Member-only story
I Was Wrong About Burnouts (and You Are Too, Probably)
A sense of progress, purpose, and belonging is crucial to mitigate burnout and promote a healthy work environment for all employees
I vividly remember the day I read about Arianna Huffington, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global. She had collapsed from sleep deprivation and exhaustion, hit her head on the corner of her desk, broke her cheekbone, and woke up in a pool of blood. I read the story many years later after it happened while working for a fast-growth startup feeling tired and exhausted from the daily demands and expectations from the job. I was someone who always prioritized my mental health and while I knew that I was nowhere close to being burnt out, the story left me with a trembling sensation, a feeling of fear and anxiety at that moment.
Considering it a momentary sensation that such stories tend to evoke, I decided to shrug the feeling aside for the rest of the day. Later that night, when I had time to think about what I had read during the day, I realized that my stress and anxiety weren’t stemming from a concern for myself. The story had triggered a sense of unease for my people.
Just a few days back, one of my managers expressed his troubles sleeping and how he often woke up in the middle of the night feeling all stressed and tense.
I knew that one of the engineers on his team was causing him a lot of trouble, but that wasn’t the only reason for his anxiety. He was one of those people who cared a lot about his work, others' opinions, and a desire to make everything right.
He had a hard time dealing with ambiguity, conflicts, and other chaotic situations at work that are a natural part of a manager’s job. His tendency to take things personally and a desire to seek perfect harmony between people often left him feeling overwhelmed and swamped.
I had a significant realization at that moment — I needed to do more to understand how other people in the organization were feeling and whether they were getting the emotional support to do well in their jobs. Arianna’s story set me on a week-long expedition to study burnout.
