How becoming a palm tree leads to sustained success?
In my two previous blogs, “What does it really mean to be driven?” and “The manifestations of drive”, I have looked at the definition of drive and some of the manifestations, positive and negative. It is clear that drive is one of the most significant factors enabling high performance. The extra energy to work hard, try again or try another approach is key to success.
However, when drive becomes the dominant trait in an individual’s personality, what started as a strength can become a source of stress, and potentially lead to burnout.
I have talked about the experiences of high profile people from the worlds of sport, entertainment and business. In this third blog in the series about drive, I am going to focus on the world of business. I am going to consider the role of key business leaders – Board members, CEOs and HR Directors, and professional coaches and psychotherapists. How can they support individuals to understand what drives them, and achieve sustained success, whilst minimising the potential risks?
An organisation’s culture is frequently referenced when performance, drive and stress are discussed. In the past, organisational culture has often been an add-on to the business strategy. Rarely a core element of the organisation’s purpose, and a critical factor to achieving sustained organisational success. If we overlay the concept of the multi-staged life, and organisations becoming ever more complex ecosystems – with newly defined relationships with suppliers, customers and employees – culture needs to be defined with clear intent.
One of the key factors providing a counterbalance to the risks of very high drive, is a focus on wellbeing. When wellbeing is an integral part of an organisation’s culture, whatever the field or sector, an individual’s commitment and motivation are higher, and productivity rises. Many leaders fear that a lack of pure focus on the end goal will result in a failure to achieve that goal. However, in an increasingly complex and fast-paced world, sustained performance and agility will be key to survival.
CEOs, senior leaders and HR Directors have an increasingly important part to play in creating the environment for sustained success. Key aspects of this environment include:
- People are encouraged to show up in their entirety, not in a professional mask
Authenticity is at the core of leadership
Acceptance of intuition and emotion, as well as rationality
I have talked about the experiences of Lloyds Bank CEO, Antonio Horta-Osorio, in previous blogs. His story is a great example of the risks of extremely high levels of drive, without any counterbalance. Whilst his experiences are certainly not unique, he is rare in his openness about those experiences. When considering the roles of key professionals when drive becomes too high, two aspects of his story stand out:
- The introduction of the “Optimal Leadership Resilience Programme” for the senior leadership team. This was designed and implemented to prevent the burnout that happened to him, happening to his team.
- The psychological support he received. When he returned to work, 70% recovered by his own analysis, it was the Board who insisted he see a psychiatrist. For others this could have been a psychotherapist or a coach. Their input, in conjunction with the lifestyle changes he made, reprogrammed his neural patterns over time and made him understand that “he had to be more like a a palm tree, so when the storm comes the palm tree bends but then comes back up, instead of like an oak, trying to resist the storm, in which case it can break”
The most important aspect of this story for me is that his journey to recovery was an emotional, and not just a practical one. The journey from oak tree to palm, from proud obsessive workaholic to compassionate boss is moving, as is his openness to discussing his weaknesses. A critical factor on the road to avoiding burnout, or recovering from it, is about increased self-awareness. It isn’t just about how to sleep again and manage stress practically. It is also about having somebody to reach out to when feelings of derailment, and being overwhelmed start to increase – to address concerns on an emotional, as well as practical level.
Coaches can play a critical role working with high performers, enabling them to consider the origins of their drive. Are they internal or external? Founded from a passion to create or achieve something, or a fear of failure? Theses questions are critical to enable an individual to understand the key triggers that could move them from a path to sustained success, to a path to burnout.