(Spoilers: General References to the shows “Lucifer” and “Supernatural”)
Recently I was watching the TV Show “Lucifer” (based on a character created by Neil Gaiman) which can be summarized very briefly by the opening credits
“In the beginning... The angel Lucifer was cast out of Heaven and condemned to rule Hell for all eternity. Until he decided to take a vacation....”Not everyone is thrilled Lucifer is on vacation/retired including the angel Amenadiel who appears to have been put in charge in his stead. In a recent episode Amenadiel complains and says something like
“I have been doing your Job, running Hell, since you left. I hate it!!! You have to come back and do your Job”.
My gut reaction was to think:
“That is not a good strategy to convince Lucifer to come back. If you hate the job that much, then Lucifer probably hates it too and he was stuck doing it for millennium. He has accrued decades of PTO (paid time off) at this point.”
But similar situations have played out in other shows. For example in “Supernatural” Crowley, the self-proclaimed King of Hell, has expressed boredom with the bureaucracy of running Hell, including mind numbing Soul Projection meetings. Lucifer has been shown to be playing Angry Birds when he does not want to lead. And at one point God also went on vacation leaving the angels very lost and confused, leading to lots of trouble as they tried to fill the leadership void.
All of these characters highlight that we often have unrealistic expectations of leaders. For example there is a joke I once read somewhere about what congregations want from their pastors which included “Be in their early 30’s: With 20 to 30 years of experience”, “Spend all their time in the community caring for their congregation and always be in the office” ...
We live in a culture which places a high value on the type of work individuals do but not how that work is supported. In many organizations we expect leadership/employees to be everything and do everything 24/7. Few organizations really focus on the self-care needs of their leadership/employees. And when individuals become burned out and leave for a variety of reasons there is resentment and disappointment on all sides.
I wonder what it would look like if organizations were committed to the self-care needs of their leadership and employees. I wonder what it would look like if work was fluid and it was easier to change job roles and responsibilities as needed. I wonder what it would look like for organizations to focus on preventing burnout.
In the comments share your stories of being provided self-care and stories when you faced Burnout.
All of these characters highlight that we often have unrealistic expectations of leaders. For example there is a joke I once read somewhere about what congregations want from their pastors which included “Be in their early 30’s: With 20 to 30 years of experience”, “Spend all their time in the community caring for their congregation and always be in the office” ...
We live in a culture which places a high value on the type of work individuals do but not how that work is supported. In many organizations we expect leadership/employees to be everything and do everything 24/7. Few organizations really focus on the self-care needs of their leadership/employees. And when individuals become burned out and leave for a variety of reasons there is resentment and disappointment on all sides.
I wonder what it would look like if organizations were committed to the self-care needs of their leadership and employees. I wonder what it would look like if work was fluid and it was easier to change job roles and responsibilities as needed. I wonder what it would look like for organizations to focus on preventing burnout.
In the comments share your stories of being provided self-care and stories when you faced Burnout.
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