I went to see Marissa Mayer at 92Y last night the other night. It was a good event. I left feeling somewhat inspired, and a bit curious if the picture perfect childhood and range of ideal opportunities truly did unfold in front of her as she indicates. I'm sure she is brilliant and I'm sure she works hard ... so ... ok ...sure.
She has lots of good tales, quotes and take aways - "It's not what you think, but how you think." But what stuck with me most, as did it with others, was her nod to dealing with burnout.
Marissa claims people don't get burnt out from working too much. Rather, they get resentful. They resent not exercising, or missing a family dinner, or insert your *thing* here.
Thinking it over and talking with friends, this resonates loudly. If you are missing aspects of what is important to you in your life, you lose sight of why you do what you do. When work prevents employees from doing those important things, they resent, they detach, they want to
To counter this, know your people and listen keenly to what they need out of life - and address it. Marissa found that 1:00 am phone calls to China were absolutely fine with a working Mom on her team - what the Mom needed however was to arrive at her kid's recitals on time. Maybe one of your star performers is in a sports league and is bummed that he misses the early games.
Find the *thing* in the lives of your employees that might cause resentment, that make employees question their priorities - and help them to address it. It will lead to more fulfilled and focused work ... and less burnout.
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