{"id":59741,"date":"2025-07-24T09:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"\/aq4n3c4\/member-newsletter-burnout-have-you-had-lunch-yet\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T09:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:57:08","slug":"member-newsletter-burnout-have-you-had-lunch-yet","status":"publish","type":"product-content","link":"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/aq4n3c4\/member-newsletter-burnout-have-you-had-lunch-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Member Newsletter: Burnout: “Have You Had Lunch Yet?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Burnout: “Have You Had Lunch Yet?”<\/h1>\n\n

By Melanie Bell, Mindtools Content Writer and Editor<\/p>

You work as both a doctor and a coach. How did you come to pursue such different career paths?<\/strong> <\/p>

I wanted to be a doctor for so long I actually forgot why! I remember my mother being ill when I was 12 and I thought that was the trigger. However, I met some friends from primary school some years ago and they reminded me that it had been a desire since then. <\/p>

With regards to coaching, my brother is a business coach and really brought the idea of the knowledge industry home to me. I realized that I had been operating as a coach of sorts in my personal and professional capacity for a long time. So, I built a business around it. <\/p>

You\u2019ve recently written and spoken about burnout. It\u2019s not uncommon to hear talk about burnout in the workplace \u2013 but what exactly is it, from a medical standpoint, and why does it happen?<\/strong><\/p>

I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a specific medical definition in that sense. I see it as the response to chronic stress over time, where there\u2019s a dissociation between the person and their surroundings. <\/p>

I also define it as “energy bankruptcy,” meaning the amount of energy that is being asked of you is more than you have to give. The WHO has just recognized burnout as an \u201coccupational phenomenon,\u201d which is a step in the right direction. <\/p>

However, it seems to focus on work-based burnout and doesn’t recognize that, ironically, people are at risk of burnout anywhere that they care about something. <\/p>

Do you see any common misconceptions about burnout among leaders or managers? If so, what does the science say that\u2019s different?<\/strong> <\/p>

I don\u2019t think there are any misconceptions I\u2019ve noticed in leaders per se, because in my view the misconceptions are based on human nature which affects all strata of the organization. These are:<\/p>