The Science of Stress and Burnout Reduction

• How can leaders prevent employee burnout?
• Why does self-care set us up for failure?

Stress has been taking a heavy toll on our well-being since the pandemic began. The extended lack of control and predictability has caused physical, emotional and mental exhaustions. Burnout is rampant and disruptive. Employee disengagement is eroding business cultures. Attracting and retaining employees have become a top challenge. Leaders are seeking effective ways to reduce stress and prevent burnout.

In most businesses and organizations, the most common approach to stress reduction is to practice self care, but it has failed miserably. Talks and workshops focused on breathing, meditation and positivity are a dime a dozen. However, we can’t end a crisis with deep exhalation. We can’t curb the inflation with more mindfulness. We can’t reengage exhausted employees with just a positive attitude. The overreliance on self care sets us up for failure because science has shown that stress is lowered by active preemption, instead of passive coping.

Workshop: Apply Science to Reduce Stress and Burnout

Good leaders strive to decrease followers’ stress. Bad leaders do the opposite. Stress impairs our ability to make intelligent decisions. Stress inevitably leads to poor leadership decisions. All effective leadership skills boil down to reducing followers’ stress. However, in leadership development, little is taught about how to apply the latest science to manage both leaders and followers’ stress.

Part 1 ~ Why Leaders Need to Know about Stress:

• Discover why the stress response is more than “fight or flight.”
• Distinguish “being safe” from “feeling safe.”
• Recognize how stress causes irrational decisions.
• Examine the roles of control, predictability and progress.
• Put your followers in control by offering choices.
• Develop suitable frustration outlets during uncertain times.
• Seek and give social support to get through a crisis.

Part 2 ~ How Smart Leaders Prevent Burnout:

• Assess stressors from a new perspective.
• Uncover stressors that lead to employee burnout.
• Compare burnout and depression.
• Gain insights into why stressed employees become disengaged.
• Restore your culture by fostering a sense of belonging.
• Tackle the compensation challenge by offering more control.
• Explore proven ways to make employees feel safe.

Dr. Terry Wu’s stress-reducing talk is simply fascinating and empowering. When we understand that there are subtle and not so subtle things going on in our brains that trigger stress and anxiety, we can begin to control our response or at least be fascinated by the science behind the stress. I have used the examples Dr. Wu shares numerous times with my clients and from the front of the room, weaving in the Neuroscience behind our human responses in an effort to shine a light on how in control we can be of our lives if we simply implement strategies to train our brain. Dr. Wu insights go far beyond self care and resilience. His actionable ideas are extremely applicable to reducing high stress and burnout during the pandemic and its long recovery. I highly recommend this talk in these challenging times. ~ Amy Theisen, CEO, Infinity Life Design

The Science of Stress and Burnout Prevention

There are thousands of self-care and resilience workshops out there. But nearly all of them are based on personal experience, anecdotes or recycled content. Few address how to assess or handle stressors. Why are such workshops counterproductive or even harmful? When businesses and organizations require their employees to participate such mandatory workshops, the hidden message to those employees is, “Your stress or burnout is your problem. So fix it.” When none of those breathing exercises works, it is the employees who feel like they are failures.

Good leaders can shift from the “band-aid” approach to a new, science-based approach to reduce their followers’ stress and mitigate burnout. This workshop is taught by renowned Neuroscientist, Dr. Terry Wu. Dr. Wu turns complex science into actionable practices that will change how you manage stress. He gives you real tools that are supported by decades of scientific research.