The Hidden Costs of Burnout in Female Leaders
I hope some of the International Women's Day messages sparked your interest and imagination around embracing equity. I believe we'd be living a very different experience if we had more healthy female leaders in high leadership positions, don't you?
Did you know:
Women are experiencing burnout at higher rates than men (Unicef)
Women work more overall hours than men when unpaid work is taken into consideration (World Economic Forum)
By age 17 to 18, just 3 in 10 girls describe themselves as sporty, compared with 6 in 10 boys (Women in Sport)
Moreover, our healthcare systems and medical schools were set up in a patriarchal led era. Most medical school's syllabus were designed by men. The textbooks feature primarily male subjects. The medical research was mostly done on male students. But women are NOT small men.
Is it any wonder that girls and women often find themselves misunderstood when they ask their healthcare professionals for guidance? Despite popular belief, female hormone medications (from contraceptives to HRT) are not the whole or best solution for many women to feel their best.
Many women find themselves struggling with career limiting symptoms ranging from anxiety, exhaustion and menstrual issues to complete burnout. What many women and employers don’t realise, is that these symptoms are often avoidable with the right support and education. Both physical and mental symptoms are very often due to hormonal fluctuations which are exacerbated by stress. Hence therapy alone won’t always solve the problem. Nor will HRT if the root of the problem isn’t addressed. The solution is an holistic approach where both body and mind are considered.
A resource:
To mark this year's International Women's Day, I thought it timely to re-share one of our most listened-to podcasts: Navigating Perimenopause, Menopause and Beyond. You can listen in most places you listen to podcasts.
Another startling and sad statistic, one of the most common decades for female suicide in the US is 45 - 55, interestingly just as a woman goes through perimenopause into menopause (Statista).
Having spoken to hundreds of women over the last few years, I hear how utterly exhausting it is to show up and do all the things and be all the things for others.
I passionately believe that all girls and women need to understand enough about how their body, mind and hormones work so they can feel their best as often as possible, for as long as possible.
Yet sadly, they aren’t. Hence just at the age when women are experienced enough to take on prime leadership roles, so many step away from them. Either because their work places don't accommodate their needs, or because there's nothing left in their physical, mental or emotional tank.
Under investment in female health, wellbeing and performance is very costly, to the women involved, the organisations and businesses that employ them, and our societies.
So here are a couple of questions to ponder on:
How many people are directly affected by YOUR energy and health?
Do you have the energy, health and vision to show up for and influence those around you in the way you'd like?
My mission is to help women heal, grow and thrive, so they can show up in the world for what they're here to do, without burning out along the way.
The ripple effect from every single woman is HUGE. So many people, organisations and no doubt you are doing your bit to change the equity situation, whether that's through your parenting, your work or your community. Always remember that you and your special unique energy and voice in the world really do matter, so keep shining bright 🌟
I do hope you find the podcast episode useful. Do feel free to share it with the women in your life who might be interested or love a little support right now.
Diving deeper:
Watch my FREE Hormone & Energy Masterclass where you can start your journey to enjoying the vibrant health and energy you need to accomplish your goals, WITHOUT burning out or messing up your metabolism along the way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sally Dibden is a Health, Life and Performance Coach to driven achievers around the globe. She is the founder of The Wellbeing Consultants™ and HER Space™, a community dedicated to women’s health and performance. She also runs her Physiotherapy and Yogalates Clinic in France where she lives with her family. Sally specialises in supporting and empowering dynamic leaders to optimise their energy, health, hormones and performance. Her ethos being that optimal success and happiness in whatever leadership role - whether that be as an entrepreneur, busy professional or executive, teacher or parent, comes from optimal holistic health. Sally has worked with thousands of patients and clients over her 25 year career and understands the tendency of high achievers to stretch themselves. She helps her clients reach their potential with mind body balance not burnout, enabling them to enjoy and sustain their energy for all their ambitious goals.