How to Handle Feeling Overworked

Coaching Real Leaders

Harvard Business Review / Muriel Wilkins

Business, Harvard, Careers, Society & Culture, Leaders, Executive, Leadership, Management, Review, Sessions, Hbr, Coaching, C-suite

4.8 • 759 Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As we head into the holidays after a very stressful year, many of us are struggling with burnout. This week, we revisit a conversation from earlier in the year with a leader on the brink of burnout.

She’s ambitious and has always leaned into opportunities to lead. But in her leadership role, her responsibilities just keep growing, making her feel like she can’t keep up. Now she’s questioning whether she even wants to lead anymore.

Host Muriel Wilkins coaches this leader through her burnout toward strategies she can take to focus her energy and scale up her leadership.

Transcript

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0:00.0	HBR Presents.
0:07.0	Hi everyone. This is Muriel Wilkins, executive coach and host of coaching real leaders,
0:12.4	sharing a special episode with you today. It's one of my favorites from season one, and I wanted
0:17.9	to share it again this week because it looks at something so many of us
0:21.7	might be feeling right now, burnout. Whether it's the ongoing impact of the global pandemic,
0:27.9	working from home or in the office, increased workloads, or just a general stress that
0:33.5	many of us experienced during this time of the year, a lot of people are feeling pretty
0:38.7	overwhelmed right now. So listen in to my coaching conversation with one leader who is struggling
0:44.9	with the intensity of her role in wondering how long she can keep it up. Because even if you
0:50.7	haven't been in her exact situation, you can probably relate. I hope you find it
0:56.0	helpful.
0:58.8	HBR Presents.
1:16.0	I'm Muriel Wilkins, and this is Coaching Real Leaders, part of the HBR Presents Network.
1:22.2	I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful leaders who've hit a bump in the road.
1:28.1	My job is to help them get over that bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them. I typically work with clients over the course of several months, but on this show, we have a
1:34.1	one-time coaching meeting, focusing on a specific leadership challenge they're facing.
1:47.0	Today's guest is someone we'll call Ellie.
1:50.4	She's a leader who's done well in previous technology roles,
1:54.1	but always felt like she's ready for more in terms of leadership responsibility.
1:58.9	When she was offered the opportunity to lead at a startup, she stepped up.
2:02.3	And her ability to figure things out and get things done is exactly what's valued in that fast-paced environment. So it's a startup, which means
2:08.8	we don't have a lot of the basic foundation that most companies would have that are doing
	...

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