Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

If you like to read as much as listen, you can get a transcript of the show right here.

This week Katie and I talk about burning out and the lack of vitality that we can experience in life. This is completely different than stress. We mean depletion of our energetic reservoir. We take a different view of this however and point to an earlier concept we’ve talked about as it relates to the drama triangle and the role of the “hero” in leadership. This is a model that was originally proposed by Dr. Steven Karpman. We often think that burnout is caused by working too many hours, stress and all sorts of external circumstances however, we propose that we might be creating this from within ourselves in leadership.

One of the ways in which we do this is by taking more than our one hundred percent responsibility until eventually, we deplete ourselves and become the victim of another person, situation or circumstance. Over time, we can no longer keep up and our internal resources become depleted. In leadership, we can easily see this occurrence when we see ourselves as the fixer and the person who has to make things right. The real issue with this approach is that it isn’t sustainable. We also require other people to show up a certain way so that we can be the hero. For example, we need our teams to not take their own responsibility and to make their own choices. Check it out and see if you are a hero.