Ep. 150: Jonny Miller - On Emotional Resilience in Leadership

How are you? This is a question we all regularly ask and answer on a daily basis. And in doing so, we rarely, if ever, expect or deliver a genuine response. As we are finding out – this is a huge problem, particularly amongst so-called high achievers – leaders in organisations, entrepreneurs, and others. The coronavirus pandemic seems to have only exacerbated that.

This is something that frustrated my guest and his collaborator so much that he decided to look deeply into it. Jonny Miller – who you will get to know in this episode – and Jan Chipchase were both frustrated at the impact that burnout was having on their peers, family, friends, and themselves. So, they set out to explore the common triggers to burnout, how extensive the problem is, and what we can do about it. They set up a survey which was completed by 261 people, a follow-up survey during the covid pandemic, interviews and a literature review. The result is the Emotional Resilience in Leadership Report, which offers a fantastic analysis of what’s happening, including the hidden stressors that can cause burnout.

Jonny is the founder of Curious Humans, an independent consultancy that helps leaders ask better questions. He operates a coaching practice for founders and executives, hosts his own podcast and was one of the co-founders of Maptia. In this conversation, we cover tons of ground on emotional resilience, burnout, hidden stressors, and what we can do to prevent and combat burnout.

Show notes:

Emotional Resilience in Leadership Report – summary deck, full report

Curious Human podcast including Breathwork episode with Edward Dangerfield

Some resources on emotional resilience

Jonny on Twitter

Jonny’s TEDx talk

“That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief” by Scott Berinato

Internal Family Systems

Escape the City

Fear Setting

Jane McGonigal

Ep. 149 of All Things Risk with Lan and Harlan Cao