There has been some recent interest in burnout after it became an "occupational phenomenon" according to the World Health Organisation and was included in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). What the heck does that mean? Burnout is finally a 'thing'. We're treating this new development with cautious optimism though.

It's inevitable that light bulb moments around career and personal life will occur after someone gets to understand their derailers in more detail.

How so?

Derailers are behaviours that we exhibit when we’re under stress and pressure that decrease our leadership and professional effectiveness. This is because we only have a finite amount of energy and when we’re under pressure, we tend to revert back to what comes naturally and normally for us. We do what comes easiest because it requires less energy and we can then use that excess energy to focus on other important tasks.

Problem is, we tend to rely on these strengths too heavily when we're stressed and we take them to the extreme. Research tells us that most leaders have one or two derailers, so it’s actually quite common.