Leader Burnout
There is a lot of discussion, and rightly so, about leaders stepping up and leading during times of crisis. Leaders need to be visible, remain positive, be decisive, confident...I could go on for this entire blog post. All of these expectations don't take into account the human aspect of leaders - meaning that as great as they are, they are still human. They experience the entire range of emotions we expect them to lead us through including stress, mental and physical fatigue, anger, frustration and all others. They also need sleep, downtime and sometimes they need to be propped up.
During times of crisis, it's easy for leaders to forget to take care of themselves. If the crisis lasts only for a short period of time, then pushing everything else aside may not be a huge deal. But if the crisis goes on for an extended period of time, it's important for them to take action to not burn out.
An Example
Early in my career I was a senior member of a contact center leadership team. We did a website upgrade that didn't go well and all of a sudden our contact center was absolutely overwhelmed with call volume. Every agent was on a call and we had hundreds of calls in queue for days. I distinctly remember arriving at the office when it was dark, sitting at the conference table in my office with my laptop, cell phone, conference phone and desktop phone all active. About 10 at night, I would turn things off and head home. The next day we repeated it. This went on for several days. There have been several other of these examples in my career. That's what happens when you are focused on support.
Each time something like this happens I feel like I get a little better at dealing with it. But I am still always absolutely exhausted at the end of the day, week, etc. Here are a couple of things I wished I had known then to help with this:
Burning Yourself Out Makes the Event Worse (for you and everyone else)
If you are the leader, the one solely responsible to help resolve the situation, or even if you are part of a leadership team doing the same, you cannot burn out in the middle of the crisis. You have to keep going and you have to stay on top of your game. This is one time when sacrificing yourself for the team is probably not the best idea.
One thing I learned in that first event was how important my team of direct reports was. I was not sitting at my conference table alone. I had key members of my team there and elsewhere helping us navigate the chaos. Sometimes we left the building at the same time. Other times I sent some home early. They sent me home early on occasion. We knew that we had to get some rest and relief and worked as a team to make that happen.
Know Yourself Before the Crisis Hits
I'm an introvert. That's an interesting thing considering that I have spent most of my career in high volume support organizations surrounded by people. So imagine the amount of energy burn to never have any time by myself during some of these crisis situations. Add to that the pressure of people believing that the leader needs to always be seen and in the middle of things and it's no wonder I was absolutely exhausted. While I knew I was an introvert at the time, I didn't really understand what that meant or how to deal with it. Now I have a much better idea. If I was in that situation again, I would find time to go out and walk with my headphones in. It wouldn't have to be for long, but if I could find 15 minute periods a few times a day, then that would have made a huge difference. They key is to know what your stress triggers are and ways to deal with them prior to the crisis hitting. If you try and figure that out in the midst of a crisis, it is not going to go well. So have a plan. Know what you need to do. Do you need to have a favorite snack at the ready? Do you need to get in a daily walk? Do you need to have music playing? What is it that will help you? And then make sure your team knows as well. The best thing would be for a member of your team to remind you of those things that will help you. They can bring you your snack, cover while you step out or whatever is needed. Do the same thing for your team.
Ask For Help
Without the help of others, I would have not made it through some of these events. You have to be willing to ask for and accept help from others.
Find Time Away
There are just times when you have to step away from the crisis. If you are heads down focused on the same thing from dawn to after sunset, you are going to burn out.
Other Things
Get enough rest
Find time for family or friends (unless they increase your stress)
Pick key normal habits and do your best to stick with them (daily walk, dinner with the family, etc.)
Summary
These are just some high level ideas. While the leaders are out there trying to be and do everything for their organization in the middle of a crisis, they and we need to remember that they can burn out just as we can. Let them take care of themselves as needed and let's help them do so as well.