This week we have not one, but two guest experts – Emily Leeb, CEO of Saroca and Claire Adamou, VP of Development at Saroca. They join Lee-Ann to talk about affiliate manager burnout, from the perspective of two experienced professionals in the industry. This is a big topic and it gives an eye-opening account, so we have split the episode into two parts. The conversation covers the signs of burnout, the importance of recognising and addressing it, and steps that leaders can take to support their teams….
Listen in here for all of the insights…
The Four Signs of Burnout
Lee-Ann begins by opening the discussion about what burnout is, since it can mean so many different things to different people. How do you know that burnout might be what’s happening to you?
Emily explains, “So, when we look at when we’re thriving in life or in the workplace, it’s usually that what’s present is a combination of both passion and motivation. When we’re enrolled and we’re empowered and we’re engaged, we can feel passionate about what we’re doing. We’re inspired to show up every day and we’re motivated to get the job done.
“What happens when one or both of those things become exhausted is typically when we will start to see some appreciable signs of burnout. Another framework that I want to suggest that people look through when assessing whether or not they are burning out or if someone on their team is burning out – there’s a gentleman by the name of Gay Hendricks and he wrote a book called ‘The Big Leap’ where he talks about four zones of flow.
“If you want to talk about just some appreciable signs of burnout, here are some of the four main thought patterns or processes that somebody might be having:
- “I can’t do this anymore, even though I want to” – Maybe they’re engaged, but they just simply do not have the energy.
- “I can’t do this anymore, and I don’t want to”.
- “Nothing that I do matters” – I don’t have skills or resources to support me. I don’t make a difference.
- “What am I even working for?” – This organisation or this team only exists for the benefit of its executives or the bottom line. I’m simply a cog in a wheel that doesn’t make a difference.
Asking for Help
Claire explains what can happen if you don’t address the signs of burnout. She says, “One of the things that I learned along my journey was the importance of asking for help and playing to your skills because I would never ask for help.
“I led a team, I ran an affiliate management agency for 10 years and I led a team of predominantly men. I remember the first time I heard a woman ask “are you OK?” I burst into tears because none of the men had ever asked me if I was OK before.
“I have two stories about how it’s negatively affected me – all the stress and the burnout. I had two very small children, I was hired to run that business when I was five months pregnant. I had maybe two weeks off on maternity leave. Then I went back to work with my child on the desk, bouncing them in a rocker. It was the pressure that I felt to continuously deliver.
“I got really bad arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease and it’s triggered by stress. So, it’s the lack of sleep. It’s this constant pressure and it’s the pressure at work and the mum guilt and not listening to my body when I’m tired and not listening when I need to take a rest – and it’s not asking for help.”
Make Your Health Your Priority
Lee-Ann says, “I have to be honest that I think you telling that story and being so openly vulnerable on this podcast is really eye-opening for me because I think a lot of people are going to be listening to this podcast at work in the affiliate marketing industry and they are 110 % going to be identifying with what you’ve just experienced. My call out to everybody listening to this podcast is please don’t let it affect your physical health.
“Mental health is something that you don’t see. It’s something that we don’t talk about openly in our industry, because we’re meant to be strong. We’re meant to be go-getters. We’re meant to be, you know, chasing the competition. It’s inherently part of the culture of being an affiliate program manager and actually doing the sales component of the job and the relationship management of the job. But it is not a requirement for you to lose your health and mental stability over it.”
Access Your Burnout Resource Guide Here
We continue this conversation next week, with Part Two of How To Avoid Burnout This Year in Affiliate Management…
Listen to find out more about:
- Recognising and Addressing Affiliate Manager Burnout
- Supporting Teams to Prevent Burnout in the iGaming Industry
- Recognising the Signs of Burnout
Key segments of this podcast and where you can tune in to go direct:
[05:44] The Four Zones of Flow
[24:00] Complete a Self-Assessment for Stress and Burnout
[29:00] Bringing humanity back to the workplace
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