathy

An increasing number of business leaders, managers and employees are showing signs of burnouts (~ being emotionally exhausted and cynical due to work stress, both chronic and acute).

Main Cause: Work Stress

Even if other factors also are playing a role (for example personal circumstances/traits, Covid, a crisis, a war), burnouts are mainly caused by work stress. In turn, this stress at work can be caused by:

• The increasing uncertainties and speed of change in the world around us and in our organizations.
• People are overworking quite a bit ('work presenteeism') and the line between home and work seems to disappear further and further.
• Conflicts with colleagues and other personal factors add up to stress levels and lead people to perceive their work as a burden, rather than as a fun and rewarding activity.

How to Prevent Burnout?

Based on a study from Wiens (2016), a part of the answer to this question can be found in practicing one of the categories of emotional intelligence: "EMPATHY" (~ aiming to be compassionate towards other people by understanding their needs, wants and opinions; expressing them and acting according to them).

How to Prevent You Get a Burnout Yourself?

Most interestingly, the above research shows that compassion does not only benefit others, but also yourself. How does that work? The act of expressing empathy creates certain physiological reactions that make us relax and calm and enhance our long-term sustainability. It also triggers the parasympathetic part of our nervous system (responsible for unconscious processes like digestion, salivation defecation, etc.). Expressing empathy also has a reverse effect on the stress levels caused by our sympathetic nervous system (stimulates psychological reactions on attacks or harmful events).

Protect Yourself by Putting These 2 Things at the Very Top of Your To-Do List

McKee en Wiens (2017) recommend to engage in empathy towards yourself (self-compassion) and towards others to protect yourself against a burnout:

• SELF-COMPASSION: Take care of your body, mind, loved ones and make sure you get enough sleep. Be kind and forgiving to yourself.
• GIVE EMPATHY: Nurture friendships with colleagues you like. Appreciate people. Coach people. Put people at the center.

⇒ What are your experiences and ideas regarding preventing and countering burnouts?

Sources:
McKee, A. and K. Wiens (2017), "Prevent Burnout by Making Compassion a Habit", HBR May 2017
Wiens, K.J. (2016), "Leading through Burnout: The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on the Ability of Executive Level Physician Leaders to Cope with Occupational Stress and Burnout", University of Pennsylvania

		Comments by date▼ Comments by rating Rating
		18 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Empathy Diminishes Stress. Try it! Thanks Anneke for sharing this article review. For me this was a bit of a revelation. You see, since a couple of years I work as a care volunteer in a hospice (~ a place offering a specialized type of compassionate care for those facing a life-limiting illness or injury). This role involves giving a lot of empathy to the patients and their family. Since then, feelings of stress I used to have diminished, and I feel emotionally strong and in balance. Isn't it a miracle of creation/evolution that by helping others you are rewarded with emotional wellbeing of yourself? I never anticipated that, let alone did I understood the reasons behind it… This article gave me some good insights and serves as a reminder for me to apply more compassion and empathy in my daily work and personal life too. By the way, also have a look at active listening, which I found to be a useful technique for the first 2 elements of giving empathy (understanding, expressing).

		7 Philippe Barteau Entrepreneur, France
	Being Empathetic is Good for Yourself I learned from this article that being compassionate to other people decreases your own stress level. Merci beaucoup!

		4 Jorge Rodriguez Fonseca Business Consultant, Costa Rica
	Accept your Situation But Try to Improve It 1. In life we have to face bad moments and situations that cause stress. So, first we have to understand that much more people are facing such moments. For example, if we can't buy great toys for our children, we can think that there are a lot of people that can't even give food to their children. This liberates our stress in that situation. We need to evaluate the relative importance of the situation, because otherwise we might "drown in a glass of water". If we find that the situation is not so important after all, this helps us to liberate the stress. 2. To face the situation probably already lowers the stress. For example, if your boss request you to work hard for a month, and you already feel fatigued, it's better that you tell your boss what is happening with you and how it affects your results. At least, talking give you an opportunity to express yourself. This liberates your stress too. 3. Self-Compassion is good too. For example taking time to do whatever you like to do is a good way to avoid distress.

		3 Gregory Johnson Coach, United States
	Burnout: How to Protect Yourself as a Leader! Interesting discussion. The 2 prescriptions sound manageable, but (as being a manager/leader) there are a couple of steps and commitments we should consider as well: 1. PROACTIVE VERSUS REACTIVE - M...

		3 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Empathy Requires Sensitivity which in Turn Develops the Capability to Withstand Stress I think that to walk the shoes of someone else SENSITIVITY is required so as to understand the other person's point of view and to develop the capability to adapt and withstand stress. This requires ...

		2 Monchal, France
	Very Interesting Thank you very much for this very interesting post. I was aware of the fact that self compassion and paying attention to our body and emotions is an important shield against stress and burn out. I was...

		3 Katie Pawley MBA Consultant, United States
	Interesting ~ Burnout How to Protect Yourself I never considered the word empathy in relation to burnout. The suggestion for looking after self and others makes sense....

		2 Salvador Castro, PhD Professor, Mexico
	Masked Burnouts in Toxic Enterprises Erika Villavicencio Ayun PhD, explains about "workaholics" and their relation with enterprises. She says a workaholic has "an addiction that is rewarded" and discovers in a survey "25 to 30 percent of...

		3 kadi Student (MBA), Morocco
	Give a Hug to Yourself In this fast running world, we forget ourselves. Often when I think about it, I realize how unfriendly I was toward my self, as if I was allied to this stressful environment against my self. It may so...

		1 Ivan Kohlinsky Management Consultant, Guernsey
	They Say This About 'Hate' as Well Yes - They always say that if some ill has been done then if the person on the receiving end continues to 'hate', then it harms them more than the culprit. So - yes having empathy (including for ones...

		0 D P BABU Strategy Consultant, India
	Transform Burnouts Into Positive Blowouts There is a difference between a burnout and a blowout. The former is the result of accumulated stress relinquished of by oneself which is channelized by a sort of prejudice on others. Instead, a burn...

		4 Naser M. Elmusrati Strategy Consultant, Libya
	Plan-B Readiness also Helps against Burnout Thank you all for this important discussion. I think if we have a ready Plan-B in our pocket, we will feel more safe against burn-out and we will be able to level and balance any fatigue we may face....

		1 ann musembi Student (University), Kenya
	How To Protect Yourself Against Burnout? Thanks for this discussion. Self-compassion is really important against stress. I have learned that you should be compassionate in order to lower stress levels. Thanks so much....

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Protection Against Stress & Burnout I would disagree that stress causes burnout. In my view: Work stress is from external pressures. It arises primarily from bad management (lack of clear, agreed with objectives; bullying; ineffici...

		5 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Burnout from Internal AND External Pressures? @Maurice Hogarth: Thanks for your valuable contribution. The distinction you make between external and internal pressures is not without merits to analyze the situation someone or you yourself are in....

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Stress & Burnout Pressures @Jaap I agree with you regarding the difference between influencing events and the options for responding to them. In reaction to the terms 'burnout' and 'stress': a major difficulty is the interpret...

		1 Gregory Johnson Coach, United States
	Internal / External Stimuli for Stress and Burnout @Jaap de Jonge: Indeed both the internal and external influences are mandatory considerations for any person in a position of leadership and certainly in the top position within an organization. Thro...

		6 Hong Sun Management Consultant, Canada
	Individual and Team Burnout and How to Manage It Burnout is not only a serious occupational disease for individuals but also an anti-productive workplace maladie inflicted on many teams in organizations, therefore it's imperative to understand the b...

		2 Sathya Devarakonda Project Manager, India
	How to Avoid Burnout - a Religious Approach If you practice the following you can avoid you end up in a burnout. This is not an overnight solution. But if you conduct to live on these lines you would never end up in a burnout situation. Religio...

		1 Guillermo Cabrera Manager, Mexico
	Burnout Analysis Very interesting discussion covering different aspects related to burnout. This is my opinion: Both internal and external factors affect us as humans, but I think those things that cause us fear, pai...

		1 Michael Norris Director, United States
	Preventing Burnout in First Responders and Essential Industries @Hong Sun: Very good conversation regarding burnout! I feel that Hong Sun has a great approach to the issue and probably the most realistic one. Overall the dialog contains a lot of truths, but I feel...

		2 Gregory Johnson Coach, United States
	Power Stress and Burnout Among Leaders Leadership is exciting but it is also stressful. Among leaders, there is this interesting phenomenon we refer to as POWER STRESS. This is a unique type of stress that is a basic part of being a lLeade...

		0 Chloe Xu Director, Australia
	4 Ways of Beating a Burnout. Self-Help Burnout is a serious problem for professional individuals, as well as the team and organization they are working in. It links to many physical and mental health problems, including coronary artery dis...

		1 Tim Dibble Project Manager, United States
	Psychological Care is as Important as Physical Care If your wrist hurts every time you sit at the computer you take action. You get a new mouse, invest in a different mouse pad, a chair or other support to your wrist. You enlist the aid of professional...

		1 Anonymous
	What to do in Case of a Burnout? Things you can do Yourself Thanks for sharing these tips Chloe. Besides the empathy aspect, I found following things to do to deal with a burnout. Thought I'd add them here: 1. Don't bite off more than you can chew (learn how ...