HEALTH BEAT 12-1-2002

Meetings & Conventions: Short Cuts December 2002 Current Issue
December 2002
Short Cuts:
HEALTH BEAT

Stressed for Success

Corporate ladder climbing can be a health hazard. Middle-age, midcareer professionals are experiencing executive burnout in epidemic proportions, according to consulting firm Leadership Advantage (www.leadershipadvantage.com), based in Olney, Md. The syndrome, also known as job burnout, is marked by workplace hostility, fatigue, illnesses and an obsession with work-related problems at home or elsewhere.

Ironically, perfectionists and idealists, individuals who tend to rise in the ranks early in their careers, often burn out first. For them, juggling the competing demands of work, family and friends proves discouraging over time despite their efforts to work harder at coping.

Awareness of the problem is the first defense, say experts. Other solutions include finding peer support and taking recreational breaks with co-workers, friends and family. Finally, the consultants at Leadership Advantage say, burnout can be seen as a gift a signal to reassess one’s life and determine what is truly most important.

• BRUCE MYINT