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This article is adapted from a Shambhala governance document on preventing leadership burnout and working with it if it arises. The ideas are presented here to make them more accessible to leaders, volunteers and others anywhere.

Other leadership resources include the book The Six Ways of Ruling: A Resource for Leaders and Shambhala’s Governance as Path webpage, where the original document is posted.

WORKING WITH BURNOUT

Working beneficially with burnout involves recognizing factors that can lead to it and bringing them to the meditative path. Key is developing a willingness to relate with one’s own mind in a gentle and tough way.

Factors leading to burnout (and ways of working with them) include:

• Avoiding practice
Balance your life so that meditation practice remains central. If you’re too busy to practice, you’re too busy.

• Difficulty saying “no”
Learn how and when to say “no” to others’ requests, and even to your own ideas. Look deeply into the experience of having difficulty setting limits.

• Taking things too personally
Leaders will always draw both praise and blame. Cultivate the ability to receive criticism with equanimity, and to work with pride, ambition and attachment to praise.

• Cognitive dissonance
Learn to accommodate the dissonance between the vastness of Shambhala vision and the sometimes messy reality of living on earth. Can you hold both aspects without being overwhelmed by either?

• Letting “best” undermine “good”
While aiming for excellence can be beneficial, it can become an obstacle if taken to an extreme. Look deeply into the experience of perfectionism.

• Engaging in harmful speech
Explore the impulse to gossip, speak harshly or complain. Learn to relate with others’ harmful speech without reinforcing or escalating it.

• Solidifying things
Explore the experience of seeing only problems and doubting the unconditional brilliance and goodness of things as they are. “We are ruling a dream, and we all share the same dream.” ―Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

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Tags: burnout, leadership, volunteering

This entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Community Articles, Pacific Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also leave a comment.