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Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience
A first-of-its-kind, science-backed toolkit takes a holistic approach to burnout prevention by helping individuals, teams, and leaders build resilience and thrive at work.
Burnout has become one of the most talked about workplace topics, and its impact is far-reaching. The 24/7 pace of work, constant demands, and scant resources can easily put busy professionals on a path to burnout, a cycle that has only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Burnout affects the health and well-being of the entire organization, yet most attempts to help focus on quick-fix strategies aimed at individuals. Something is missing.
In Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience , Paula Davis, founder of the Stress and Resilience Institute, provides a new framework to help organizations prevent employee burnout.
Davis's research-driven, fast-reading, and actionable book is the first of its kind to explore a new solution to the burnout problem at work: a comprehensive approach focused on building the resilience of teams of all sizes. Davis argues that teams, and their leaders, are uniquely positioned to create the type of cultures that are needed to prevent burnout.
In Beating Burnout at Work , Davis shares stories from her work coaching, teaching, and training leaders and teams of all sizes, and she explores: How she navigated her own burnout as a lawyer, and how that led her to study burnout and launch a business with the aim of helping organizations and their employees become more resilient; How teams and leaders can utilize simple, science-backed strategies to create cultures that promote resilience and well-being and reduce burnout; How the Mayo Clinic, one of the most renowned medical centers in the world, has developed a powerful model to reduce burnout in its organization; How organizations dealing with high-stress challenges, including the US Army, work to increase resilience in a systemic way; andHow the German company trivago is piloting a new approach to work amid COVID-19 in order to increase team connection and resilience.Solving the burnout puzzle requires a systemic approach. In Beating Burnout at Work , Davis offers an actionable method to help leaders create cultures of well-being and resilience in their organizations.
Burnout has become one of the most talked about workplace topics, and its impact is far-reaching. The 24/7 pace of work, constant demands, and scant resources can easily put busy professionals on a path to burnout, a cycle that has only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Burnout affects the health and well-being of the entire organization, yet most attempts to help focus on quick-fix strategies aimed at individuals. Something is missing.
In Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being and Resilience , Paula Davis, founder of the Stress and Resilience Institute, provides a new framework to help organizations prevent employee burnout.
Davis's research-driven, fast-reading, and actionable book is the first of its kind to explore a new solution to the burnout problem at work: a comprehensive approach focused on building the resilience of teams of all sizes. Davis argues that teams, and their leaders, are uniquely positioned to create the type of cultures that are needed to prevent burnout.
In Beating Burnout at Work , Davis shares stories from her work coaching, teaching, and training leaders and teams of all sizes, and she explores: How she navigated her own burnout as a lawyer, and how that led her to study burnout and launch a business with the aim of helping organizations and their employees become more resilient; How teams and leaders can utilize simple, science-backed strategies to create cultures that promote resilience and well-being and reduce burnout; How the Mayo Clinic, one of the most renowned medical centers in the world, has developed a powerful model to reduce burnout in its organization; How organizations dealing with high-stress challenges, including the US Army, work to increase resilience in a systemic way; andHow the German company trivago is piloting a new approach to work amid COVID-19 in order to increase team connection and resilience.Solving the burnout puzzle requires a systemic approach. In Beating Burnout at Work , Davis offers an actionable method to help leaders create cultures of well-being and resilience in their organizations.
140 pages, Paperback
Published March 16, 2021
55 people are currently reading
2689 people want to read
About the author
Paula Davis
1 book18 followersPaula Davis JD, MAPP, is the Founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute, a training and consulting firm that partners with organizations to help them reduce burnout and build resilience at the team, leader, and organizational level.
Paula left her law practice after seven years and earned a master’s degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her post-graduate training, Paula was selected to be part of the University of Pennsylvania faculty teaching and training resilience skills to soldiers as part of the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. The Penn team trained resilience skills to more than 40,000 soldiers and their family members.
Paula is the author of Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience, which is about burnout prevention using a teams-based approach. It is published by the Wharton School Press at the University of Pennsylvania.
Her expertise has been featured in and on The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post and in many other publications. Paula is also a contributor to Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today.
Paula is a two-time recipient of the distinguished teaching award from the Medical College of Wisconsin. In addition, she will be co-teaching a new reading seminar about resilience and leadership at Harvard Law School starting in February 2021.
Paula’s website is www.stressandresilience.com, and you can reach her directly at paula@stressandresilience.com.
Paula left her law practice after seven years and earned a master’s degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. As part of her post-graduate training, Paula was selected to be part of the University of Pennsylvania faculty teaching and training resilience skills to soldiers as part of the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness program. The Penn team trained resilience skills to more than 40,000 soldiers and their family members.
Paula is the author of Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience, which is about burnout prevention using a teams-based approach. It is published by the Wharton School Press at the University of Pennsylvania.
Her expertise has been featured in and on The New York Times, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post and in many other publications. Paula is also a contributor to Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today.
Paula is a two-time recipient of the distinguished teaching award from the Medical College of Wisconsin. In addition, she will be co-teaching a new reading seminar about resilience and leadership at Harvard Law School starting in February 2021.
Paula’s website is www.stressandresilience.com, and you can reach her directly at paula@stressandresilience.com.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 1, 2021
1. Paula
Was working hard at a New York job, making dough, but it made her blue. One day, she was crying a lot and so she decided to move to West Covina, California...
Ok. That's not true. Thats the opening theme to Season 1 of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzY3E...
But just like Rebecca Bunch, Paula was a burnt out real estate lawyer. In the introduction to this book, Paula informs the reader that serving strip mall developers' legal needs may not be as fun of a job as you'd think. And sticking to the plot of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, one day on an impulse, she decided to quit lawyering to bake. Here's how she describes the experience:
“I knew within hours of starting the internship that I had made a mistake. Working in a restaurant is grueling work. The long hours, standing on your feet all day, producing the same desserts somebody else invented was not for me.” (She then calls her boss on day 1 and gets her lawyering job back, same day.)
I think what I'm getting at is optionality. That is Paula had the ability of quitting on a dime to try out baking school. But if it didn't work out, no big deal.
I don't deny that Paula was, indeed, burnt out. I wouldn't want that job. But, what I expected from a self-help book on burnout (especially one where every example and anecdote is either from her own personal life or one of her client's) would be someone being burnt out in x job. Reaching enlightenment. And then continuing to work in x job, but without burnout. But thats not what she did; she switched careers to being a burnout coach (I'm sure there is a much better honorific). Which makes you wonder...
2. Who is this book for?
(Okay. So, I know this book isn't for me, and I wouldn't purposefully read a 1-star self-help book just for fun. I'm taking a law school class on "Competency/ Wellbeing" and this was required reading.)
Sure, I've been burnt out before. And just like Paula, I've had more than an average amount of optionality in my life. When I think of someone who needs help with burnout, I think of people without options. I especially think of working class people working an inordinate number of hours, in awful conditions, dealing with predatory employers.
But in Chapter 1, here are the type of people she mentions in her burnout statistics: 96% of senior leaders, 65% of bankers, 1/3rd of lawyers are in the 75th percentile. Better yet, Paula talks about her clients frequently. They all have "senior" in their title. Every client but one, the one she mentions in every chapter as her biggest success...
3. The Army
I think Paula says that the Army implemented her team's resiliency program in 2011. I joined the Army in 2012; and all 5 years this training was a yearly requirement. But there are a lot of yearly requirements in the army. In fact, I remember my company commander telling me that our unit had significantly more required "training days" than (however many days 52x5 is).
So, how does the Army treat things like its yearly training requirement on Sexual Harassment, Suicide, Motor Vehicle Safety, How to act if you are a POW, and how to not click on phishing emails? They either shove it all in one day or its computer based. Either way, its not an effective method of teaching.
So, as I was reading this book I asked a few people I still knew in the Army if they still did resiliency training. The responses ranged from "lol" to "yeah, they still tell us not to be sad."
My purpose here is not to make fun of her efforts. Nor am I saying that resiliency is bad. What I'm saying is that Paula touts this success in every single chapter. But she doesn't ever tell us that the Army had x-metric of resiliency before Paula's team did their thing, and now the Army has x-level of resiliency. She doesn't do that; no metrics are given. We are just told the conclusion that the Army adopted her training and now its the role model to emulate.
But don't take my word for how the Army treats resiliency training, if you know anyone who was in the Army after 2011... ask them.
4. So, I'm burnt out at work. I read this book. And now I'm going to...
Paula defines the cause of burnout when "Job Demands" exceed "Job Resources." The nexus is energy. One gives, the other takes away.
Better yet she believes that previous self-help books on this topic fail because they treat symptoms but not the cause; And that they focus on individuals instead of the systems at fault.
But in a tragic irony, I couldn't tell you how this book is going to treat the cause, because she goes no further than "job demands" as the cause of burn out.
I feel very bad for any burnt out employee who reads this book and asks themselves "now what?"
Was working hard at a New York job, making dough, but it made her blue. One day, she was crying a lot and so she decided to move to West Covina, California...
Ok. That's not true. Thats the opening theme to Season 1 of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzY3E...
But just like Rebecca Bunch, Paula was a burnt out real estate lawyer. In the introduction to this book, Paula informs the reader that serving strip mall developers' legal needs may not be as fun of a job as you'd think. And sticking to the plot of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, one day on an impulse, she decided to quit lawyering to bake. Here's how she describes the experience:
“I knew within hours of starting the internship that I had made a mistake. Working in a restaurant is grueling work. The long hours, standing on your feet all day, producing the same desserts somebody else invented was not for me.” (She then calls her boss on day 1 and gets her lawyering job back, same day.)
I think what I'm getting at is optionality. That is Paula had the ability of quitting on a dime to try out baking school. But if it didn't work out, no big deal.
I don't deny that Paula was, indeed, burnt out. I wouldn't want that job. But, what I expected from a self-help book on burnout (especially one where every example and anecdote is either from her own personal life or one of her client's) would be someone being burnt out in x job. Reaching enlightenment. And then continuing to work in x job, but without burnout. But thats not what she did; she switched careers to being a burnout coach (I'm sure there is a much better honorific). Which makes you wonder...
2. Who is this book for?
(Okay. So, I know this book isn't for me, and I wouldn't purposefully read a 1-star self-help book just for fun. I'm taking a law school class on "Competency/ Wellbeing" and this was required reading.)
Sure, I've been burnt out before. And just like Paula, I've had more than an average amount of optionality in my life. When I think of someone who needs help with burnout, I think of people without options. I especially think of working class people working an inordinate number of hours, in awful conditions, dealing with predatory employers.
But in Chapter 1, here are the type of people she mentions in her burnout statistics: 96% of senior leaders, 65% of bankers, 1/3rd of lawyers are in the 75th percentile. Better yet, Paula talks about her clients frequently. They all have "senior" in their title. Every client but one, the one she mentions in every chapter as her biggest success...
3. The Army
I think Paula says that the Army implemented her team's resiliency program in 2011. I joined the Army in 2012; and all 5 years this training was a yearly requirement. But there are a lot of yearly requirements in the army. In fact, I remember my company commander telling me that our unit had significantly more required "training days" than (however many days 52x5 is).
So, how does the Army treat things like its yearly training requirement on Sexual Harassment, Suicide, Motor Vehicle Safety, How to act if you are a POW, and how to not click on phishing emails? They either shove it all in one day or its computer based. Either way, its not an effective method of teaching.
So, as I was reading this book I asked a few people I still knew in the Army if they still did resiliency training. The responses ranged from "lol" to "yeah, they still tell us not to be sad."
My purpose here is not to make fun of her efforts. Nor am I saying that resiliency is bad. What I'm saying is that Paula touts this success in every single chapter. But she doesn't ever tell us that the Army had x-metric of resiliency before Paula's team did their thing, and now the Army has x-level of resiliency. She doesn't do that; no metrics are given. We are just told the conclusion that the Army adopted her training and now its the role model to emulate.
But don't take my word for how the Army treats resiliency training, if you know anyone who was in the Army after 2011... ask them.
4. So, I'm burnt out at work. I read this book. And now I'm going to...
Paula defines the cause of burnout when "Job Demands" exceed "Job Resources." The nexus is energy. One gives, the other takes away.
Better yet she believes that previous self-help books on this topic fail because they treat symptoms but not the cause; And that they focus on individuals instead of the systems at fault.
But in a tragic irony, I couldn't tell you how this book is going to treat the cause, because she goes no further than "job demands" as the cause of burn out.
I feel very bad for any burnt out employee who reads this book and asks themselves "now what?"
April 3, 2022
Beating Burnout at Work provided many tips as to building resilience to both avoid and fight burnout but there was something about this book that did not quite connect for me.
I will take away TNTs (tiny noticeable things), being curious, asking more questions, collaboration and personal development as ways to avoid or counter burnout and like that it had a small section detailing the importance of appreciative inquiry.
I will take away TNTs (tiny noticeable things), being curious, asking more questions, collaboration and personal development as ways to avoid or counter burnout and like that it had a small section detailing the importance of appreciative inquiry.
February 28, 2021
A timely update to the literature on workforce resilience, including notes on the COVID pandemic experience, both from its heightened pressures that increased burnout risk and from the forced transition to remote and flexible work. This is a slim volume that doesn't build a toolkit to prevent and address burnout so much as it gives a number of ways to approach the threat, from individual and leadership perspectives.
Given the burnout epidemic described in the first chapter, I wish more content had been included about addressing burnout that has already happened. Of course an ounce of prevention is better, but many who are moved to pick up this title might be past that. The author's own story makes a great introduction that resonates, but changing fields isn't a viable option for everyone.
So this is good, and I'd like more.
I'm grateful to have received a Kindle copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
Given the burnout epidemic described in the first chapter, I wish more content had been included about addressing burnout that has already happened. Of course an ounce of prevention is better, but many who are moved to pick up this title might be past that. The author's own story makes a great introduction that resonates, but changing fields isn't a viable option for everyone.
So this is good, and I'd like more.
I'm grateful to have received a Kindle copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
April 21, 2022
Some good insights from Paula Davis on what causes burnout and how we can combat it. Though I felt that the book was constructed in a haphazard way. The segments aren't the most logical to follow, and I was hoping for something very structured with action items that were easy to follow. Though that is probably my fault for expecting more of a silver bullet, when perhaps there is no silver bullet. Either way some good ideas are sprinkled throughout the book that I will be incorporating in my teams, though I have reservations that these will be enough to combat burnout.
July 21, 2024
📕 Why (Not) to read this book (Target Audience)
Good book wit some nice insights in a system based approach.
👀 How this book changed my daily live (Takeaways)
Burnout (chronic workplace stress) is complex: address the cause not symptoms. (Tiny noticeable things lead to change)
Symptoms are in 3 dimensions (aws survey)
1. Exhaustion
2. Cynicism
3. Inefficacy (why bother)
Solution is system based about teams ( PRIMED - 6 pathways )
1. P - Psychology safety (Trust)
2. R - Relationships (Bonding - How do you connect)
3. I - Impact (Meaning - why do you do what you do)
4. M - Mental strength (Efficacy - How do you think about stress)
5. E - Energy (Addressing sources from stress)
6. D - Design (Small noticeable change)
⁉ Spoiler Alerts (Highlights)
• Job deands that lead to burnout
a. Lack of autonomy
b. High Workload
c. Lack of support
d. Unfairness
e. Values disconnect
f. Lack of recognition
• Job resources that lead to wellbeing
a. High quality relationships
b. Decision authority
c. Feedback
d. Autonomy
e. Development opportunities
Leader Support
Good book wit some nice insights in a system based approach.
👀 How this book changed my daily live (Takeaways)
Burnout (chronic workplace stress) is complex: address the cause not symptoms. (Tiny noticeable things lead to change)
Symptoms are in 3 dimensions (aws survey)
1. Exhaustion
2. Cynicism
3. Inefficacy (why bother)
Solution is system based about teams ( PRIMED - 6 pathways )
1. P - Psychology safety (Trust)
2. R - Relationships (Bonding - How do you connect)
3. I - Impact (Meaning - why do you do what you do)
4. M - Mental strength (Efficacy - How do you think about stress)
5. E - Energy (Addressing sources from stress)
6. D - Design (Small noticeable change)
⁉ Spoiler Alerts (Highlights)
• Job deands that lead to burnout
a. Lack of autonomy
b. High Workload
c. Lack of support
d. Unfairness
e. Values disconnect
f. Lack of recognition
• Job resources that lead to wellbeing
a. High quality relationships
b. Decision authority
c. Feedback
d. Autonomy
e. Development opportunities
Leader Support
March 12, 2021
I was given this book from Goodreads but it came at the best time for me. After reading this book, I am in burnout from work, but this book offered some great information on how to tell if you have it and what to do to help fix it. I loved the way this author gave practical ways that teams can work together to help keep burnout from coming into the workplace. COVID has made this matter even more difficult and since this book was written during COVID, it helped me to see where I could work to alliviate the burnout in my life. Great book. If you work in teams, it is a must read.
August 2, 2023
Disclaimer: I'm very well versed in this space, in this subject matter, and with most of the body work that makes the book make sense (Grit, Quit, Outliers, Dale Carnegie, etc.). My company is sponsoring a book club where we are getting extra data and discussions, which in of itself enhances the value of the content. It's definitely NOT a solution to burn out - its a compilation of strategies and tactics backed up by data/experience.
I agree with the 3 star reviewers - if you need a silver bullet, this ain't it. It's more of the map to the store...
I agree with the 3 star reviewers - if you need a silver bullet, this ain't it. It's more of the map to the store...
January 8, 2022
Beating Burnout talks about how to see the signs that your employees are feeling burnout and how to help them overcome burnout. The signs are definitely things I have felt myself when I was feeling burnout at work. This will certainly help me identify employees that may be feeling burnout.
It's a very short book so if you feel that you need help seeing burnout in others, or helping them overcome burnout it's worth the read.
It's a very short book so if you feel that you need help seeing burnout in others, or helping them overcome burnout it's worth the read.
April 26, 2021
Easy to read and provides great insights on team psychology
I enjoyed this book. The material on team psychology, the different tools you can deploy and the self reflective guides it provided were all useful. The teams I work with are not in danger of burnout, but I think this book is relevant to any org/team that is curious as to what the drivers of “good” are.
I enjoyed this book. The material on team psychology, the different tools you can deploy and the self reflective guides it provided were all useful. The teams I work with are not in danger of burnout, but I think this book is relevant to any org/team that is curious as to what the drivers of “good” are.
July 8, 2023
This is should be a must-read for all managers or leaders out there. Then, I highly recommend to highly professional in order to understand what burnout is at the very start of dealing with its symptoms. There are a lot of research oriented cases and strategies for teams to implement in order to prevent burnout at work.
March 5, 2024
It's not exactly what I expected, but a decent read. In my opinion, the book focuses mostly on how to build resilient teams rather than how to build individual resilience through teams. That said, the PRIMED model is an interesting way to think about team dynamics with the goal of increasing efficacy and resilience of the team.
May 3, 2023
Short and sweet, direct and to the point. There was a lot in this one that should be common sense, but sometimes you just need a reminder. I liked how this book got direct to the point, it did not keep hashing items over and over again.
I actually won this one in one of the giveaways.
I actually won this one in one of the giveaways.
April 16, 2021
Good tools and reference book
May 6, 2021
I felt so seen reading this book! This book has a lot of great ideas and is written in an easy to follow format. A good quick read for those in leadership.
February 13, 2022
Nice overview of burnout and some ideas for dealing with it at the workplace.
March 4, 2022
This for-work read includes many actionable tips for individuals and teams to combat burnout, citing relevant research and drawing from the author’s own personal experience and work.
November 21, 2022
Interesting and very practical! This book left me with a better understanding of what burnout is and why teams are a good way to prevent it.
March 28, 2023
Read this for work, flagged lots of sections in it. The author also spoke at a conference I attended.
May 24, 2023
This book is great for folks in senior leadership wanting to help their teams. This book is not for folks lower on the totem who want to help themselves.
January 12, 2024
This book is an actionable resource tool with many useable ideas to help fight burnout at both the individual and team levels.
June 1, 2022
Some useful tactics, thoroughly researched and footnoted, dry as dust. Also very surprising that the ABC model was not contrasted with Pink's AMP.
February 23, 2025
Although some ideas in this book put words to your feelings, it feels incomplete. It doesn't truly offer clear answers or practical ideas for solving burnout at work. The book mentions autonomy as an important factor in burnout. However, in my opinion, too much autonomy can lead to feeling overwhelmed. As the author acknowledges, it's impossible to cover all industries, as the causes of burnout vary significantly between them. Based on my experience, this book feels incomplete, more like a small chapter in a broader discussion about what contributes to burnout.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews