Why Do So Many Workers Feel Exhausted?

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Let’s assume you have a fairly advanced boss. She or he is quite open, inclusive and compassionate. You actually feel comfortable raising concerns or barriers you are challenged with. After sharing your thoughts, the hope that things will improve almost seems to get a boost, until your frustration begins to rapidly accelerate. Why? Because it seems that you are being listened to, yet little improvement actually happens.

I’ve stressed many times that the most important condition for high employee engagement and satisfaction is bringing value to others on a daily basis. When that diminishes to the point where day-to-day friction overwhelms ease of getting things done, people get increasingly fatigued and eventually burn out. Yes, that’s why so many people describe themselves as “exhausted” at work. When you wrap up a day providing value with minimal friction, you may be tired, but usually in a satisfying way.

This exhausting flame out is exacerbated by having supportive bosses. Why? Because one’s higher up is often the biggest hope for meaningful process improvement and/or silo busting. So when you have a leader who seems to understand your plight, yet nothing much changes for the better, why would you continue to hang around? If your boss was lousy, at least you might hold out for a better one.

We have this weird dichotomy of more emotionally capable leaders and increasing employee frustration. Until leaders effectively combine high IQ/EQ with making people first through friction reduction, we likely won’t see material improvement in macro or micro employee engagement scores. So while a leader might win the Brene Brown “Dare to Lead” award for an evolved approach, he/she still needs to help people have a great experience through meaningfully helping others, way more often than not.

Be People First AND a Great (Not Perfect) Leader!

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: I wonder if it’s uncertainty and unfulfillment that is being confused for exhaustion. Nothing tires me out faster than being unsure of how to do something tedious, or unclear about exactly why a task should be completed. That said, sometimes that tiredness after accomplishing projects you’re confident about is the most satisfying feeling, even if it was way more challenging and time consuming than something less fulfilling. When we are inspired by leaders who communicate clarity and purpose for their people, we can work ourselves to the bone without burn out. Doing meaningful hard work is fun, doing work with no meaning is hard.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Why Do So Many Workers Feel Exhausted?

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