Seth Godin has put his finger on burnout in the service industries. More on that in a minute. But first, let me share a picture of how a lot of frontline workers feel: high schoolers.
It happens every year around the start of December.
I noticed it about 10 years ago–but I suspect it has been going on longer than that.
I would scroll through social media to check on my Sunday school class of high schoolers. Around Dec. 1, two messages would become common:
- I’m bored.
- I’m anxious.
Bored and anxious
Sometimes they would literally use those words. But more often than not it would be covered over with whining about how their teacher was having them watch yet another video, or how scared they were about upcoming tests … college choices … jobs … adulthood.
The natural rhythm of the end of the year brought it all to the fore.
Boredom and anxiety. I thought about that when a friend, on social media, posted this meme.
I have often shared with clients the myth of Sisyphus, the man whose punishment in the afterlife is a job: to roll a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again so he has to start over. Forever.
Clients grasp the connection immediately. Some chuckle, some close their eyes in pain.
So what if you didn’t have to do that?
Responsible and powerful
Seth Godin has an alternative way of looking at life.
Instead of passively accepting whatever “rolls” your way, feeling helpless … what if you recognized that you have choices, things you personally are responsible for?
In an interesting twist combining the Karpman drama triangle and Covey’s circles of influence and concern, Godin imagines a “control/responsibility matrix.” It’s worth reading.
Hip Socket exists to help people “wrestle and grow” more organized, more confident and more influential.
There is some control in influence. But you won’t reach it unless you take some responsibility to increase your organization and confidence.
This post is to encourage frontline workers to take the initiative to grow. But let me encourage managers and business owners to take the initiative on what is in their path: empowering their people to take that responsibility, make those choices.
Burnout is everywhere.
We can all feel like cogs in the machine. Yet we all have the opportunity to influence those around us.
Let’s be brave and do that. Contact me if I can help you take those steps.