The Ability To Influence Others Mitigates Burnout
In the final instalment of this three-part series on burnout amongst managers, I talk about the second facet of control - power - and how you can use this to mitigate and alleviate burnout.
In the first blog I spoke about what burnout actually is. Burnout comprises of feelings of exhaustion, feeling cynical and negative about ones’ job and reduced feelings of professional efficacy. It is the combination of these three factors that leads to burnout.
In the second blog I spoke about the first facet of control self-efficacy. This is about feeling in control of your tasks and workload demands.
Organisations need to understand that human beings have a biological need for control. To effectively create a workplace where your employees are engaged and you reduce the risks of burnout, organisations need to help managers feel empowered:
A recent study examining burnout amongst managers tells us why it is critical for organisations to understand the role power plays in the development of burnout. I summarise the key findings here.
Power: Feeling like you can influence and direct others mitigates burnout
When you are a manager, power is an everyday reality. It may not always seem or feel like it for some, but as managers and leaders, you have a degree of control and authority over others. This is especially true of managers who receive power formally – they naturally see themselves as powerful. They also have more access to resources that are barred to those hierarchically below them. This means they can act with fewer constraints, more freedom, and deliver results. It also means they can impose penalties.
Power is as much about actual control as it is about your perception and experience of it. It is perfectly possible to be allocated power without feeling empowered.
Do you feel like you can influence another person? When you can direct others in their work and achieve positive outcomes, it creates a positive feedback loop which works powerfully in your favour. Your confidence in your own ability increases rapidly. It is called the Winner Effect. It can insulate you from negative emotional states and drive you towards reward-seeking behaviour. At a biological level, your body releases higher doses of the happy-chemical – dopamine.
But the opposite – feeling of lack/loss of power – can be equally devastating. Managers who feel that they are not able to influence or impact others, whether they be subordinates or senior leadership, are more likely to feel detached and cynical about their work.
For example, you could feel like the work you are doing “has no meaning or impact”. You may be asking yourself what the point of your job is. Phrases such as “anyone can do it,” “it doesn’t matter anyway,” or “it’s not going to change” may describe how you are feeling at work. You may also experience issues around fairness and recognition. These feelings are more common in highly bureaucratised organisations, with stringent hierarchies. For example, a HR manager recently spoke with me about their role in a large organisation stating “… it’s too slow to get things actioned… I don’t really have any influence… no real power”.
The pandemic, for its part, has created situations where managers are more likely to feel frustrated and disempowered.
From here, burnout is just one step away.
How managers can enhance their sense of power.
Think of the big picture.
Think of a game of chess. Often chess players will willingly sacrifice their pieces to make their grand scheme work. This means that they will have to temporarily and strategically lose some power on the board. But paradoxically, this loss of power actually makes the player more powerful. This is because their focus is on the big picture. They behave in ways that serve their overarching goal, rather than incidental concerns.
In much of the same way, managers who focus on the big picture can feel empowered by controlled loss of power. This is a powerful paradigm shift, from how things are done to why things are done.
As I tell my clients, “as long as the king is on the board, the game is still on”.
Practically, you can do this by focussing on positive events that you influenced. This is an evidence-based technique that I myself use, with my teams and my clients. After work, I write down a list of “what I accomplished today”.
Focus on three aspects: tasks I had to do and achieved (my tick list), tasks that I found challenging and took steps toward overcoming or completed, and activities that tapped into my core values. Through this daily habit, I am able to focus on the big picture and enhance my sense of power. This is just one of ways you can also shift towards the big picture.
How organisations can design more effective ways to build engagement.
1. I speak to senior leaders who still struggle to accept this. A phrase I wrote in the previous blog about self-efficacy and so important that it is worth repeating the message: “focus on fixing the workplace rather than focusing on fixing the employee”.
2. Power-perception is extremely important for managers to relieve their emotional exhaustion. Not only that, it also affects organisational outcomes at every level. Organisations should, therefore, actively seek to empower their managers by giving them better access to resources, greater autonomy and decision-making powers. Consider how managers are either enabled or disempowered particularly in relation to decision-making, holding accountability and having ownership.
Final Thoughts
Remember, burnout occurs over time which can make it hard to spot until you are in the thick of it. It occurs due to a pattern of experiences at work. So resist the temptation for quick fixes that only treat the symptoms but leave the underlying condition to rear its head again.
It is also contagious - one by one your whole team can catch it via emotional contagion. That is why organisations need a deeper level intervention to tackle the root cause which is the solution for employee engagement.
If what you have read resonates with you, I offer a free 30-minute organisational consultation. To remedy burnout and other related issues, reach out to me here.
