Burnout & Resilience Insights: A Conversation Between Workplace Psychologists (Part 3 of 3)

Editor's Note: This discussion was moderated by Mariko Harman. It has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Part 3: Individual and organizational resilience is within our influence.

Dr. Powell: We’ve discussed employee burnout as well as how to prevent it. Now we’re at the final installment of our three-part series. Let’s talk about resilience. How can organizations or individuals practice resilience?

Dr. Yost: First, organizations have to establish a clear strategy. Is the strategy specific enough that it will help us make decisions about how to spend our time or build resilience? What do we need to stop doing? The cautionary note is that organizations must not simply add wellness onto people’s workload.

Dr. Powell: Right, “I’m already working 12-hour days and now they want me to go do yoga!?!?”

Dr. Yost: Exactly. The strategy must help leaders decide what’s important to do, and what’s not. When I worked at Boeing, a presenter said, “A good strategy helps leaders decide between two equally good alternatives”. Non-profits are a good example. They often see lots of people in need but can’t help them all, so they have to make a decision.

Dr. Powell: So establishing a clear strategy that focuses our energy and builds resilience is good. What else helps build resilience?

Dr. Yost: My research suggests that it is important for organizations and teams to determine what story they are telling themselves. Some stories are dangerous, like the survival narrative – We’re just trying to get by. Another one is the existential narrative – Nothing matters and we’ll eventually get there. Continuously building success is another one that’s not good because it assumes that progress is the rule; for example, recessions and stock market corrections are characterized as setbacks.

Identify what story you and your team are in. Take control of your narrative. One of the most powerful narratives across cultures and in literature is the transformational journey – at some point you need to leave the village, and face some monsters along the way, but they aren’t external only, at some point, the adventurer realizes that the real monsters and demons to overcome are inside themselves. Things often get worse before they get better. The question is if you emerge a better and stronger person on the other side. In the midst of the adventure, always ask yourself: What am I learning? How do I want to become a different and better person on the side? Are there some people now where I can show more compassion because I’ve lived it?

Either way, the transformational narrative tells the story of life as a journey that requires venturing out, failure, and overcoming personal and external challenges to emerge transformed on the other side.

Dr. Powell: I love that – the archetypal story.

Dr. Yost: Exactly. And when things get worse, we must change ourselves to make things better. The change work is internal, the real monsters and demons I need to face are the ones inside of me.

Dr. Powell: How can leaders change the story?

Dr. Yost: Leaders can reframe what’s happening. Instead of saying, “Life sucks and then you die,” they say, “Things will likely get worse before they get better.” Both science and practice have found this to be pretty impactful. This approach prepares people so they are not surprised or caught off guard when the going gets tough. It also gives them something to look forward to.

Dr. Powell: It allows people to tell their story. And if we go back to burnout, and that sense of being out of control, what you’re talking about here is authoring our own story in a different way…moving from a negative story to one of transformation. So – just the act of authoring our own story allows us to regain control.

Dr. Yost: That’s a really powerful way to talk about it – authoring your own story.

Dr. Powell: Stories help everyone. What about on the individual level? The transformational story makes me wonder about the importance of personal development and having a growth mindset.

Dr. Yost: That’s an important question. During COVID, we looked at who was more resilient during the pandemic. We found that those who were more resilient would ask themselves: “What am I learning? How am I developing?”

One of the things I say to myself is, “This is going to make a really good story.” If things get worse, I say, “I can’t wait to tell this later.” This puts me in control of my narrative and tells me I’m going to learn something from this experience.

The study also found that resilient people would ask themselves, “What are my principles, what are my non-negotiables?” In other words, who do I want to be and how do I want to treat others when I am hard pressed?

Those are the two questions that got people through the journey. This also applies to organizations and teams. It is crucial to ask ourselves these questions.

Dr. Powell: So, when it comes to resilience, science and practice tell us:

• For organizations - Direct the strategy so that it helps us make better decisions about how to spend our time, energy, and resources
• For teams and individuals - Change the narrative from fighting for survival to one of transformation.
• For individuals - Adopt a growth mindset by focusing on what you are learning and how you are staying true to your values.

This concludes our three-part series where we’ve discussed what to do when there’s burnout, how to prevent burnout, and practicing resilience. Feel free to message us with any other topics you’re interested in being covered in the future, we’d love to hear from you.

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References:

Yost, P.R. (2024, August 7-10). Invited Address: Surviving and thriving in organizations. American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, United States.

Yost, P. R., DeHaas*, C., & Allison*, M. (2021). Resilience and successful derailment. In K. De Meuse & V. Harvey. The Age of Agility: Building Agile Leaders and Organizations (pp. 301-326). Oxford Press.