{"id":15729,"date":"2023-09-29T12:43:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T12:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/how-communications-leaders-can-beat-burnout\/"},"modified":"2023-09-29T12:43:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T12:43:08","slug":"how-communications-leaders-can-beat-burnout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729","title":{"rendered":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Nikki Little<\/em> is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

The World Health Organization defines burnout as \u201ca syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As someone who has experienced burnout at work (and even quit a job without having another one lined up thanks to burnout), here\u2019s how I describe it: Burnout is when the liquid in your hypothetical capacity cup is teetering on the edge or overflowing. You\u2019re mentally and physically depleted. The passion, joy and fun you once had for your work is gone.<\/p>\n

According to the 2022-2023 Aflac WorkForces Report, more than half (59%) of American workers are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout, a notable increase over 2021 (52%) and on par with the levels reported in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

Communications and marketing work is notorious for leading to burnout. In a larger company, it\u2019s more common to have an internal structure where there are separate leaders for marketing, communications and digital\/social media. But in a smaller organization, one or two people are charged with every <\/em>task. I bet you\u2019ve seen a job description for a marketing or communications role that lists every possible internal\/external responsibility that exists. I have\u2014and it\u2019s not sustainable or realistic for one person to own all that work.<\/p>\n

Our role as communicators and marketers requires constant innovation, rapid (yet accurate) response, strategic thinking, crisis expertise, staying on top of evolving algorithms and trends \u2026 and that\u2019s just scratching the surface. But our work is incredibly valuable and rewarding. It can (and does!) create real and positive change for an organization.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incumbent upon us to cultivate the next generation of leaders who will carry the proverbial torch and continue proving why our work is critical. But to do that, we must ensure \u201cPR work leads to burnout\u201d doesn\u2019t become the new \u201cPR work can\u2019t be measured\u201d dark cloud that hangs over us.<\/p>\n

Preventing Burnout Starts At The Top<\/h2>\n

One of the main causes of burnout is ineffective leadership. Leaders must model the ideal anti-burnout behavior. If we tell employees not to email during vacation or avoid sitting at their desks for 12 hours straight (particularly relevant for remote workers) but we don\u2019t practice what we preach, then we\u2019re hypocrites. And employees won\u2019t feel confident following those anti-burnout recommendations if their bosses do the opposite.<\/p>\n

Being an effective leader comes down to listening to and caring about our teams. Leaders should encourage employees to speak up when they\u2019re overwhelmed by creating safe, trusting spaces to express their feelings. If leaders make it OK to not always be OK at work, employees will feel more comfortable telling leaders if they feel burned out.<\/p>\n

As leaders who have experienced varying levels of stress (and likely even burnout) throughout our careers, it\u2019s also our responsibility to help the people we lead avoid getting to the point of burnout. Leaders can only control so much, and employees also need to make an effort to avoid burnout. But sometimes they may not recognize that their work ethic or habits have put them on a direct path to burnout. If leaders put in the time to get to know their employees well (I\u2019m talking about how they\u2019re truly wired\u2014not just their hobbies), then we\u2019ll recognize when someone is on the verge of crossing over from the stress zone to the burnout zone.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk more about healthy stress. Our work can be very <\/em>stressful. But if the stress is temporary and subsides once we get through the challenging situation, we can look back on that period and reflect on what we learned and how we grew professionally. A former PR agency leader-turned-PR agency coach once told me, \u201cWhen you stress, you must rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-care is critical, particularly in crisis work. I get it\u2014deadlines and expectations don\u2019t stop. But as leaders, as often as possible, let\u2019s commit to practicing reflection with our teams after a stressful situation\/project, discuss what we learned and then reset before jumping into something new. Adopting this practice is a critical component to helping our teams\u2014and ourselves\u2014avoid burnout.<\/p>\n

Other Tips For Communicators To Avoid Burnout<\/h2>\n

\u2022 Aim for quality vs. quantity:<\/strong> I\u2019ve yet to find a situation where quality vs. quantity doesn\u2019t make sense! This especially holds true for our industry where a new tool, trend or channel (hello, Threads) seems to pop up every week. Let\u2019s be smart about where we invest our time\/resources and where we ask our teams to spend time promoting our brands.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Define right-fit clients\/work: <\/strong>This is for my agency friends. I\u2019ll preface this by saying it\u2019s not realistic only to have clients and work that are 100% the right fit. We\u2019ve all had that client who critiques every little thing. But it\u2019s important to define what a right-fit client and right-fit work means for your agency. Ideally, that right-fit criteria should be aligned with your values, and then you need to stick to those boundaries as often as possible. If we take on too many clients that aren\u2019t a good fit, that\u2019s a one-way ticket to burnout land.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Stick to your values:<\/strong> Sometimes we have to accept that the counsel we provide won\u2019t be taken\u2014but there\u2019s a fine line between adding a second quote in a press release because that\u2019s what the CEO wants and a leader asking us to do something unethical. Having your counsel ignored frequently or constantly being asked to do things that go against your moral standards will inevitably lead to burnout. This is a sign that it\u2019s time to evaluate whether you should continue working for this leader and company.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite phrases is \u201cIt\u2019s PR, not the ER.\u201d Yes, our work is important. Yes, we should take it seriously and pour effort, energy and attention into our work. But we aren\u2019t literally saving lives. Remember that phrase and these tips the next time you find yourself trending toward burnout.<\/p>\n

Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization defines burnout as \u201ca syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.\u201d As someone who has experienced burnout at work (and even quit a job […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nHow Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brandiary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1695991387_0x0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\"},\"headline\":\"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\"},\"wordCount\":1072,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\",\"name\":\"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"description\":\"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brandiary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png\",\"width\":381,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"Brandiary\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary","description":"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary","og_description":"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization","og_url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729","og_site_name":"Brandiary","article_published_time":"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1695991387_0x0.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4"},"headline":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout","datePublished":"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729"},"wordCount":1072,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Leadership"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729","name":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout | Brandiary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-29T12:43:07+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-29T12:43:08+00:00","description":"Nikki Little is a senior VP at Franco and an integrated communications professional with more than 15 years of experience. The World Health Organization","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15729#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Communications Leaders Can Beat Burnout"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","name":"Brandiary","description":"Latest Business and Startup News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#organization","name":"Brandiary","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/b-logo-1.png","width":381,"height":100,"caption":"Brandiary"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5062dafb0f932b59aa228f1a047332f4","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/avatar_user_1_1688031660-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com"],"url":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15731,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15729\/revisions\/15731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}