Burnout: A Spark for Innovation was a keynote session held at the Maternal Health Innovation Symposium on August 3, 2022. This session was presented by Dr. Kim Hires, coach, author, speaker and expert on preventing burnout in leadership. This powerful presentation explored how leaders can take off the heavy armor of their professional roles to realign their passion, purpose, performance and create lives and careers that are joyful, productive and lead to impactful lives.
Dr. Kim Hires bravely shared her story, including the “Mommy, I love you!” that changed her trajectory. She then went on to share helpful data and nuggets of wisdom to inspire both hope and creativity to encourage participants to imagine what their life can be, and what being replenished can look like. These included…
- “Burnout is 50% the organizational culture and 50% the individual.”
- ”Unrelenting work stress is a fire that constantly burns. The health battle is incredibly harmful.”
- “…when your workload is too high, we begin to a shift in confidence…feel ineffective. Without relief, we become disengaged to survive. Disconnection can be dangerous. And if it isn’t addressed, we go into burnout, spawning exhaustion, cynicism, and lack of professional efficacy…”
- “How might you recapture ownership of your time, health, and career? If you are burnt out, it’s likely others on the team are too. It’s never just one person.”
- “Trauma makes you take a solid look at your life. Ask yourself the following…Am I prioritizing the way that I want? What if this is a signal that the way you were working is not sustainable?”
- “Put your oxygen mask on. Something has to give…you can’t out-work this.”
- “Look at your calendar. Consider your relationships. Use supports systems. Start small. Have goals. Be purposeful, actionable, continuous, trackable.”
- Treat yourself to an hour of inspiration by watching the full video, then reflect on how you can “…manage your energy, including with mindfulness.”
For additional resources, please visit maternalhealthlearning.org and search in our resource library.
Additional Resources: Visit maternalhealthlearning.org and search in our resource library.
Watch the Symposium video recordings here. Learn more about the #MaternalHealthMoves Symposium.
Symposium panel blog drafted by: Piia Hanson
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