3 ms·

You're assuming that continued high stress is enough to induce burnout. What causes burnout requires high stress but also a lack of reward and relaxation, and a

You're assuming that continued high stress is enough to induce burnout. What causes burnout requires high stress but also a lack of reward and relaxation, and a mismatch in personal values. Great leaders probably do not suffer from self-doubt and honestly believe in their own righteousness. I am often amazed by how the executives I meet genuinely seem to lack the ability to self-criticize and admit wrongdoing, even in personal settings. For great leaders, the worldly rewards and affirmation in the form of praise are never ending. This makes individuals highly resilient to external stress.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago
Not only that, but they know to delegate. Especially in the military; a general doesn't command the troops, they command the people one or two ranks below them, who then distribute the load. I see a lot of 'flat' organizations where there's one person having to manage 50+ people, which IMO is just too much responsibility, especially if they have multiple roles (financial, personnel, strategy, etc). The first thing that anyone needs to learn if they grow into a leadership position is to be able to delegate instead of doing things themselves / micromanage. That is difficult for e.g. software developers because doing the work itself (writing code etc) and doing it well was what got them there. In a lot of cases.
sixdimensional 7y ago
I think that stress causes constant stress hormones like cortisol to flow. Rewards and relaxation (or exercise) interrupt the flow with positive hormones. But without that, you physically alter your brain chemistry in negative ways from constant stress, literally producing psychological problems such as burnout, anxiety, anger, depression not to mention physiological ones, such as high blood pressure and other health issues. I think it can get as bad as a form of PTSD induced by constant low-to-mid level stress rather than one major upfront trauma.
- SolaceQuantum 7y ago
  "I think it can get as bad as a form of PTSD induced by constant low-to-mid level stress rather than one major upfront trauma." I would recommend looking up a concept called CPTSD (Complex PTSD)[0] which is a somewhat controversial idea that one can develop a flavor of PTSD specifically from long periods of chronic trauma. (PTSD is ordinarily described as hailing from acute trauma.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_...

Cthulhu_ 7y ago

Not only that, but they know to delegate. Especially in the military; a general doesn't command the troops, they command the people one or two ranks below them, who then distribute the load. I see a lot of 'flat' organizations where there's one person having to manage 50+ people, which IMO is just too much responsibility, especially if they have multiple roles (financial, personnel, strategy, etc). The first thing that anyone needs to learn if they grow into a leadership position is to be able to delegate instead of doing things themselves / micromanage. That is difficult for e.g. software developers because doing the work itself (writing code etc) and doing it well was what got them there. In a lot of cases.

sixdimensional 7y ago

I think that stress causes constant stress hormones like cortisol to flow. Rewards and relaxation (or exercise) interrupt the flow with positive hormones. But without that, you physically alter your brain chemistry in negative ways from constant stress, literally producing psychological problems such as burnout, anxiety, anger, depression not to mention physiological ones, such as high blood pressure and other health issues. I think it can get as bad as a form of PTSD induced by constant low-to-mid level stress rather than one major upfront trauma.

SolaceQuantum 7y ago
"I think it can get as bad as a form of PTSD induced by constant low-to-mid level stress rather than one major upfront trauma." I would recommend looking up a concept called CPTSD (Complex PTSD)[0] which is a somewhat controversial idea that one can develop a flavor of PTSD specifically from long periods of chronic trauma. (PTSD is ordinarily described as hailing from acute trauma.) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_...