Burnout isn't a personal failing

Big welcome to new subscribers! If you're new here, do have a look around at past posts and other resources on the site. Plenty to dig into 😀

Last summer, my colleague and friend Ruth Davison and I sat down to discuss what we observe as fundamental issues in the voluntary sector in the UK, where both of us have spent much of our careers. We were both in a time of transition, moving from one kind of work to a different kind of work, and we swapped notes.

A core problem that we have long observed is the extraordinary level of pressure on the shoulders of a chief executive of a charity. Huge demand coupled with pressures on funding and limited sources of support around the leader. It's a lonely job being a chief executive. We chatted about the many people we know who've left their jobs, some even exiting the sector due to difficult circumstances, and we wondered if there was something that we could do about it.

That conversation led to a piece of work which we published this week on burnout amongst charity leaders in the UK. The evidence is clear that burnout exists, so we didn't see the need to discuss that further with already busy charity chief execs. Instead, we decided to talk to the people who support them. There are a number of organisations who run mentoring and coaching programmes for charity leadership, among them ACEVO, Cranfield Trust, and The Elischer Foundation, who very kindly worked with us to share our research questions with their mentor list.

The findings were clear:

• Short funding cycles that make strategic planning nearly impossible, cited by seventy-seven per cent of the mentors we surveyed.
• CEOs expected to be fundraiser, safeguarding lead, HR department and visionary, often without the infrastructure to support any one of those roles properly,
• Governance and financial pressure and people management are all key issues,
• And, governance models built for a more predictable and less complex world than the one charities are now operating in.

Eighty-five per cent of mentors named resilience as the leadership quality most needed right now, and ninety-five per cent, almost every single one of them, pointed to coaching and reflective listening as what actually helps. Not one said the problem was that leaders simply weren't trying hard enough.

The story charity leaders tell themselves when they're exhausted is almost always personal. They wonder what's wrong with them. They wonder why they failed. They even feel shame.

The mentors we spoke to, people who've sat across the table from struggling CEOs for years between them, tell a different story. They point at the funding cycle, the governance structure, the thin staffing. They point at the system.

After we collated the findings of the research questions, we shared them in two workshops online with some of the mentors that had taken part. What was interesting was that financial planning, one of the things every charity CEO job description would prioritise, came a little way down the list of what mentors thought leaders actually needed. Resilience and strategic thinking mattered more.

The full findings, Fixing the System, Not the Leader, are available to read. Full credit and gratitude to Ruth Davison, and colleagues at ACEVO, Cranfield Trust and the Elischer Foundation. None of it was mine alone.

I'm booked up for 1:1 coaching to the end of September now but if you've been thinking you could do with a quick 60 minute clarity call or a set of sessions, either reply to this email or click this:

What am I reading? 📚

One of the themes that comes up regularly with clients and YouTube viewers, is whether it's too late to begin again, at 40, at 50, at 60 and beyond.

To that I say, a big fat never! There's a YouTuber I watch who started in his 80s.

To that end, I'm currently reading It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond by Julia Cameron

What am I watching? 👀

As a little experiment, I thought I'd introduce a new strand into my YouTube channel tracking my own life experiences from now until retirement. When will my retirement be? Who knows? Watch and we can find out together.

The first episode is here

What am I listening to?👂

Having just been back in Northern Ireland, it was good to have the Restis History podcast recent series on the Troubles to listen to and learn from.

Here's the first episode.

Did you know there was an IRA bomb in Coventry City centre on August 25, 1939 that killed 5 people? Or that Winston Churchill promised Eamonn De Valera British support for a united Ireland in return for Ireland's abandonment of neutrality. I did not. So much to learn.

Joy-giving things 😍

Caught a beautiful sunset locally the other evening.

Have a great weekend

Lucy

I've been writing regular blogs since 2020. If you want to have a look at my back catalogue, they are all here.

If you're wondering whether coaching might help you think through where you are and where you're going next, I'd love to hear from you.

You can also find me on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.

🎬🎬🎬 YouTube 🎬🎬🎬

If you like what you read and you'd like to show your appreciation in cash, you can do that here. I'd be very grateful!