Are You Worried About Burnout with Dr. Pam Wells

Season 1,   Mar 04, 2021, 10:00 AM

Rachael & John are joined by Burnout Specialist & fellow Coach Dr. Pam Wells. So many people suffer from “burnout” this debilitating and worrying state; we ask why so many driven and successful people seem especially susceptible to it? 

We ask is all about control? “Control is a myth, we don’t have control over anything, not even our next breath?” And “Who am I when I’m not at work?” 

What is burnout? Pam describes burnout as the feeling when you’re not coping, you’re trying harder and harder, yet feeling less successful. When people say: “I’Il just do this one last thing” - we need to ask could this be a warning sign? With boundaries so blurred we also look forward to what might be coming along, and how people can avoid it. 

We talk about the importance of sleep, the unconscious patterns of work that we drop into, and the culture of our teams. We discuss that idea that we might have to “Be comfortable with unknowing” that because unknowing is definitely not comfortable. 

By framing the situation in the Drama Triangle we consider how much time we might be spending rescuing our organisation, and how people can jump onto the Winners Triangle. Brene Brown gets a mention as we talk about - Switching from Victim to Vulnerability - “When I’m owning my fragility I’m stepping into my own power - is burnout a case of persecuting myself for being vulnerable? 

Pam’s Leadership Essentials: (01:10:50) 

  1. Clarity - Around knowing what I know, what I don’t know, what’s expected of me, what 3 things should I do today? 

  2. Collaboration - we are all in it, you can achieve so much more, when you involve others 

  3. Compassion - I like to think that people are doing the best they can. “Everybody is doing the best they can with what they know. If they know better, they’ll do better.” 
Pam is very happy to answer any questions, and can be contacted via us at: leaders@scaffoldcoaching.com

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