Linked – “Burnout is a relationship problem”: A conversation with Michael Leiter

This is interesting to me because I can definitely see where it’s a relationship problem when we look at surveys of managers versus individual contributors. They are not seeing the same thing at all.

“Well, I think we’re emphasizing that it’s really a relationship problem. You’re going to be able to have a bigger impact if you work together on a problem rather than telling one party to go get themselves straightened out. That’s not really the model. Individuals need to adapt what they’re doing, too. It isn’t like you go to work and everything’s just the way you would like to be. So, it’s about finding out how we can sort this out together so that not only are individuals contributing, but they are finding fulfillment and purpose. “

The challenge I have with what Michael describes is the importance of trust when working together. I’m not sure there’s enough trust going either way right now. It’s hard to look at leaders who’ve been demanding we all “do more with less”, work in the office because they like it better, or who just laid off 25% of our team and feel like you can work together to find a solution, and it’s equally as hard to want to work with employees when more than half of them are looking for another job.

Trust is going to have to be hard-earned in the tech industry after the last year. That’s a shame because figuring out how to not burn out employees is going to take everyone working together.

https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/what-is-burnout

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