When I worked in clinical practice as a psychotherapist, I worked with many burnt-out clients and always found it frustrating that the conventional wisdom was to take time off or stop working, which is just not practical (or desirable) for many people. I was always looking for alternative things people could do to help themselves. Then I experienced burnout myself, and whilst it was dreadful, I learnt first hand how to put all of this into practice, hence my research on the topic. I now work with people and organisations in high pressured, innovative environments where the focus is on preventing burnout rather than recovering.
I wrote
Rest. Practise. Perform.: What elite sport can teach leaders about sustainable wellbeing and performance
I love Covey’s book because it has helped me teach personal effectiveness to so many clients over the years. I find his approach to be very adaptable to different styles and preferences, and that helps my clients to manage their time and boundaries more easily, which is a critical skill to help avoid burnout.
New York Times bestseller - over 25 million copies sold The No. 1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century
"[Thirty] years after it first appeared, the wisdom of The 7 Habits is more relevant than ever. On an individual level people are burning out, and on a collective level we are burning up the planet. So Dr. Covey's emphasis on self-renewal and his understanding that leadership and creativity require us to tap into our own physical, mental, and spiritual resources are exactly what we need now." Arianna Huffington
One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written,…
For me, beating burnout involves knowing yourself well, and this book helps with a critical aspect of that: understanding my interactions with others.
The book is so easy to read and understand without being oversimplified. I’ve used the material to help teach people how to create and maintain healthy boundaries in life and work.
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
In organisations, culture can drive or protect people against burnout, and I love Amy’s work because she addresses a wide range of organisational issues through the topic of psychological safety.
I find the ideas and concrete strategies described in this book can flex to almost any type of business and she provides just enough science to convince the more academically minded whilst remaining practical and realistic.
Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy
The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent-but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought,…
I resisted the enneagram, thinking that it wasn’t scientific enough, but now that I understand it, I haven’t looked back.
Knowing how understanding yourself is an essential part of avoiding burnout, I was looking for a personality typology that didn’t just put me in a box but gave me a path to growth and development. This book does just that for me, with tailored development areas for each personality type.
The first definitive guide to using the wisdom of the enneagram for spiritual and psychological growth
The ancient symbol of the Enneagram has become one of today's most popular systems for self-understanding, based on nine distinct personality types. Now, two of the world's foremost Enneagram authorities introduce a powerful new way to use the Enneagram as a tool for personal transformation and development. Whatever your spiritual background, the Enneagram shows how you can overcome your inner barriers, realize your unique gifts and strengths, and discover your deepest direction in life.
Gifts from a Challenging Childhood
by
Jan Bergstrom,
Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…
A book list on burnout would not be complete without something from the key original researchers in the field.
I love this book because it not only brings to life all their important research but also puts the research into practical action. I have used it over the years as a go-to in my research and in my work as a practitioner because it brilliantly straddles both areas well and in a way my clients can process and work with.
Leaders in organisations are frequently torn between the pressure for endless performance and results and the well-being of their employees. Elite sports have honed time-tested strategies for sustaining peak performance and getting results without exhaustion. This book provides a playbook for adapting elite sports’ winning formula to create sustainable performance in organisations.
Elite sports operate on a rhythm of rest or recovery, followed by practise or training, followed by an intense period of performance, the match, or the race itself. Based on research conducted in football, tennis, Formula 1, and organisations, discover how to apply the rhythm of rest, practise, perform cycle, and learn how it can revolutionise your team’s productivity, performance, and well-being.
