A friend of mine worked in the home repair industry. He would get the oddest looks from people, when after an inspection, he would tell them that they had street creep.

Street creep occurs when gravity and changes in temperature cause streets to move and slide toward homes because of expansion and contraction. This movement causes pressure and cracking to the foundation of houses.

Expansion joints in concrete slabs eventually fill with debris and pressure is displaced from the street to the garage floor and to the house.

Street creep is unpredictable. Signs may include compressed expansion joints, cracks in garage walls and floors, gaps around the garage door or foundation, and cracking or movement of foundation walls.

Street creep sounds a lot like burnout.

Burnout is misunderstood. I recently read an article where an executive said he has dealt with burnout on several occasions. No, he hasn’t. Once you burnout, you are out. You cannot do the same work again in the same environment. The field is burned.

There are stages working toward burnout, however. Unless we understand the stages, we misunderstand the solutions.

You can read a lot of articles on burnout. I’m not sure they look at it the way I have learned it through experience. The path looks like this:

You measure yourself by how others evaluate you. Therefore, you seek to prove something. Whatever that elusive proof is, you work harder until you can’t switch off.

Because you place value from others as greater than your own self-established value, you neglect your needs and those who are an extension of you, such as family and friends.

You change. Your values shift, you deny you have problems, you develop untypical behavior and you withdraw.

You can’t keep up. You feel empty, depressed and done.

You burnout.

I pray that you never experience this. But you likely have, and you are surrounded by people who are somewhere along the path.

I once had a mentor who would say, “I would rather burn out than rust out.” Well, his inner world collapsed and he flamed out. Any way you cut it, he was out.

So What Do We Do?

First, stop using the word burnout as a substitute for other conditions: tired, weary, unfocused. The more specific we are with what we experience, the more accurate we can be in the prescription.

A recent article cited the rise of burnout because of the pandemic, but their statistics had nothing to do with burnout. People said they were less connected and feeling isolated. That’s not burnout. That’s loneliness.

Second, start with the root cause. You don’t have anything to prove. Period. You are enough. So what is it that you are trying to prove? There is a better way to resolve insecurity than with performance.

Hear this loud and clear: Performance can never alleviate insecurity. It only bolsters it. So what is going on with you? Let’s dig.

Third, don’t employ practices that address the symptoms. Fix on practices that build the self.

For instance, people don’t need time off. They need time for re-creation. There is a difference. Give me time off, and I or someone else will fill the time. Have you ever needed a vacation from your vacation?

Make me commit to things which enable me to re-create, and I will come back filled up.

Sometimes people don’t need to get away from problems. They need a different problem that they can solve. There is something rejuvenating about conquering or creating.

I have read a lot of articles about recovery from the pandemic. I implore you to focus on the right issue. It’s the only way to resolve the real problem.

My CIO friend. You have nothing to prove. You have everything to express. Take care of the golden goose and the eggs will follow.

Ensure that your team is honest about their problems and are naming them correctly. Often, a great coach is all it takes to reverse course on the path to burnout. I happen to know a few!

Street creep is eventual because the pressure is under the surface and the debris is slowly accumulated. It’s the same with burnout. Not many of you or your team are there, but the beginnings are. Let’s arrest it.

(By the way, CIO Mastermind not only offers peer advisory groups, but we also offer executive coaching. Mine has been gold to me).