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Recovering vs Resolving - The Burnout Fix... · The Healthy Church Staff Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: The abortion pastor finally took a real vacation, came back rested, recharged, ready to go, leaky fatsa three weeks later, right back in the exhaustion spiral.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you tell them, hey, take a Sabbath day, set some boundaries, protect your marriage, protect your mornings.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: They do all of that and it helps for a minute.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the exhaustion just keeps coming back.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: What if the problem isn't that they need better recovery?
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: What if the problem is they're recovering from maybe being in the wrong job?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we're talking about today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, my name's Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffing.com.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I was reading some Barna research recently on what actually reveal relieves pastoral burnout.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And there's one thing that kind of stood out to me.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: In the study, they asked, what helps with burnout and what doesn't?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what they found.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Boundaries help, spiritual practices help, Sabbath helps, but here's what they found.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: The single biggest factor wasn't a recovery rhythm.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was a calling clarity.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't a recovery rhythm.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't all those things that help, but they do help.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't so much the recovery rhythm.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was the calling clarity.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: People, and this is how it turned out in their study.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: People who were confident that they were in the right role and doing exactly what God made them to do.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the people that experienced way less burnout, even when the work was really hard or really pressing or really demanding.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where a lot of us miss it because we can't make the same mistake over and over.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: We think and treat burnout like it's always just a rest problem.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're running too hard and you're just tired.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we throw some recovery solutions at it.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, you need a day off, you need to delegate, you need to stop checking your email at night, set up those boundaries, and absolutely those things matter.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But if somebody's in the wrong seat, if they're not doing the job that they really feel like God has called them or gifted them or made them to do, recovery just delays the inevitable.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: They rest up, they come back, and before long they hit the wall again.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because rest doesn't fix a mismatch.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So don't hear me saying that boundaries don't matter.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: They absolutely do, and they're a temporary fix, but that's what they are.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: They're a temporary fix.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: We have to pull back the layers and look at the deeper question that a lot of times we just don't ask.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is this person actually wired for this role?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Not are they working too hard, but are they working in the wrong direction?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Are they doing something that they're not maybe even gifted to do?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can Sabbath away through a season, okay?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can Sabbath your way through a season.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: But you can't Sabbath your way through a misalignment.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not for very long.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if somebody's gifting doesn't match their job description, no amount of risk will make that role life-giving.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where it gets a little bit tricky, right?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because we all feel the pressure.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: We see somebody struggling, somebody that maybe is exhausted on our team, somebody that's just overwhelmed.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we feel responsible to fix it.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we do all the things that all the little things that we think should help.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: We give them some time off, maybe.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we try to lighten their road a little bit.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: We encourage them to pace themselves.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: All great things.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes the kindest thing you can do is just be honest and name that mismatch if you think there's a mismatch there.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: To say something like, hey, I wonder if this role is draining you because it's not actually your sweet spot.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is not failure.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: That actually is clarity, and your employee is probably wanting to have that conversation and just can't.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Clarity is one of the most loving gifts that you can give to a burned-out staff member.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you tell the difference?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: How do you tell the difference between recovery versus resolving?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Here's kind of a gut-cut gut check question for your team.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Go something like this.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: When you rest, do you feel renewed or do you just dread coming back after you're done resting?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: If rest renews them, they're probably in the right role.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: They just need maybe a little bit better rhythms and boundaries.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: But if rest only delays the dread, it gives them a week off from thinking, oh, I gotta go back, that's not a pace problem.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's an actual fit problem.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Here's another question.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: What parts of your role energize you and what parts of your role drain you?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: If 80% of the role drains them and only about 20% energizes them, there's your sign.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: They just might be in the wrong seat.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to hear.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to release someone from a role that they were never meant to carry.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Not because they failed and not because they're weak, but because God wired them for something else.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And trying to force fit into the wrong calling isn't faithfulness.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually exhausting.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's exhausting for them and it's exhausting for you.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, hopefully, you and your church have a different role that you could put them in that they're gonna thrive in.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, though, you just got a person that doesn't fit anymore, and they're not in a place where God has really kind of called them.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: They're not in a place where they're able to use their strengths.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And again, calling that out is faithfulness.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that we really should do.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your bottom line for today Rest helps you recover.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Rest will help you recover for a short period of time.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Reenlightnement, though, can help you absolutely thrive.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks for listening.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this has helped you today.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If so, share it with somebody else on your team, maybe another church leader who needs to hear it.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're we all talk.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: We all know when somebody's struggling.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: We just don't want to have the conversations.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've had a conversation with somebody at another church where they're telling you, hey, I've got this person, I don't know what to do with.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Send them this podcast, maybe it'll help them.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, if you're the one who's been resting and not recovering, maybe it's time that you ask that bigger question.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we're gonna see you next time here on the podcast to be back here every Monday through Friday.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And hey, before you leave, if you could do me a favor, head over to churchstaffassessment.com and take the free Church Staff Health Assessment for this year.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely free.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it would really help me and my team at chemistry staffing as we look at what's working and what's not working at church staffs all across the country.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Your input would be just absolutely invaluable to us.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you have a great day in ministry and do the right thing.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your head up and just know that I am for you and my team at chemistry staffing.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Man, we are for you.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: If there's any way that we can help you, reach out to me, podcast at chemistry staffing.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining, and we'll be back here on the next edition of the Healthy Curry.