Americans suffer from pandemic job burnout. The phenomenon entered the public consciousness through a classic publication entitled The Peter Principle
written by the late Lawrence Peter. Mr. Peter set forth the proposition that employees eventually rise to their level of incompetence. The book's editors pen this synopsis of the work:
This bestselling business classic of more than twenty-five years' duration is a dead-on account of why boredom, bungling, and bad management are built into every organization. Through hilarious case histories and cartoons adapted from Punch, Dr. Peter shows how America's corporate career track drives employees relentlessly upward -- until they get promoted into jobs they just can't do and wind up desperately treading water, driving their colleagues crazy, and dragging down productivity and profit.
Fortune 100's remarkably successful executive coach Dr. John L. Miller suggests a couple of fundamental reasons for job failure and burnout:
Loss of Meaning in Work
As a fundamental premise, people need meaning in their work. Often as students graduate from college and enter the workforce they move further away from activities and subjects that provide personal meaning, and match their skill sets and aptitudes. An aspiring accountant who has recently joined the workforce, for example, realizes that he or she must enter management to advance. The essential work of management, however, is different and removed from the work of being an accountant. As the accountant advances, he or she moves further away from the nature of the work that is most enjoyed. As a way to cope with this estrangement from work, some executives tenaciously cling to their functional expertise at the expense of managing. The micromanager who loves to delve into the smallest of details is one common manifestation of this problem. In contrast, the successful executive has learned to discover fulfillment in the work of a manager and leader. This often requires a change in thinking in what constitutes satisfaction in the work they perform as a manger. Many are unable to make this leap and, therefore, suffer with frustration throughout their careers. This dissatisfaction increases as they ascend within the organization until they reach a point where they are unable to find any significance in their work. Interestingly, executive burn out does not come from hard work. More frequently, it comes from not finding satisfaction in work.
Ineffective Learned Behavior
We all use behavior as a problem solving tool. Our current behavior is usually built on a foundation of previous behavior that has been rewarded. On a very practical level, for example, executives have learned to behave in ways that get them rewarded (i.e., promotion, bonus, perks, etc.). The successful executive consistently demonstrates behavior that is mature and constructive, fits the culture of the organization, and meets the expectations of the major stakeholders. They have learned that acting in this manner brings rewards. Conversely, the unsuccessful executive demonstrates behavior that is immature, often erratic, and usually counterproductive. Unfortunately, this ineffective behavior has also been rewarded in the past. The rewards may be that the highly-competitive executive won by overwhelming others, the supervisor allowed certain behavior to exist without reprimand, or the person was promoted because it was the path of least resistance. As the individual advances, the impact of these troublesome or ineffective behaviors becomes larger and affects more people within the organization. These learned and reinforced behaviors become stubborn and difficult to change.
In addition, I suggest that youthful idealism blindsided by harsh realities leads to burnout and misery. Starry-eyed fresh young faces attack their new positions with zeal dreaming of fame and fortune. When the dream runs into infinite obstacles, young execs either run away, fall into depression, get fired, or tenaciously hang on until they achieve some sort of breakthrough. In that defining moment the exec tempers his idealism with reality and transfigures into emotional adulthood.
Read Dr. Miller's entire article here.
