I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but burnout doesn’t seem to be going away.

In fact, since I published my book Beyond Burnout in 2020, rates of burnout around the world have soared. We can’t go blaming the pandemic for all our burnout woes (it was on the rise prior to covid-19). But it certainly hasn’t helped.

Now, more than ever, organisations and leaders need to understand what burnout is, its causes and perhaps most importantly, practical strategies to kick it to the curb. This is not only the right thing to do for our employees. It just makes good business sense. Burnout is costing organisations dearly in just about every business health metric you can think of.

That’s why, when I look back at 2022 and think about my purpose to ‘ignite better leadership’ (yes, I have one and yes, it’s a bit naff - but I can’t seem to ditch it because it describes exactly what I want to do ?) speaking to organisations and industry bodies on this pressing topic has been some of the most important work I’ve done all year.

A one-hour webinar or talk from me won’t solve burnout. But I’ve received feedback from organisations that it’s a jolly good start. I’ve had the privilege to speak to organisations like Fonterra, Vodafone, Meridian Energy, Foodstuffs, 2 Degrees, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Fletcher Building to name a few - as well as numerous industry bodies in sectors like law, education and healthcare – who are all taking steps to address and prevent burnout.

Here's what some have said:

“We had the absolute pleasure of having Suzi facilitate several virtual drop-in sessions for our Farm Source teams around Building Resilience & Navigating Stress. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our people about the session around Suzi’s lovely and personable facilitation style as well as helpful tools to reduce stress in their everyday lives. It was such an impactful session and I would recommend this for any organisation looking to support their people’s wellbeing, especially in such unprecedented and challenging environments.” - Eve Mawston, Capability Business Partner (Leadership), Fonterra

“The theme for our recent Aspire conference was Leadership and when we were putting the programme together the first person who sprang to mind was Suzi. To have her as our opening keynote speaker was perfect, she set the tone brilliantly and presented many useful insights. Most importantly she delivered key messages with entertaining anecdotes making the presentation all the more memorable for our audience.” – Ali Boswijk, CEO, Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce

“One of the best ones I have dialled into and so so so relevant… Ordering Suzi’s book today too. Thank you!”

“Great coverage of the topic; I learnt some fantastic information and ideas.”

“Thank you so much for a brilliant session. So insightful and valuable hearing from an expert on this important topic that appears to be impacting many people at the moment.”

“Thanks so much Suzi. I really enjoyed it! I often find myself half listening to presentations whilst doing work at the same time (I know…something to work on), but you had me engaged for the entire presentation! Very, very well delivered, excellent balance of real-life examples and very personable and relatable. 10/10 from me!”

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I’ve seen a lot of good come from having conversations about burnout and mental health in our workplaces. At the same time, I get that this can be a scary can of worms to open.

A great way to start is to get one of NZ’s leading experts in burnout to talk to your organisation (especially your leaders, because this stakeholder group has the biggest lever on burnout).

Yup – that's me!

I hardly ever do a direct sell about my services. I’ve been fortunate that I rarely need to. But this year I’ve had to turn down speaking engagements a lot due to a full calendar. As a recovering people pleaser, saying no and turning work away is never fun for me.

So, I’m fully booked for the rest of 2022, but if you’re thinking about your wellbeing strategy for 2023 and want to tap into my knowledge of all things burnout, I am taking bookings for speaking engagements on burnout (or leadership for that matter) for 2023.

Enquire now by reaching out here.

A talk from me alone won’t solve burnout or improve leadership capability in your organisation. But it’s an important start – and I bring both practical tools and the conversations that create positive change for your organisation and the people within it.

So, reach out today.