How to combat CEO and managerial burnout

CEOs and managers face mounting pressures in the workplace that cause them to sacrifice time with family, social activities, and hobbies to adhere to the demands of their job. 

When these work pressures become unrelenting, it pushes many female leaders into a debilitating state of burnout that affects not only job performance but also mental well-being for the long-term.

The impact can be devastating and professional support and care is essential for making it through. 

In this article, we will be sharing how to combat CEO and managerial burnout for a healthier, happier workforce. 

What is Burnout?

According to the Harvard Business Review, “Burnout is associated with physiological signs such as frequent headaches and the inability to shake colds, as well as with psychological symptoms such as quickness to anger and a suspicious attitude about others.”

Other symptoms include:

• Constant fatigue
• Lack of motivation
• Exhaustion
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Low mood
• Sleep difficulties
• Feeling overwhelmed

The symptoms of burnout can take over women’s lives completely, impacting everything they do at work and at home.

Let’s take a look at how you can combat CEO and leader burnout in the workplace for a happier, healthier work environment.

How to Combat Burnout

There are many tips for combating burnout in the workplace. However, preventing burnout in leaders can be a more difficult task as CEOs and Managers often hold a greater level of responsibility and have a higher workload than their subordinates.

As such, when symptoms of struggle or burnout strike, it can be difficult for managers to step away. 

The aim of the following is to provide actionable steps that CEOs and managers can implement without negatively impacting their job role. 

Recognise the Problem

Awareness is key.

As soon as you notice symptoms appearing, book an appointment with your doctor.

This will help determine whether it’s the onset of burnout or your symptoms are indicative of another physical condition. 

Even if you’re unsure, it’s important not to ignore the symptoms as Doctor Gold tells The New York Times, “It’s really easy to blow off your symptoms, especially in our culture, where we’re taught to work hard.”

It can be difficult to ask for help, but taking a proactive approach at this early stage could be the difference between being burned out and not.

Address the Root of the Problem

Burnout can be caused by many factors and when you’re in a high-pressure role, the assumption is that’s what’s causing the problem. However, this isn’t always the case. 

Symptoms of chronic stress and burnout can have numerous causes, from relationship difficulties and financial struggles, to caregiving burdens and housing stressors.

If there is something in your life that is causing you constant stress, it could be the root cause of your burnout. 

If possible, consider addressing the root cause in order to ease your symptoms.

It may be that you need to ask for help – attend a specialist stress treatment centre, seek support from a financial advisor or ask family members to help with other responsibilities such as childcare.

Whatever it is, now’s the time to work on finding a solution.

Keep Track of Employees

Those in managerial positions also have the challenging task of managing people on a daily basis and this does take its toll. According to the Harvard Business Review, “The manager must cope with the least capable, the suspicious, the rivalrous, the self-centred, and the generally unhappy.”

This has a significant effect on mental wellbeing, stress, and burnout.

Unfortunately, many female CEOs and managers don’t have the luxury of stepping away very easily.

Instead, it’s important to learn new coping strategies that support healthier working relationships. 

One of these is to keep track of employees and rotate them out of exhausting work roles as often as possible.

For most women, changes in job pace, demands, and responsibilities, adds a freshness to their working day that replenishes their energy and motivation. 

Change is also a healthy way to keep your employees happy and satisfied in their job roles so that you have less negativity to deal with in the long-term.

Set Boundaries and Protect Your Time

One of the biggest challenges CEOs and managers face is overwhelming workloads that require longer working hours. Setting boundaries is essential to managing people’s expectations and avoiding excessively long working weeks. 

Setting boundaries and making these clear to your teams is a great way to protect your mental health and avoid symptoms of burnout.

Some great ways to set boundaries at work include:

• Only working set hours
• Always taking a lunch break
• Not taking work home
• Not answering emails, texts, or phone calls outside of work 

Setting boundaries like these helps protect your time and avoid burnout through overworking.

It also ensures you create a healthy work/life balance that allows for enjoyment of hobbies and time spent with loved ones. 

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this can only be a good thing:

“When people are socially connected and have stable and supportive relationships, they are more likely to make healthy choices and to have better mental and physical health outcomes.

“They are also better able to cope with hard times, stress, anxiety, and depression.”

Organise Formal Retreats

Although this article is primarily focused on burnout in CEOs and managers, burnout affects everyone.

As such, there are companies that organise regular formal retreats (perhaps once a year) for their employees. 

Formal retreats are a great opportunity to take your teams away from the office and give them a chance to unwind and enjoy themselves.

This is also a great way to unburden CEOs and managers, allowing them the opportunity to connect with their teams in a low-pressure environment.

Formal retreats also offer great opportunities for open, honest communication.

They give leaders the chance to be vulnerable with their subordinates by sharing their own struggles and concerns.

This is a great opportunity to learn humble leadership and reassure your team by letting them know you’re human, too!

Seek Emotional and Practical Support

CEOs and managers struggling from burnout need support – both emotionally and practically.

This can come from within the workplace or from home. Everyone needs someone they can turn to. 

According to the University of Buffalo’s School of Social Work, “Those with robust social support networks have better health, longer lives, and report higher well-being.

“Friends and loved ones can make you more resilient in times of stress, setback, or loss […] some friends can even help you identify when you are stressed or distressed – in some cases they may notice it before you do.”

Your support network is essential for success in all areas of your life.

They will provide much-needed advice, guidance, and emotional support at times you feel you need it and even moments when you don’t!

If you want to combat burnout, seeking emotional and practical support from those around you is vital.

In Summary

We hope the tips shared in this article will help combat burnout before it becomes a problem.

Although CEOs and managers are under significant pressure, there are steps you can take to help mitigate these pressures and reduce your stress in a healthy, manageable way.