Hot Topic Friday: Jan. 31

Happy Friday! Here are my Jan. 31 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing culture or leadership.

Hot Topic 1: Burnout: Who’s to Blame?

Source: Harvard Business Review, Jennifer Moss.

What It’s About: According to the author: “Evidence is mounting that applying personal, band-aid solutions to an epic and rapidly evolving workplace phenomenon may be harming, not helping, the battle. With ‘burnout’ now officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the responsibility for managing it has shifted away from the individual and towards the organization. Leaders take note: It’s now on you to build a burnout strategy.”

Why It’s Important: Moss goes on note in the article how much of an emotional and financial toll burn-out causes: “Stanford researchers looked into how workplace stress affects health costs and mortality in the United States, they found that it led to spending nearly $190 billion — roughly 8 percent of national healthcare outlays — and nearly 120,000 deaths each year. Worldwide, 615 million suffer from depression and anxiety and, according to a recent WHO study, which costs the global workforce an estimated $1 trillion in lost productivity each year. Passion-driven and caregiving roles such as doctors and nurses are some of the most susceptible to burnout, and the consequences can mean life or death; suicide rates among caregivers are dramatically higher than that of the general public — 40 percent higher for men and 130 percent higher for women.” Most of us don’t need all the data to get it. Many of us notice it personally. We see it, feel it and hear it all around us. Frankly, this trend is not acceptable for organizations, investors and employees.

What We/I Can Do About It?: Most importantly, all of us need to accept, and acknowledge that we need to act. Let’s stop pointing fingers. Blame is waste. Yes, I agree with Moss that this is a leadership challenge. However it is also a personal and governance challenge too. Leaders: People have the right to work in great places and to work with great (not perfect) leaders. The best organizations are showing the way forward. And experts can help with modern strategies and tactics. Do the right thing and make the wellbeing of people/culture a priority. Workers: Each of us has a responsibility to learn how to better manage our personal energy and well being. Relying on leadership or others alone is not self-accountable. Investors and Boards: Start demanding that management deliver on more than just financial results. Take responsibility to know the culture strategy and request data on the health of the workforce. This is a major risk for investors. Step up your governance. This situation requires all of us to take action to seriously dim the flame of work related burnout.

My friend Chris Rainey recently conducted an HR Leaders podcast all about “Moving from Burnout to Resiliency.” I recommend everyone takes a listen to hear their insightful perspective on the subject.

One Millennial Response: While it would be great for leaders, and investors/boards to monitor the level of burnout within their companies, I truly believe it comes down to the self-accountability of the workers to govern this for themselves. After all, no leader or investor wants to be spending billions or losing employees to preventable exhaustion. But don’t expect anyone to be mind-readers, either. No one really knows how much sleep you get, how you’re feeling, the levels of anxiety you’re experiencing, or how you’re coping with it. Think of burnout communication as cost effective.

Hot Topic 2: Writing a Letter to Yourself 10 Years Out.

Source: The New York Times, Ann Napolitano.

What It’s About: The author started writing a letter to herself, to be opened every 10 years out. She has written four to date, starting when she was 14 years old. She will open the next when she turns 54. This is a very interesting practice that has gifted Napolitano with wonderful self-awareness and insight. “I don’t remember what I wrote in the letter to my 54-year-old self; I will find out in six years. I no longer burn with the desire to open the letter early, but I love opening it. Those birthdays still give me a Christmas-morning thrill. Who will I find in the envelope? Will I be surprised? I take time crafting that next letter, outlining my life now, and considering my dream life a decade hence. I wonder how many letters I will have by the end of my life. I love the idea of the oldest version of me — how old will she be? — reading through the pages, probably laughing at how young and serious I was, in every letter.”

Why It’s Important: In my last Lead in With Lorne podcast, I recommended that each of us consider outlining a personal 10 year zoom out strategy. This might feel daunting and even not very practical. I hope to convince you that it will be a meaningful exercise, and that you will make it so. This article nudged me to recommend the small additional step of actually writing, sealing and “sending” that zoom out strategy to ourselves in a letter format. Like Napolitano, we might find this personally insightful. What might we learn from this? How interesting will it be to open it a decade from now? If the world is going to change more in the coming 10 years compared to what we’ve experience to date, it will be amazing to look in the rear view mirror to learn and advance. I’m going to do so. Hope you will join me.

One Millennial Response: Of course we can’t predict the future, but Napolitano sells this exercise well. 10 years ago we might have written about buying our first flying car faster than we’d imagine Bird scooters scattered all over the place, but that “Christmas-morning thrill” might be worth it, even if our vision is silly and entirely off. Why not? We’re the only ones reading it anyways.

My Weekly Wine Recommendation.

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EnRoute Les Pommiers Pinot Noir N.V.

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

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“When we live afraid to fail, we don’t take risks. We don’t bring our entire selves to the table—so we end up failing before we even begin.” - Abby Wambach.

Bye for now!

— Lorne Rubis

Incase you Missed It:

My latest Lead In podcast.

My latest blog.

Season 3 of Culture Cast.

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Happy Friday! Here are my Jan. 31 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing culture or leadership.

Hot Topic 1: Burnout: Who’s to Blame?

Hot Topic 2: Writing a Letter to Yourself 10 Years Out.

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