Burn Bright: What If High Performance Didn’t Have to Lead to Burnout?
We talk a lot about burnout. But what about the people who are working in the same demanding, always-on environments and somehow managing to perform at a high level without burning themselves out?
That question led Nick Petrie and his team through five years of research and ultimately to his new book, Burn Bright: 10 Habits to Sustain High Performance.
Recently, Nick joined Sixth Wing Partner Bridget Ruiz for a conversation about what they discovered.
And it turns out, the people Nick calls “thrivers” aren’t necessarily working less. They’ve learned to work differently.
They recognize when the habits that helped them succeed are no longer serving them. They pay attention to their energy. They create space for focused work and recovery. They become more intentional about boundaries and priorities. And they find ways to stop work from occupying their minds long after the workday ends.
One idea we especially liked was Nick’s concept of “pulsing.” Elite athletes don’t perform at maximum intensity all day, every day, and yet many of us expect exactly that from ourselves at work. Nick talks about intentionally shifting between different modes of work, concentration, connection and recovery instead of trying to stay in one gear all day.
Bridget and Nick also explored the role organizations and leaders play in all of this. Burnout isn’t something we can simply hand to individuals to fix. How we structure meetings, manage priorities, create boundaries and develop people all contribute to whether high performance can actually be sustained.
There’s a lot more in the conversation, from rumination and chronic stress to deep work, agency, becoming a “grower” of people, and finding your “opposite world” outside of work.
Rather than tell you all about it, we’ll let Nick and Bridget take it from here.
Want to go deeper? Nick’s book turns the research into 10 practical habits for sustaining high performance in an always-on world.
And we’re not done yet...
Nick will be back with Sixth Wing on October 15, this time with Sixth Wing Executive Coach & Facilitator John Previtera, to continue the conversation around burnout, resilience and performing well when the pressure isn’t going away. Email us at LTL@SixthWingLLC.com to join the conversation.
More to come.
Leadership that lifts.
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