Chillingly Quiet, Part 3

A twilight of seasons is upon us, yet the concerns of this past summer aren’t yet far behind us. The worries of burnout continue to permeate many workplaces and teams, repeated on the gusts of new workforce trends. While a symptom of the larger illness of hustle and grind, burnout can often be alleviated through emphasis on work-life balance and a respect of personal boundaries. Quiet quitting, however, chills the ache of burnout a bit differently.

The movement is a fallen leaf from the twisted tree of toxic productivity, discussed here by podcast Ask the Expert North Texas. In years past, it was expected that we and our colleagues restlessly go above and beyond. Yet the season of change is nigh as employees ask themselves whether regular sacrifice of personal time is rewarded by anything more than a continuous grind towards the bite of burnout.

Perhaps a precursor or a parry to quiet quitting also exists the employer-driven chill of quiet firing, conveyed here by the Washington Post. Quiet firing, while not as brisk a term as the movement it’s embattled with, is when we ignore the rot of hustle culture, turn a blind eye to the symptoms of burnout, and continuously demand more while offering less.

In this episode of TED’s The Way We Work, Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, outlines how we can send these trends into hibernation by improving our cultures and our places of work. Life and vibrancy in our organizations and teams can flourish with feedback tools like SurePeople’s intricate Prism Lens®.

At the very root of these movements is a thirst for respect. We must offer respect not just to a fancy job title, but to everyone with the plain title of human. After all, each of us is more complex and meaningful than a job title can ever express.

“The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves.”
- J. Carla Northcutt