How to avoid burnout as a leader in a scale-up business

It can all get a bit much sometimes, can’t it? Life, work and everything in between.

You’re working overtime, answering emails on weekends, delaying plans with friends to a time when you’re “not so busy”.

You’re on track for burnout.

Employees at every level, but leaders especially, tend to feel the need to be ‘on’ all the time.

But trying to do it all whilst trying to protect and maintain your own personal energy — and support your team to do the same — is exhausting work.

Unfortunately, burnout culture is alive and kicking in organisations all over the world. Research has found that almost 50% of employees and 53% of managers have been burned out at work.

That’s half of your workforce and over half of your leadership team!

At all stages of business, but particularly during the fast-paced scale-up phase, you need to look after yourself and make sure you’re doing what you can to avoid burnout.

So how do you do that? Check out the steps below for some ideas to get you started.

Step 1: Develop your self awareness

Burnout isn’t something that can be diagnosed. Although it can manifest in physical forms, burnout is more about a feeling.

Often defined as ‘a state of physical or emotional exhaustion’, the best person to identify burnout is usually yourself.

Everybody has their own personal limits, so having a better understanding of yourself, your motivations and energy levels is essential in avoiding burnout.

Studies show people who are more mindful report lower levels of workload stress, and as a result, feel less emotionally exhausted.

Developing your self awareness makes it easier to identify the signs that you aren’t coping as well as you could be or that you’re often ending the working week mentally drained.

Once you’re aware of the issues, you can set boundaries and start making the changes needed before it snowballs into burnout.

Step 2: Prioritise yourself

There’s no doubt about the importance of self care for leaders — but it’s needed more than ever during the scale-up phase of a business. There’s a lot of moving parts involved and scale-ups move at a rapid pace, meaning leaders often put themselves and their own wellbeing on the back burner.

A lot of leaders want to look like they’re on their A-game at all times, but this is unsustainable. Plus, you’re showing your team that you don’t prioritise your wellbeing and that it isn’t acceptable to be vulnerable and ask for help.

For example, if you find yourself constantly being pulled away from tasks because of emails, questions or meetings and end up staying late every night… look at where you can make changes. Do you really need to go to the meeting? Can you block out regular time or delegate your emails so that they don’t distract you?

Just because you’re a leader, it doesn’t mean you have to be in control at all times or say yes to everything; it’s all about finding the right balance for you.

Although it’s a word thrown around a lot when it comes to looking after your wellbeing, balance is still elusive to many.

There’s no right or wrong, it’s about being aware of yourself and identifying what works best for your focus, natural circadian rhythm and energy levels.

Step 3: Make positive and lasting change

There’s no point being aware of the signs of burnout — or taking time off work to recharge when you’re feeling overwhelmed — if nothing is fundamentally changing.

Self care is essential in preventing burnout, but you also need to tackle the root cause.

In this digital age, amplified by the rise of hybrid and remote working, it’s harder than ever to leave work at work. You need to set boundaries, say no once in a while and ensure you’re not overworking yourself.

In the transition from start-up to scale-up, your role and workload has changed massively. Scale-up pro Molly Graham advises leaders to ‘give away your Legos’. The blocks of Lego representing the different pieces of your job.

If you want to keep up with the growth of the business you need to learn to delegate and make the most of your growing team.

Keep it up

Wellbeing isn’t a one and done, tick box activity. It needs to be a consistent focus; for yourself and your team.

Burnout can affect anybody, at any time.

You need to be aware and actively monitoring your own mental state and energy levels to make sure it doesn’t sneak up on you.