Darren Kilroy
Short Biography...
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What is burnout?
So burnout for me is constellation of different characteristics, and it's really sometimes quite tricky to spot. But burnout fundamentally for me is inherently exhaustion. Exhaustion in your workplace, a feeling of being unable to fulfil the tasks that you would normally fulfil and enjoy fulfilling, and a sense of losing your productivity and losing your edge. But it's very varied and burnout can present in several ways. So burnout's a constellation of things for me and finding out which symptoms for your which signs and which feelings or which characteristics are changing. I think it's quite tricky, but burnout fundamentally, for me is an unhealthy exhaustion in the workplace.
How do I support people helping with burnout?
So my advice for someone supporting burnout in a colleague is to be patient and compassionate and in a way be brave. It's tricky to support people when they're struggling in the workplace because you yourself can often then feel that, well, am I struggling too? How can I best support this person? Well, I make things worse, is I think, a common fear as well. But I think it starts with compassion and it starts with empathy. And very importantly as well, it's a sense of actively listening and trying to perceive what that person's situation is. But it starts with listening and it starts with compassion.
How do I respond to someone suffering burnout?
So if someone told you they had burnout, I think the best way to start thinking about responding is in asking them why they think that's so, it's very easy to make assumptions around why someone might be feeling burnt out, might be feeling a little bit low or tired. But I would start very deliberately by asking them, why do you think that? What is it that makes you think that and why are you thinking it now? Has something changed? And gently perhaps explore why that situation might have arisen. And I think it's really important to do that agnostically without any assumptions as to why you think they might be burnt out. Even if you know them really well. It's very important at that very first point of contact. It's a really important juncture to get confidence from that person who's given you their confidence that they're thinking they might be burnt out. Very importantly then is to gently explore why and listening is the key at that stage. Rather than assuming or presuming, just let them talk and see where that takes you. I think it's the first key aspect of that.