Why Leaders Are Failing To Fix Their #1 Problem - The Challenges Imposed On Leaders In Fixing Burnout

If there was a Problem that Impacted 80% of the Workforce that also:

• Decreased Productivity to "at least" 1/20th Of People's Productivity Potential
• Directly Prevented Innovation and Creative Problem Solving
• Made Flow States (Where We Feel and Perform Our Best) Impossible To Achieve
• Significantly Increased Sick Days and Health Costs
• Made Learning Significantly More Difficult
• Dramatically Dropped Emotional Intelligence and IQ
• And More

Most people would think that Solving this #1 Problem that Leaders Face would be at the Top of their Priorities.

However, looking at the Initiatives Leaders have, the Goals they Set, and the Policies they Choose, we find that Leaders are "Consistently" making this Problem Worse.

What is this Problem?

Burnout.

Burnout has been proven to Cause "All" of the Above, and we have watched Leaders Consistently make Burnout Worse.

A Perfect Example has been the Return-To-Office "Mandates" that have made Burnout Worse and made Workplaces More Toxic.

Now, recently I had a Reader comment...

The cost of fixing (Burnout) is too high, so (Leaders) don't fix it, and the cost of that is surely even higher... makes total sense! WHY DON'T THEY FIX BURNOUT

It is an excellent Question.

Most people would see this Problem and think that it should, Unquestionably, but the Top Priority.

What Leader "Doesn't" Want a 20x Improvement to Employees' Productivity?

What Leader "Doesn't" Want Increased EQ "And" IQ on their Teams?

What Leader "Doesn't" Want Higher Innovation in their Organizaitons?

All Leaders "Want" These!

Fixing Burnout ends up Fixing "Every" Major Problem that Employers face currently!

Yet, Fixing Burnout is often not even being "Considered" by Most Leaders (Much to their own Folly as our Reader points out).

Why is that?

How could it be that Leaders are Choosing to do "Nothing" about Fixing Burnout, "Despite" the Obvious Benefits that would come with it?

Well, it comes down to a few Challenges that Most Leaders Face when it comes to this topic, some of which are "Not" their Faults.

The First Problem that we often see is that Leaders are Pressured to get Specific Results.

The Problem Here?

Short-Term Profits at the Expense of Long-Term Results.

There are many Leaders, especially those in Public Companies and those who have Investors, who are Expected to get Specific Results on an Incredibly Short Time Table.

Why is this a Problem for Leaders who may be Interested in Fixing Burnout?

The Burnout Problem has gotten "So" Bad, that Truly Fixing it often will Not Fit in those Minuscule, Short-Sighted Time Tables.

The Pressure that these Leaders face from Outside Influences can be too much.

This Drives Leaders to "Satisfy" those Outside Influences, while making Decisions that Worsen Burnout, and make Future Organizational Potential Significantly Worse.

For a Leader to Overcome this Challenge, they must both have the Courage to stand against the System and Put Together a Strong Argument "Why" they must Address Burnout at all Costs.

This Solution however Creates New Challenges for Leaders.

Part of the Challenge is that Courage is in Short Supply in today's World, especially when Leaders could be Fired Quickly if others Do Not Approve, and Changing Broken Systems is Very Difficult.

The other part of the Challenge is that most Leaders Do Not Fully Understand "How" Burnout Creates Problems with Productivity, Innovation, Creative Problem Solving, EQ, IQ, and More.

It's hard to put together an Argument When You Do Not Know the Extent of "How" Burnout Plays Out.

This is Why you Hear Leaders talk about the Importance of things like Innovation, Emotional Intelligence, and Group Cohesion but Fail to See how Burnout is Impacting them.

They simply Do Not Know.

However, there are More Problems that Leaders have if they "Do" want to solve Burnout.

Another Reality that Leaders have been Facing when Attempting to Fix Burnout is that Few People, even "Experts", actually Understand the Burnout Problem Fully.

"Many" Programs have been created with the Goal of Reducing Burnout...

But they Mostly Fail to have "Any" Impact.

Then, of the Few that "Do" have an Impact, Most of those Fail to Deliver Long-Term Results.

Why?

Most of them Only Understand, at best, a Few of the Contributing Factors without Addressing the Entire Problem.

So, when there is "Some" Success, they Still Fail to Address other Aspects of the Burnout Problem.

This is Why in the Long-Term these Solutions Fail.

To Solve Burnout, you must Address 3 Primary Aspects.

• Stress Optimization (Not Just Reduction)
• Improved Resiliency (Under Proper Stress Levels)
• Fixing Stress Damage (Primarily via Ceruloplasmin)

Many Programs do Stress Reduction, but that is only a Piece of the Problem as Stress is not Inherently Bad, and is Needed for Growth.

Many Programs attempt to Improve Resiliency, but do it under Suboptimal and even Negative Stress Levels which actually Decreases Resilience.

Rarely do Programs Touch on Fixing Stress Damage, which when that Damage Accumulates, Decreases Resilience, and puts people Right Back Where They Started in Burnout.

For the Many Leaders who have Attempted Fixing Burnout, they Failed to get Results and have been "Burned", often more than once, by Promises that were Never Met.

Usually because the "Experts" Failed to Understand the Problem Fully.

When Leaders "Need" Results, they Can't Keep Wasting Time, Energy, and Money on Programs that Are Not Working.

So, Many Leaders Have Given Up on Fixing Burnout.

Unfortunately, this has only Allowed the Conditions to Worsen.

But what is a Leader Supposed to Do when they Cannot Trust the "Experts"?

Which brings me to the Final Problem.

Many Leaders are Listening to "Theories" Instead of Seeing the "Realities" of their Workplace.

The Perfect Example of this was at the Beginning of the Return-To-Office "Mandates".

There was a Word that spread around the C-Suite like Wildfire when Leaders were first "Explaining" their Decisions.

Serendipity.

Now, as Cringey as this word sounds, the Idea was that Leaders needed more Innovation from their Organizations, and "Serendipity" came from In-Office Work.

Leaders indeed Need Innovation, that is True and there are No Questions there.

The Idea of "Serendipity" is a catch-all phrase meaning that when People Discuss Ideas, in Proximity to each other, they can become more Innovative and Create Higher Group Cohesion, and that is "Technically" based on Scientific Theory.

In Scientific Literature they Never call it "Serendipity" though, they usually call it "Group Flow", combined with aspects of Neurocardiology.

When people come together, it "Can" create Group Flow where their ability to Innovate "Can" Skyrocket, and Group Cohesion "Can" Dramatically Improve.

So, based on the "Theory", it could make Sense to Bring People into the Office.

The Problem?

This Theory "Completely" Failed to take into account the Reality of Today's Workplace.

The Reality of the Workplace is that most people "Are" in Burnout already, and Putting People in Burnout in the Same Environment will have the Exact "Opposite" Effect that is Desired.

Which is "Exactly" what we have seen Play Out.

Those who have made "Mandates" have also faced Group Insubordination, Mass Quittings, Strikes, Losses of the Highest Talent Employees to Completely Different Industries, Increased Toxicity in Workplaces, Increases in Quiet Quitting, "Coffee Badging", and More.

All because the "Theory of Serendipity" Completely Fails to Understand Today's Workplace Reality.

With this, the Theory Fails to Understand How Technology has Improved to a Point where Remote Work Innovations have "Surpassed" the Number of Innovations Created In-Office.

It seems that Innovation may not Require People to be in the Same Office at all!

These are the Reasons Why No One is Talking about "Serendipity" Anymore- It's a Failed Theory that Doesn't Work or Make "Any" Sense in Today's Workplace.

So often, Leaders will "Hear" something that Sounds Incredible, and the Theories may "Actually" be based on Science at some Level.

However, Theories Very Frequently Unravel in Response to Reality.

Plus, in other Places, I have Discussed How Scientific Research is often Skewed based on a variety of factors, and when you Do Not Read the Research, it is easy to be led astray.

For Leaders to Succeed, they Can't Only Listen to Theories, but the Theories must be able to Exist in Harmony with the Reality of the Workplace.

Theories are Nice, but Leaders "Must" Act in Reality.

Decisions "Must" be made "Based" on Reality.

Too often, Leaders are Led Astray by Theories without Understanding the Fullness of how those Theories Work, based on the Reality of their Teams, Organizations, Customers, Suppliers, or even the Physical Environment.

So these all leave us with an Interesting Conundrum.

We "Know" that Burnout is the #1 Problem that Leaders Face.

We also "Know" the Challenges that Leaders are Facing to Get A Solution to their Burnout Problem.

So what are Leaders to Do?

Well, there is Not an "Easy" Answser to This.

Every Option Available to Leaders is Difficult.

But Which "Difficult" do you want to end up with as a Leader?

Do you want to Stay in the Same Place as a Leader?

Eventually, without Fixing Burnout, everything will Crumble and Burn around You.

When it does, Everyone will Blame You, even if it isn't "Completely" your Fault.

It doesn't matter, and you will be Burned at the Stake regardless.

Or you can Choose the Other type of Difficult.

Standing Up Against a Broken System and Working to Fix It.

As Krishnamurti said,

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."

You could be the Leader who stands up to Fix Society, Change the Status Quo, and Unlock a New Era of Innovation and Productivity.

You could be the Leader who takes the Time to Properly Understand your Current Workplace Dilemmas and Find Solutions based on Reality.

Solutions that Address the Fullness of Burnout instead of only Small Aspects.

Leaders who Accomplish this will be in the Process of Designing a Regenerative Legacy.

They will be the Leaders who are Recognized during the Inevitable Changes we will see in the workplace.

As a Leader, you can get Ahead of the Changes that are Coming...

Or you can Remain in the Worsening Predicament until Everything is Lost.

The Choice is Yours.