As leaders, our desire is to help the organization we lead be as successful as possible. However, sometimes we become so hyper focused on the end product that we lose sight of key foundational principles that help the company flourish. A strong desire to succeed without the correct leadership skills below the surface has resulted in many leaders experiencing symptoms of burnout. These symptoms include fatigue, physical sickness, irritability, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and feeling a decreased sense of accomplishment. When we experience burnout we tend to believe more vacation time or a change of career is the solution, however the core issues that lead to these burnout symptoms often follow us to the next career. The answer is not to escape the problem, but to lean into the experience and discover healthy changes we can make to overcome burnout.
If you are dealing with burnout in the workplace, Cultivate Leadership Institute (CLI) has the resources to help you build leadership skills and combat feelings of burnout. CLI is a remote learning environment and several graduates reported an improvement in burnout symptoms after completing this course. Their experience with CLI allowed them to learn how to care for themselves well, which in turn created a healthier version of themselves for their work community.
Cultivate leadership institute graduates share these five simple changes that they made after completing CLI to overcome burnout and improve their leadership skills:
Recognize Change Starts with You
Cultivate Leadership Institute helps leaders recognize they set the tone for their team. CLI teaches leaders they must take the time to invest in themselves and recognize their core values in order to help others change. Their employees look to them for guidance on how to handle work stress, complete tasks, manage their free time, interact with co-workers, etc. The health of the leader trickles down to the rest of the employees and creates either a healthy or unhealthy team culture. Healthy values and habits have to occur in the leader before they can be taught to their employees.
Healthy Boundaries
Establishing healthy boundaries are pivotal in sustaining a long-term prosperous career. As technology has advanced, so has our ability to work at all hours of the day. However, as humans we have limits and honoring these limits helps reduce symptoms of burnout. CLI teaches students about the benefits of time, emotional, material, and physical boundaries, as well as teaches them how to set these boundaries with work. One CLI graduate stated, “I was so busy and distracted by so many things going on that Satan was using that distraction, so I wasn't having time in silence and solitude with God.” Through setting boundaries, this graduate prioritized healthy spiritual practices opposed to working overtime, which helped her lead others well.
Energy Management
Many people discuss time management as a key to productivity, however we all have 24 hours in a day. CLI teaches another way to view time, which is to focus on energy management instead of time management. Leaders recognize specific zones of productivity and through this self-awareness they are able to complete work tasks during the time they are most productive. This energy management strategy reduces symptoms of burnout by allowing leaders to complete more tasks in a shorter amount of time, thus reducing their hours of inefficient work.
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Identity
Cultivate Leadership Institute is unlike other leadership development programs because it is based on Chrsitian principles. A former CLI student shared, “CLI helped change my view of what leadership was by learning that God created all of us to be leaders in different ways, and it's more about who we are and how God created us. Once I knew more about who I was in Christ, I was able to use those skills to lead well.” We are all created to be image bearers of Christ and reflect Him in our words and deeds. CLI helped this student learn his true identity is found in Christ, which then increased his confidence in his leadership skills.
Community
Research shows that we become the people we spend the most time with. In CLI, leaders participate in small groups with other like minded individuals who want to grow in their leadership skills. These small groups are diverse cohorts so people can learn from others in different career fields, such as entrepreneurs, small businesses or church leadership. People only develop in the context of relationships because this is where individuals are encouraged to develop their character, not just their competency.
Burnout symptoms can appear all encompassing with no end in sight. However, participating in CLI can help you deal with burnout at work and overcome the weight of these symptoms. CLI graduates have reported long-lasting benefits from these five leadership changes. They currently utilize these skills to prevent the resurfacing of burnout in their lives. Today is the day to invest in yourself and join CLI, because when we care for ourselves we glorify God and improve our care to those in our community.
