Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2022 - 22

FEATURE / RESILIENCE
A CLOSER LOOK
Harmful mindsets
WHEN TEAM MEMBERS function with these
mindsets, it promotes a culture of burnout.
When the team rewards or reinforces them,
it normalizes the burnout culture.
BUSYNESS BADGE
OF HONOR
" I am SOOOO busy! "
NORMALIZING BURNOUT
HERO COMPLEX
" Burnout is like
catching the flu ...
it'll pass! "
BURNOUT AS WEAKNESS
" Those who can't take
the pain or stress
don't belong here! "
" This happens
to others but
not to me. "
And then the question is, what are
they doing after that period to ensure
rest for the team rather than moving
immediately to the next deadline?
»TAKE ACTION: Rejuvenation is also
about understanding what energizes
each person at work, which varies.
Leaders should consider what changes
can be made at a team level to ensure
members are doing what energizes
them, such as swapping duties that
may be outside typical roles. For example,
a nurse who prefers administrative
tasks can swap some tasks with
a nurse who prefers physicals tasks.
4 | Community
Resilient teams foster open collaboration
and communication.
Teammates do better when they understand
how each person's work fits
in with the rest of the team's, leading
to a clear sense of contribution to a
larger mission or goal.
It is essential for people to have
at least one confidant on the job;
someone they can be unfiltered with
and get support from. Research overwhelmingly
shows that if a person has
just one workplace friend, retention
and engagement
»TAKE ACTION: As a leader, make
skyrocket. Teams
should facilitate opportunities for relationships,
especially for new hires.
In addition to relationships, resilient
teams have spaces for robust
psychological safety and belonging.
This means people can share their
experience and observations about
their environment without undermining
themselves or adding additional
friction. An essential part of
achieving that is through model leadership.
Leaders can start the dialogue
and build trust. Meaningful conversations
or input from people across a
team won't happen if they don't view
their leaders as allies. When leaders
share their own struggles, it signals
to the team that it is safe.
Finally, resilient communities are
bolstered by compassion. In compassionate
teams, people hear and
trust one another, which results in
greater well-being and satisfaction.
It even affects the most practical
areas of work, such as workload
management, because the team
members support each other.
intentional time to express doubts,
struggles, and mistakes to teammates.
Maybe this looks like a weekly
meeting of sharing, or maybe it
occurs informally. Frame it as a personal
struggle, not as complaining
or blaming.
Commit where it counts
The challenge of hospitals is to move
beyond burnout initiatives aimed
at individuals and focus on cultivating
resilience through teams.
This requires commitment to real
initiatives driven by real data and
designed around the four pillars of
resilient teams.
Leah Weiss is a speaker, writer and
lecturer at Stanford, co-founder
of Skylyte, a company focused on
mitigating burnout and building
resilient teams, and author of How We
Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your
Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind.
Send questions or comments to
magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
22
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2022
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2022

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