Learning from Burnout. Developing Sustainable Leaders and Avoiding Career Derailment

Learning from Burnout. Developing Sustainable Leaders and Avoiding Career Derailment

Article Type: Recommended reading From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 4

Tim Casserley and David Megginson,Butterworth-Heinemann,ISBN 978-0-7506-8387-6

This book aims to provide a different perspective from existing literature on the topic of burnout. The authors are consultants on the management and development of talent, so the topic is of professional interest, but there is also a personal perspective as one of them experienced burnout in their early thirties. They believe this personal experience gives them a differentiator over other researchers on the topic, and they take a qualitative approach that differs from the predominantly quantitative research available.

Also, the authors believe that burnout is the result of a combination of“greedy organizations” and individuals with an unsustainable approach to career pursuit. However, their review of existing research led them to the conclusion that the authorities in the field believe burnout to be primarily caused by organizations, rather than organizations and individuals. Another difference is that the authors recognize that good can emerge from the process of burnout. They point out that most literature on the topic focuses on banishing or preventing burnout and does not recognize that it can be a transformational experience with learning opportunities.

These differences sparked off the research on which the book is based. The study incorporated interviews with 100 “high flyers”, made up of 29 different nationalities working in 21 different countries. The aim is to learn from the experiences of burnout in order to significantly increase the numbers who are transformed by the experience and learn from “failure”. The authors argue that such learning would have an impact on how organizations approach the development of their leaders and how they define good leadership. Their own belief is that experience of hardship in professional or personal lives should be a criteria for management succession selection.

The book takes the personal experiences of the research participants and turns them into a useful guide to burnout, covering the different types of burnout, the nature and symptoms, the individual perspective and the organizational perspective. The book should be of interest to those suffering or at risk of suffering from burnout, as well as those supporting them, due to its focus on harnessing the learning aspect of the process so that it becomes a more positive experience.

Sara NolanEditor, Strategic HR Review