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A Frustrating Job
Dear
Girlfriends,
"I'm done.
I am absolutely done with this job." How many of us have gotten to a breaking
point in our career. . . or a better question might be: How many of us are at this point, today?
I am a
seasoned veteran of burnout. Throwing myself 110% into a project, a challenge,
or an organization, I have mastered the art of professional burnout. And, I
have recognized a recurring pattern over the past twenty years: regardless of
the type of project, the degree of challenge, or the size of the organization, I
always seem to find myself back in the same place: frustrated beyond words.
Once we
really begin to analyze the situation of burnout at work, the actual job or
task we perform is rarely the issue. Most of us enjoy doing the work. And while
our bosses, subordinates, or co-workers can sometimes be a bit wonky, for the
most part, they're usually good people with good intentions. Eliminating the
work itself and the people we work with leaves us with only three other possibilities:
me, myself, and I.
So what
exactly is the root cause behind our burnout at work? Ego. Unfortunately for us,
the higher an achiever we are, the greater the likelihood that we will at some
point become extremely burned out with our job. Let's note for the sake of this
conversation that the type of "ego haunting" I'm talking about is rarely fueled
by status; the part of our ego that is behind our professional burnout is the
part of self that requires acceptance or validation.
If you are
a girlfriend who takes great pride in what you do, your self-esteem is closely
linked with what you produce at work and is most likely an integral part of
your personality and being. This is not all bad, in and of itself. Ego can be a
great asset for one's profession when it propels a well-grounded sense of self-confidence;
but it can be an extremely dangerous condition when we allow it to get out of
check, thereby draining our vision, ambition, creativity, and sense of balance.
I know this because I have struggled with my ego my entire professional career.
- It is ego, fanned by the flames
of fear that drives our compulsion to check our BlackBerries every five
minutes.
- It is ego, driven by a
SuperWoman complex, that compels us to take responsibility for failures
(and successes) for which we have been given no authority or
accountability.
- It is ego that throws the
crushing blow to our sense of self-worth when we define ourselves only by
our outcome measures at work.
- It is ego, slapped silly day
after day by the nonsense that occurs as a matter of course in the halls
of corporate America,
that convinces us that we have little to offer our co-workers,
subordinates, or senior management.
- It is ego, fueled by our need
to be validated, that convinces us that if we work hard enough and long
enough, we can single-handedly save the corporation from itself.
- It is ego - driven by need for
acceptance - that clouds our judgment to our own limitations.
And it is ego,
generating enough stress to stop the heart, that kills. Literally, you can work
yourself to death trying to satisfy the ego.
One of the symptoms of an
approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly
important. -
Bertrand Russell
If you're
not saving lives (doctor or volunteers for a suicide hotline), saving souls,
literally or figuratively, (clergy or social workers), or saving our next
generation from illiteracy (teachers) - you can relax. Your work is not that important.
Separate
yourself. Compartmentalize your life. Starve the part of your ego that needs to
be validated. You are not your job.
Now, get
back to work.
The ego
queen,
Ellen
Posted by Ellen on February 19, 2008 10:06 AM
| Category: One Breath Away From Burnout
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