Welcome to Leading by Design!

If you want to join 3,380 other creative leaders and learn about actionable strategies for working in tech., subscribe below:

Today, in 5 Minutes or Less, you’ll Learn 👏

• Why creative leaders burn out faster than other functions

• The predictors and symptoms of burnout

• The game plan you need to level up your leadership and protect from burnout

Did you Know?

The three predictors of burnout, according to psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, are:

1. Role conflict

2. Role ambiguity

3. Role overload

Sound familiar? They should do. These three side dishes get served to creative leaders working in tech—every day.  

It’s a Shock, I know 😲 So what do you do?

Symptoms Anyone?

Burnout is real. A 2022 survey by GitLab found that 75% of tech workers have experienced burnout at some point in their careers. The symptoms of burnout include.

Emotional Exhaustion

• The feeling of being energetically depleted and chronically exhausted. Maybe you know someone who is emotionally exhausted? For example, a highly detail-oriented, enthusiastic designer who no longer cares about the quality of their work?

Feeling Ineffective

• Lacking any sense of personal accomplishment. Maybe you know a user researcher who shares research findings selectively after internalizing their results won’t change product direction if they don’t fit business objectives.

Depersonalization

• Mental distancing or feeling pessimistic or cynical about work. Have you met a creative leader who lost hope of establishing their design function as an equal partner to those who make the critical decisions at work?

Conflict

Tech companies are competitive environments full of people from diverse backgrounds with different communication styles. Expect to run into conflict and have a plan for addressing it.

Pros

Healthy conflict helps validate and elaborate ideas and advance the product development process.

Cons

Conflict forces designers to rationalize and justify every decision to stakeholders. Over time, it undermines your role and contributes to psychological and emotional burnout.

Conflict Game Plan

1. Expect conflict. Business is a full-contact sport, so create your game plan for tackling it.

2. Acknowledge the conflict. Don't pretend it's not happening.

3. Be proactive. Find out what’s causing the rift and learn about the different perspectives surrounding the conflict. Your assessment will help you gain a new perspective that will help you to see how to address and resolve the dispute.

4. Get support. Don’t take conflict on alone. Seek support from a mentor or coach. 👫 If you don’t know what to do or what to say, they will help you rehearse in safety before you attempt to restore the peace. With support, you will become emotionally detached from the outcome, empowering you to return to being your badass, creative self faster than going alone.

Ambiguity

When creative leaders advocate for customer-centricity in tech, where big data and AI are king, pushing the value of design on leaders with a different mindset will lead to burnout.

Pros

Ambiguity promotes adaptability and change. The tech industry constantly changes, and creative leaders must adapt quickly. Role ambiguity allows creatives to change their approach as needed, allowing them to experiment and develop new and innovative ideas.

Cons

Ambiguity stifles creativity and innovation. Suppose you are worried about overstepping professional boundaries with another leader or function. This can make you less likely to take risks and try new things and lead to less innovative products and services.

Ambiguity causes confusion and frustration. Being unclear about your role and what you are accountable for relative to your peers in product design may lead others not to trust you and your proper use of time and resources.

Ambiguity Game Plan

1. Be flexible and adaptable. If something isn’t working, be willing to change it. What made you victorious at another company may not fly at the new one. Invest time building allies and learning how your peers succeed.

2. Communicate regularly and openly. Discuss progress and reach across the aisle to cross-functional partners and stakeholders with influence over your team's work. Don’t wait for an invitation, and don’t withhold information.

Overload

When your work demands exceed your resources, role overload will lead to burnout. As a creative leader overseeing the design of customer-centric dynamic systems, interaction patterns, and user interface designs, you are putting yourself at constant risk of role overload.

Pros

Overload improves productivity. As work piles up, you may need to finish more in less time, making you more motivated to be efficient and productive.

Overload increased visibility. Exposure to more tasks and challenges creates opportunities to learn and develop new skills, making you more valuable to the company.

Greater Job Satisfaction You may enjoy the challenge of being overloaded with work.

Cons

Reduced job satisfaction. You cannot do your best work if you are constantly under pressure.

Difficulty delegating tasks. Suppose you are reluctant to delegate tasks because you feel like the only one who can do them well. Don’t do this - it will create an overload for you and a loss of productivity in your team. I know; I spent years doing this as a design manager!

Difficulty managing your career. When overloaded, you may not have the time to invest in networking opportunities, grow your industry thought leadership, and build allies who will support you when you’re not in the room. If you remain invisible behind the scenes, supporting only other team members, this will slow your career advancement.

Overload Game Plan

1. Say ‘NO’. It's crucial to set boundaries and protect your valuable time by employing defensive calendaring techniques. It all starts with being able to refuse new requests and say ‘no’ with equanimity.

2. Delegate tasks regularly. Don’t hesitate to delegate tasks to your team members. It will free up your time to focus on the most critical tasks and empower those you trust to grow their careers by taking on more responsibility.

The Short Of It Is

Being burned out is not a personal failing; it's addressable, and the way you do this is to have a game plan, like the one described above, to protect yourself from burnout and become an even better leader.

That’s it for this week!

Any topics you’d like to see me cover in the future? Just shoot me a DM or an email.

With ❤️ from Sally

P.P.S. Would you like to receive more leadership strategies?

Here are a few ways I can help:

• Claim your free copy of the Personal Planning Workbook "Sally's Soul Searching Research Guide” and discover how to unlock purpose and direction in the areas of your life that are in your control.

• Book a free coaching session for 30 min. strategy call

• Apply to sponsor an upcoming issue of Leading by Design

• Contact me with feedback and suggestions for future topics