Senior leaders Brad Feld, Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Mike Ghaffary, Heidi Roizen, and John Rogers Jr. discuss burning out on giving, the techniques they use to avoid it, and how they recognize it in their employees. Topics include navigating boundaries in generosity, preventing burnout, managing generosity burnout in the workplace and personal life, and techniques for setting boundaries and managing burnout.
Establish boundaries to prevent generosity burnout and protect oneself from harm while helping others.
Giving must be balanced with setting limits, communicating boundaries, and fostering team support to enhance impact.
Deep dives
Generosity Burnout: Understanding the Costs of Overgiving
Being overly selfless and generous can lead to generosity burnout according to Adam Grant and Reb Reboli's research. Givers must establish boundaries to avoid depleting themselves and harming those they aim to help. Brad Feld, a giver who experienced burnout, learned the importance of setting limits after facing a depressive episode following continuous overextending of his giving nature.
Finding Balance: Setting Boundaries to Prevent Generosity Burnout
Sarah Robohagan and Heidi Royzen share their experiences of generosity burnout and emphasize the need for givers to understand their own limits. Robohagan highlights the importance of communicating boundaries during high-stress periods like book launches. Royzen suggests providing homework to filter out opportunistic requests and behaving like a matcher when faced with persistent takers to maintain reciprocity.
Amplifying Giving: Leveraging Team Dynamics and Defending Against Overgiving
John Rogers Jr. and Mike Gefari stress the significance of amplifying giving through team support and setting boundaries. Rogers advocates for a team-oriented approach to giving, where shared values and work enable mutual support and prevent overextension. Gefari, through tangible techniques like email screening, teaches employees to manage requests effectively and avoid feeling overwhelmed by constantly saying yes.
Senior leaders Brad Feld, Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Mike Ghaffary, Heidi Roizen, and John Rogers Jr. discuss burning out on giving, the techniques they use to avoid it, and how they recognize it in their employees.
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