Burnout - knowing the signs and how you can avoid it.

How do we know when we’ve hit burnout? And how can high performance coaching help to avoid burnout and reach optimum results – both personally and professionally? 

Daniel Ewers is a certified high-performance coach with a unique insight into burnout. The Nelson-based coach trained as a chartered accountant and worked in a large group of family businesses as CFO, before suffering burnout himself.  Burnout is more common in our workforce than you might think - a study from Massey University found one in two people reported burnout last year – a record high, surpassing levels measured in the pandemic.

In this Q and A, Daniel talks about high performance coaching, why it’s important when developing impactful leadership skills and the red flags to watch out for to avoid burnout. 

What exactly is high performance coaching in a business context? 

We’re aiming to create an environment for consistent success beyond the standard norms while maintaining well-being and positive relationships. I do this by coaching and teaching the habits of high performance, that anyone can adopt and practice. This is particularly important in developing leaders. Identifying and reinforcing a leader’s strengths achieves empowerment. When that empowerment is calibrated to vision, this is where there is a totally new dimension of service, value, and excellence. 

How does it differ from traditional leadership or executive coaching? 

Traditional leadership and executive coaching often focus on specific leadership skills, organisational dynamics, or solving immediate workplace challenges. It's about helping leaders navigate their roles, manage teams, and achieve business goals. 

High Performance coaching on the other hand, is rooted in the science of sustained high performance. It’s not just about solving problems and improving skills - it's about helping individuals consistently operate at their peak across all areas of life. The philosophy is that you can't truly excel in business if you're burned out, disconnected, or neglecting your personal growth. 

From energy to productivity mastery, to mindset and purpose mastery. This is what the top 3% are doing! 

What sectors are benefitting from high performance coaching with you? 

I often work in the primary sector, whether that’s forestry, fisheries, or manufacturing where effective leadership is vital, particularly in large or remote teams. I also love coaching in the professional services sectors. I see leaders getting promoted because they’re good at their job but suddenly they’re managing teams – that brings very different skills and when the stress comes on, leaders will default to what they’re good at and that’s doing the work, at the expense of leading the team.  

Learning how to lead, let go, and delegate instead of doing all the work yourself isn’t easy.  

Invest in your emerging leaders. Invest in yourself. This is key for unlocking sustainable results and resilience.

How does high performance coaching help address team misalignment? 

Primarily we are creating the necessary trust that a team requires to work successfully together. This often applies to family businesses where misalignment has been allowed to develop over the years or to those working on succession planning where team-first principles are vital. My background is in a large family forestry and manufacturing business, so I enjoy working with family businesses to help them achieve their goals. 

The influence sessions I teach are all about building trust, and inspiring others to take action.  

What’s the ideal team size or business stage for high performance coaching? 

Any size, any stage. I often work with a CEO/managing director first and then work with individuals (leaders) before bringing them back as a team. It’s the classic saying “leadership starts at the top” meaning that the behaviours, and actions of people in leadership positions significantly impact the overall culture and performance of the organisation. 

Value – what does it look like for a business investing in high performance coaching?  

1. Sustained high performance - not burnout 
2. Cultural transformation  
3. Alignment to purpose 
4. Competitive advantage 
   
   

A mentor once told me that business is 20% strategy and 80% psychology.

A shift in energy, a change in mindset, a discovery, a new angle, a fresh perspective - imagine looking at each of your problems from this lens. This becomes a positive and invigorating vantage point to lead your business. This is what high performance is all about. 

High performance coaching isn't just an investment in people, it's an investment in the future of the business. When you help individuals operate at their best, you create a ripple effect that impacts the entire organisation. That's the kind of value that lasts. 

How do we identify burnout? What’s the best way to manage it? 

Some of us are high-achievers - we go for gold on our goals and we will chase them with all the ferocity that we can muster. But then we forget about our health and wellbeing, our relationships may suffer (even with yourself) and next thing, you reach burnout.  

Awareness of the 6 drivers of burnout are key. Asking for help and vulnerability to put your hand up protects us against feeling isolated or alone. 

The definition of high performance is sustainable energy and if you are practising high performance habits you won’t get to that burnout stage.  

The 6 drivers of burnout are: 

1. Work overload 
2. Lack of control (agency, autonomy, decision making) 
3. Lack of fairness 
4. Lack of reward (recognition, appreciation, compensation or opportunities of growth) 
5. Isolation 
6. Mismatch of values 

These 6 drivers develop into three dimensions of burnout. 

1. Emotional exhaustion 
2. Depersonalisation (or cynicism) 
3. Reduced personal accomplishment (efficacy) 

What does burnout feel like? Can you describe it? 

There are so many definitions which will be different from person to person, but for me it felt like you’ve got one foot on the brake and the other foot on the accelerator. The car’s revving but there’s no movement - the brakes are locked on! Exhaustion sets in. So does disengagement and especially questioning yourself and your capabilities - This starts to erode the soul. 

I call it a spiritual dislocation. It’s some heavy Sh*t. 

In my experience, I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn't work for two months. The only thing I could do was watch short clips on personal development and go for walks in nature. It was the energy of certain leaders that resonated in a form of hope for me. The personal development floodgates opened from here. Several years later I found myself speaking to one of these leaders, and he coached me. My first ever experience with coaching was by the #1 high performance coach in the world! (Brendon Burchard). Crazy! 

I became a Certified High-Performance Coach, and I have never looked back! 

I believe personal development is the ticket out of here - deep exhaustion to aliveness and fulfilment. My life's work sits between moving the dial away from burnout and to driving forward with high performance.  I call this an adventure to excellence.