Banishing Burnout:Six Strategies for Improving Your Relationship with Work

Today’s workplace is overflowing with stress. Employers demand ever-greater productivity, with ever-fewer resources. Competition for promotions is constantly escalating, while job security is constantly shrinking.

The result: Many people -- CEOs, managers, and employees -- feel burned out. They feel powerless, under-appreciated, and underpaid. To them, work truly has become a four-letter word, where the pain far outweighs the gain, and the future looks grimmer than the present.

Burnout is a job-related condition characterized by stress, depression, cynicism, and hopelessness. It robs people of their energy, enthusiasm, and confidence, and prevents them from doing their best work.

Fortunately, you can take control of the problem. In our summary of Banishing Burnout, by Michael P. Leiter and Christina Maslach, you’ll learn a proven action plan that will help you, and everyone who works for you, overcome the stress and pressures of the workplace. This will allow you to protect your health, increase your happiness, improve your performance, and achieve your career goals.

Leiter is a professor of psychology at Acadia University in Canada and director of the Center for Organizational Research and Development. Maslach is a professor of psychology and the vice provost for undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley.