Polish managers face burnout risk as resilience declines, report finds

A new report on Polish managers indicates a widespread struggle with psychophysical resilience, a state described as a "pre-burnout profile" where the mind functions but the body falters. The study, conducted by advisory firm Better/B Corp using the Swiss Resilience Institute's methodology, surveyed 257 managers from various firms and NGOs.

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This is a classic pre-burnout profile: the mind still works, but the body already doesn't.

While the report, titled "Jakoś to będzie" (It'll be fine), found that two-thirds of Polish leaders possess "positive" resilience, a deeper analysis reveals a concerning trend. No managers were found to be in acute crisis, but a significant majority, 61%, fall into categories described as "struggling with difficulties" and "weakened." This suggests their resilience is gradually depleting.

Only 39% of Polish leaders are classified as "resilient" or "thriving." Paweł Niziński, founder of Better/B Corp, noted that a mere 1% operate at the highest level of psychophysical resilience. The methodology relies on self-assessment, as resilience is built from early life experiences and personal perceptions of coping mechanisms.

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Resilience for us is a person's or team's ability to 'bounce forward' – not just to survive difficulties, but to go through them, overcome them, and learn from them. It is also the ability to protect one's own well-being, maintain a sense of psychological safety and a high level of energy to be fully engaged and effective.

The report challenges the popular myth of multitasking, identifying it as detrimental. It also suggests that common wellbeing benefits do not address the core issue. Instead, the article implies that lasting solutions require a fundamental shift in organizational culture and internal processes to truly support the mental and physical health of leadership.

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We are still struggling with a good translation of the word resilience into Polish.