Christina Maslach, a pioneer in burnout research and author of *The Burnout Challenge*, discusses the complexities of this pervasive issue. She emphasizes that burnout isn't just an individual problem but a symptom of toxic workplace environments. Leaders must adopt a systemic view, enhancing workplace culture and context while focusing on open communication. Christina highlights the importance of proactive management strategies and aligning job roles with employee needs to combat burnout effectively.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Canary Analogy
The canary in the coal mine wasn't the problem's source, but an indicator of danger.
Similarly, burnout signals a toxic work environment, not individual weakness.
insights INSIGHT
Burnout Defined
Burnout is a response to chronic job stressors, not just exhaustion.
It includes cynicism towards work and self-doubt about one's effectiveness.
insights INSIGHT
Burnout Stigma
People with burnout are often stigmatized and considered responsible for fixing it themselves.
This assumes burnout is dispositional, ignoring external factors.
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This book by Christina Maslach provides insights into burnout, focusing on its causes such as emotional exhaustion, callous indifference, and feelings of inadequacy. It offers practical strategies for individuals and organizations to manage and prevent burnout, particularly in professions that involve caring for others like nursing, teaching, and social work.
The Burnout Challenge
Christina Maslach
Michael Leiter
Christina Maslach: The Burnout Challenge
Christina Maslach is the pioneer of research on job burnout, producing the standard assessment tool called the Maslach Burnout Inventory, award-winning articles, and several books, beginning with Burnout: The Cost of Caring, in 1982. Her research achievements over the past five decades have led to multiple awards from the National Academy of Sciences, Western Psychological Association, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and many others.
Christina has received awards for her outstanding teaching, including USA Professor of the Year in 1997. She has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley since 1971. Christina is now a core researcher at the Healthy Workplaces Center, at Berkeley, and the author along with Michael Leiter of The Burnout Challenge: Managing People's Relationships With Their Jobs*.
In this conversation, Christina and I address the reality that burnout is often perceived as an issue with just the individual. We explore how leaders can begin to look at the larger picture: context, culture, and management, in order to address burnout more proactively. We discuss key mindsets that will help and a few tactics that almost every leader can use to get started.
Key Points
The canary in the coal mine is an indicator of a problem, not the source of it.
Our tendency is to focus on the person (the figure) and to miss all the context and environment factors (the ground).
Burnout is first and foremost a management issue. “Fixing” the person should not be the focus — instead, get curious about where there is a mismatch.
Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with the person, shift to what may be wrong in the relationship between the person and situation.
Ensure you have a plan for communicating survey results. If you’d done surveys previously, share those results and also the actions the organization had taken before engaging in more surveys.
Resources Mentioned
The Burnout Challenge: Managing People's Relationships With Their Jobs* by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter
Interview Notes
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Related Episodes
Gallup Findings on the Changing Nature of Work, with Jim Harter (episode 409)
How to Reduce Burnout, with Jennifer Moss (episode 561)
How to Compare Yourself to Others, with Mollie West Duffy (episode 582)
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