Exhaustion Can Spread Through Organizations Like a Fungus!
I had been sitting in the same seat at the United gate in Chicago O'Hare for about an hour. During that time, my carryon and backpack found their way a bit spread out around me. I know that spreading out like that is a huge faux pas when it comes to airport etiquette. But it had already been a long international flight; I was exhausted, and I just wanted to get home.
About 30 min or so before the flight was to board people started flooding into the waiting area looking for an empty seat. One passenger, seeing that my things were a bit spread out, said, in a rather condescending tone, “excuse me. I’d like to get by.” I quickly pulled my things closer to me and apologized with a laugh and a smile for, “spreading out like a fungus!” I don’t know why I said that it just came out! The person didn’t think it was funny. “That’s one of the sickest things I’ve ever heard,” I forced a smile, gathered my things and moved to another seat. I admit that because I was exhausted, I was not in my best form.
I couldn’t see that at that time, but others could. The exhaustion affected my actions, and my reaction, and I moved on to find another seat.
Like a weary traveler, exhaustion in our role as middle leader impacts our actions and reactions. Those actions and reaction have an effect on us and those we lead.
Like all leaders, middle leaders must guard against exhaustion. But middle leaders who serve and lead in an organization whose focus is on helping people, like churches, schools, hospitals, and public service organizations are especially prone to exhaustion. Exhaustion can lead to burnout. But before burnout happens, exhaustion may cause middle leaders to leave the organization prematurely. A high rate of turnover is not good for the organization; the middle leader or those they lead.
In their 2003 study of organizational turnover, Green, Miller, and Aarons observed that there is a direct connection between emotional exhaustion and organizational turnover. The authors cite limited resources, the burden of underfunding, having to lead in systems where there is little reward for the middle leader, and high emotional demands as having direct implications on worker exhaustion and consequently organizational turnover.
Interestingly enough, Green, Miller and Aarons observed that, “Emotional exhaustion has been known to spread...within organizations, thus further increasing the negative effects of emotional exhaustion on the organization.” Did you hear that? Exhaustion spreads like a fungus!
With exhaustion being such a critical issue, what can a middle leader do?
Aside from the abundance of advice available that includes addressing the physical and emotional side of exhaustion, (this includes recommendations like eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep and rest, journaling, talking with a trusted friend, pastor or other professional or just spending time with friends and people who encourage you), there is something you can practice in your role as a middle leader to help fight middle leadership exhaustion. Green, Miller, and Aarons suggest that gaining and practicing the skills, attitudes, and behaviors associated with transformational leadership can reap positive results when it comes to addressing middle leadership exhaustion. In other words, practicing transformational leadership reduces leadership exhaustion.
There are many resources available to get you starting in understanding and practicing transformational leadership. But to get you started right now, here are some observations from Bernard M. Bass, one of the early researchers who investigated the implications of transformational leadership.
According to Bass, a transformational leader is one who:
Works to inspire others.
Strives to communicate a bigger picture, vision and purpose.
Seeks to give personal attention to those they lead, helping them to reach their potential.
Are you practicing any of these in your middle leadership? Sometimes when we work to inspire others, we end up inspiring ourselves. Sometimes, when we strive to communicate the bigger picture, we see the bigger picture more clearly ourselves. When we help others reach their potential, we gain a sense of fulfillment that in itself helps fill the empty spaces inside of us. Think about how you might practice these in your role as a middle leader.
Of the many excellent books focusing on transformational leadership, I recommend Leadership is an Art by Max De Pree. De Pree approaches leadership not from the standpoint of a position in an organization, but from an understanding that leadership is an attitude of the heart and the spirit that one can develop. Why is this important? If transformational leadership can be approached as an attitude of the heart and spirit, then transformational leadership can be practiced at all levels of an organization—even in the middle.
Though the risk of exhaustion is a fact of leadership, practicing transformational leadership can help middle leaders address the foundational issues that contribute to exhaustion. That’s good for everyone, including the middle leader. Great middle leaders make organizations great!
Green, A. E., E. A. Miller, and G. A. Aarons. “Transformational Leadership Moderates the Relationship Between Emotional Exhaustion and Turnover Intention Among Community Mental Health Providers.” Community Mental Health Journal 49, no. 4 (2013): 373-379.
Bass, Bernard M. “From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision.” Organizational Dynamics 18, no. 3 (1997): 318-333.