What Jacinda Ardern’s resignation teaches us about burnout
Exhausted. Overworked. Done. Many people feel these emotions on a daily basis, and often specifically about their jobs. But that doesn’t mean everyone is able to truly be “done” at the end of the day.
That’s part of why New Zealand Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern’s decision to resign after taking the post in 2017 flabbergasted the world.
“Prime Minister Jacinda Arden stepping down is another example of the state of burnout people feel across the globe,” says Shavonne Moore-Lobban, a licensed psychologist. “The last few years have been extremely challenging, and there are few people who are exempt from that. People are tired from the fights they have come out of and the ones they may still (have) ahead.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern resigns: What happened?
⬤ Fighting back tears, Ardern, 42, told reporters that Feb. 7 will be her last day in office.
⬤ “I am not leaving because it was hard,” she said. “Had that been the case I probably would have departed two months into the job. I am leaving because with such a privileged role comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead, and also when you are not. I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple.”
⬤ Though she didn’t use the word “burnout,” her resignation has sparked a larger conversation about what burnout feels like, the privilege of departing a job, and mental health.
Some pointed out to other possible motives for her resignation – was this merely a politically advantageous choice? – but others praised her.
“Jacinda Ardern, an accomplished female leader, a progressive voice against bigotry and hate, a young woman in the highest office who normalised kindness and empathy,” one Twitter user
wrote. “I hope history will be kind to her – to resign at a time when leaders will go to any extent to stay in power.”
Another user said: “It takes immense courage to be empathetic and honest and acknowledge that you are no longer in a place to do the work that took so much from you and those around you. There are many ways to lead. One that we never see is the capacity to be vulnerable.”
What is burnout?
The World Health Organization added burnout to the International Classification of Diseases Index in 2019. It defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
Burnout can be characterized by three dimensions, according to T.M. Robinson-Mosley, a counseling psychologist:
⬤ Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion.
⬤ Increased mental distance from a job, including negativity or cynicism.
⬤ Reduced sense of professional competence.
“Many people can connect to the feeling of burnout,” Moore-Lobban adds. “The prime minister’s desire to spend more time with her family, and take a step back from her role, is aligned with the desires of many.”
The bigger conversation about privilege
Of course, not everyone can up and quit when they feel like it. They have bills to pay, mouths to feed, lives to live. And that may require them to work in spite of stress.
“For women of different levels of power, social privilege, and class privilege, leaning back could mean a loss of livelihood, hunger, or eviction,” says licensed psychologist Miranda Nadeau. “Stepping down from our responsibilities comes with tangible, existential risk along with the lure of psychological recovery.”
Perhaps Ardern’s move can inspire a future when quitting can be more financially feasible.
“Everyone doesn’t have the ability to step down from their work when they are burned out or to prioritize themselves and their family over their work. However, we should have that ability,” Moore-Lobban says. “It’s important to one’s mental health and well-being.”
Nadeau agrees: “Even those who are dependent upon ceaseless work will be better able to access rest when more leaders like Ardern both take action to improve equity and also model this necessary decision. It’s improving the ability for the least powerful amongst us to rest that will create necessary change – but you can’t be burned out to do that.”
Are you experiencing burnout?
You may be experiencing burnout if you:
⬤ Have difficulty concentrating.
⬤ Feel as if work has unrealistic expectations of you.
⬤ Dread the thought of work at the beginning or end of the day.
⬤ Experience excessive fatigue.
⬤ Feel irritability.
⬤ Show disinterest in social activities.
⬤ Experience lower sex drive.
⬤ Suffer headaches and tightness in the neck, shoulders and back.
⬤ Have gastrointestinal problems. And it’s not something easily fixable. “When it comes to burnout, leadership and work environment are the cause and the cure,” Robinson-Mosley says. “Which means it’s really tempting to try to think about fixing burnout by looking at the person who’s burned out and trying to advise self-care strategies and tips that they can do in order to curtail burnout or to be able to address it in a positive or significant way. The challenge is that burnout is a pervasive issue in organizational structure and context.”