Burnout can affect an entire organization, from interns to the CEO. Recently, CEO turnover hit an all-time high, with 202 CEOs leaving their posts in the last year. The world is constantly speeding up and changing in regards to technology, the economy and the business landscape, which can cause whiplash for any CEO. From technology’s impact on work-life balance, economic uncertainty leading to major sources of stress, to increasing pressure from boards and stakeholders, CEOs are struggling to regulate.
Understanding stress, burnout and turnover in the C-suite
Contrary to popular belief, stress is not a bad thing. In fact, stress has led species to evolve for thousands of years. However, once regular stress shifts to chronic or excessive stress, that’s when burnout becomes more likely and more serious recovery methods are needed.
Generationally, people view and talk about stress differently. Gen Z tends to speak openly about stress and burnout levels in the office and is very attuned to work-life balance and finding community outside of work. Gen X and Baby Boomers have a “push through” mindset and are less open about their emotions or stress levels. Neurologically, leaders often have trouble shifting their behavior patterns that may be leading to stress, especially if they equate those tendencies with their success.
Identifying and treating burnout in CEOs to prevent turnover
Identifying and preventing burnout and chronic stress before it reaches a breaking point is the key to consistent, strong leadership. Physical recovery techniques such as micro-recovery breaks, taking regular naps, exercise and movement during the workday and biometric monitoring are great places to start. Tapping back into your mental state with meditation, therapy or coaching, setting boundaries and understanding personal stress triggers can also help prevent a stress collapse.
To spot burnout, you need to look internally at your emotional state. In the workplace, burnout can look like lethargy, depression, impulsivity and emotional outbursts towards others. An executive feeling burnout might take these feelings out at home or increase unhealthy behaviors like drug and alcohol abuse.
Treating stress requires different strategies, depending on the intensity. To combat everyday stressors, building foundational habits like quality sleep, time in nature, breathwork and connecting with others through meaningful relationships can help maintain balance. Training stress, often tied to new positions or high-performance goals, calls for building in time for structured recovery like ultradian rhythm breaks (90-120 minutes of focus followed by short breaks), one full rest day per week and building open space into the calendar for reflection. Excessive stress demands more intensive interventions such as long vacations, therapy to address boundary issues or perfectionism and quality time with loved ones. Across all levels, aligning with your purpose and prioritizing rest are critical to preventing burnout and sustaining long-term leadership performance.
The C-suite’s “always on” mindset turns up the pressure
When looking at athletes like LeBron James or Simone Biles, it’s easy to understand why they may feel more stress and burnout than the average Joe, and we empathize. However, these athletes only perform around 30% of the time and rest the other 70%. While executive leaders perform 90% of the time. So why are leaders not prioritizing rest like their athletic counterparts? A few factors play into the “always on” mindset of today’s CEO.
Twenty years ago, the introduction of cell phones broke the collective work/life barrier, and with it, the culture of home being a haven from work, with the peak disruption being just over 10 years ago. People can no longer escape work and have a harder time setting those boundaries for rest time. Additionally, the information overload that came with cell phones, social media and the digitization of news media has also contributed to the “always on” culture and made it so that we are constantly processing information. In the long term, this is not good for our brains and can lead to chronic stress or burnout.
Board dynamics have also been shifting, which has put increasing stress on executives. Information overload and the frequent shifts in the business world and markets mean no day is the same as the next. And when boards meet quarterly to provide oversight, they’re not able to keep up with everything that has happened in the three months prior. Thus, CEOs feel pressured to govern and spend a significant amount of time and effort just updating their highly-paid yet rarely working council.
Cultural and structural changes that can help prevent burnout
So, how do we fix the increasing burnout and turnover culture for CEOs and executives? Aside from the individual prevention and treatment techniques, there are a few structural and cultural change ideas floating around. One emerging idea has included implementing co-CEOs, one for the organizational side and one for the strategic needs of the business. This tactic is great in theory, but in reality is very difficult to pull off due to conflicting personalities, a lack of role clarity or, in particularly bad matches, an ego battle.
The real solution to this problem is building competent teams who work well together and having a CEO who is not afraid to delegate. Building a truly great team is always easier said than done, but with the right people to lean on, a CEO can feel an immense amount of relief in stress levels.
Lastly, the physical places where we work can be a contributing factor to stress levels. Remote working from your bedroom or couch can make some feel trapped, while five days in the office can make people feel like they have no autonomy. Even if a hybrid or entirely in-person job is right for you, the layouts of modern offices are inhumane in themselves with the cubicles, drab colors and harsh lighting. It’s hard to address the stress problem without addressing the work environment itself. The office designers at Google know this and have designed their workspaces to be more human-centric, from recreational and rest areas to localized, colorful design and nature aspects that get the creativity flowing.
Regardless of where you are in your career, stress is unavoidable. As an executive leader with more responsibility and visibility, it’s important to take stress and burnout seriously for your health and so that others can see and follow suit. Investing in health, stress management techniques and human-centric work environments is key for getting control of your stress before it controls you.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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