Coaching Burnout

Recently I received an email asking about coaching burnout. As I almost always do when I get a tough question, I sent it to my team, and asked for their thoughts. Here is what everyone said, starting with the question I received.

Jim, I think I am reaching burnout in this job. This is year four and finally we are building based and everything should be better than before, but I think I am nearing the end of my rope. Have others reported back to you that burnout around this time is common? It looks so tempting to just go teach and do the things I know I should do and put all my training into practice as opposed to attempting to get others on board. Is year four a key year? Or is it just me being "done" with the job?

My response:

I don't know if the fourth year is the issue, but the season certainly is. Rolling into the holidays, these holidays in particular, seems to be a darker time of the year for many, coaches, teachers, students, everyone. I don't know what advice to give you that will speak to your particular situation, but I'll give it a shot, and I'll also send this to me team to see if they have any thoughts. I have three thoughts. One is to not think of you job in terms of the long-term outcome, but rather to focus on each minute of the job. If each hour is meaningful, if you focus on the moment--this conversation right now--the rest will be OK. If you look at the long-term impact, at times in can be discouraging, but if you focus on each conversation, each person, and you say, I'm going to make sure this interaction is humane. I'm going to encourage respectful interaction. I'm going to be an awesome listener right now. If you take care of the moment, there should be more reason for hope. I think it is a good idea to review the partnership principles, review the communication strategies and see how they apply in this situation.

Second, is a bit of a cliche, but I think it is also very true. Any work worth doing will have its tough moments. I have been focussed on running a lot the past year and a half, and I decided that I wanted to run a marathon. This fellow--a track coach in Portland, Oregon--gave me a great bit of advice. He said, there will be a point where you will think you're not going to be able to do it. He said, just keep running, you'll get past that moment, and you'll get the strength you need to get to the end. He was right. There was a very tough stretch, but I stuck with it and made it. I think his advice applies to anything that is worth doing. There will be points where you really doubt what you're doing, but if you stick with it, you'll pass through that time, and you'll reach your goal.

Third, I say this all the time, but I think it bears repeating: don't lose sight of the moral purpose behind what you do. There are few jobs where you have more possibility to make a profoundly important impact on society--to make a difference. What could be more important than helping teachers reach out to more students. The thing, too, is that you never know what might happen. Change always goes in unpredictable patterns? You think there's no hope and something happens, and suddenly more and more people are on board. You just cant predict the future, so (here's where my first point comes in to play) just make every day count, and it is possible that you'll have a huge impact. You just can't know what might happen.

Coach A:

I can appreciate what this coach is feeling because I've been there before. I, too, am in my fourth year as a coach. There were times when I sometimes felt this way. When there is little teacher turnover at a school, a coach might begin to feel no longer needed. Of course there is a need, but it is more hidden. The teachers in "obvious" need of help have received assistance and the more resistant teachers remain. It takes more work to get those people on board. As my school experienced a lot of turnover in my last year there, I suddenly felt rejuvenated and needed. I also had this feeling when I came to my new school this year. I think the burnout factor also comes from teachers a coach is not able to help move in a positive direction. I invested a lot of time working with one teacher at my first school on classroom management, but he never fully improved, and he eventually left. There were times when I just wanted to teach the class myself. I still feel that way sometimes.

I've learned so much as a coach, but I also really miss teaching. I would like to take everything I've learned and put it into practice in the classroom because I think it would make me an even stronger coach. I would love to teach just one class so I could try out new strategies and practices, which would refresh my teaching juices. I think this would greatly help coaches keep in touch with what teachers experience daily in the classroom. Anyone who is not doing the daily grind -- teaching, grading papers, planning lessons, etc. - loses perspective at some point. It happens to administrators and I truly believe it even happens a little to coaches. I think this coach could deal with burnout in one of several ways: by finding some teachers she/he could really make a difference with; asking for placement at a new school; or asking to teach part-time (one or two classes) in addition to coaching duties. I'm sure this person has more to give as a coach, but she/he needs to recharge her/his batteries. The important thing is to know you're making a difference, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Coach B

I don't think this is a four-year phenomenon! This type of thinking happens to me every year. In my humble opinion, coaches are consistently reflective about many different aspects of the job, so inevitably, we are most reflective about our own abilities. The biggest concerns most of us face are, "Have I lost my effectiveness? Am I still making a difference?" This is especially difficult in a building that doesn't have the top-down pressure we all need. In a school without that pressure, a coach can sometimes feels as if he/she is flailing and running from issue to issue. I know I have felt this way since my one awesome principal left. Making that kind of new positive connection has been difficult in the interim.

We are practitioners of an imperfect science, and once we add the human element, everything goes haywire!

I think this coach is experiencing what most of us feel most of the time; however, don't give up. Even when we don't think we're making a difference, we're building relationships that will only serve us in the future.

Coach C

Change is messy and it takes much more time than most people think. How are you measuring your success? How are others measuring your success? Are expectations realistic? When I start to think about the enormous amount that needs to be done in my school, it can be overwhelming. When I think of people who start and then stop, it is discouraging. When I think of how the school has changed over time because I am here, I become hopeful again. Coaching is messy and the changes are often subtle so it is hard to measure success. Only you can answer the question if it is time to leave for something else. If you continue coaching, find ways to keep yourself refreshed such as meet with other coaches regularly, talk about successes even if they are small, share materials, and talk about how not to burn out. If that isn't available locally, consider a blog. When I start to feel weary, I do more model teaching so I can connect with the students again. Often doing what you are missing is a good cure for the doldrums.

Coach D

Well, I have barely been at this job four months, and only "half-time" at that, but I do know that motivating others really takes its toll, whether those others are students, teachers or friends. Being a coach is all about giving people the tools to improve their talents and then motivating them to put new tools or methods into practice. At some point a coach (whether coaching students in a classroom, or athletes on the field of competition, or teachers in a school community, or friends who need to make a change) must stand back and let the recipient fly or fall. Coaches who take on too much of the ownership for change will definitely burn out. Theodore Roosevelt offers good advise when he said "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." I can only be responsible for providing the water; I cannot drink it for the horse. When I try, both the horse and I will be frustrated and unfulfilled. This 4 yr veteran probably needs to make a list of all the things that would not be in place without coaching (like a scene from "It's a Wonderful Life); a hefty dose of gratitude and counting one's blessings can go a very long way to squelching burnout.