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Not all burnout is the same

Explore the three sub-types

Many people mistakenly think burnout is all about exhaustion. In reality, burnout also involves cynicism or distrust, disconnection or feelings of failure or inefficacy.

 

Over the years, researchers and psychologists have been peeling back the layers of the burnout onion to discover that there are three burnout sub-types:

 

• The frenetic type: This person is ambitious—maybe even a workaholic, has a high need for achievement and prioritizes hard work above all else. When faced with challenges, they will invest more time and increase effort to get through.

 

• The “bore-out” type: This person is unstimulated and under-challenged at work. They only put in as much effort as necessary to complete a task and nothing more. The extreme feeling boredom, aka “bore-out”, leads them to seeking other, more gratifying jobs.

 

• The worn-out type: This person feels an extreme lack of control. The policies and procedures, lack of resources, and lack of reward at work paralyze them to the point of giving up entirely. They feel neglected and ultimately resign as a way to cope with the stress.

 

Are any of your team members on these paths? Are YOU finding yourself on any of these paths? All are preventable if caught early enough.