Jacinda Ardern, the 42 year old Prime Minister (PM) of New Zealand, on 19th January 2023 announced her resignation citing that she no longer had ‘enough in the tank’ to continue leading her country. The resignation, she said, was not because the job was hard but because of time.

Whatever be the country’s size, a Prime Minister’s job has no working hours. And if the PM has no working hours, it applies for the core team of ministers too. It cascades down to the village level political head, the patwari (in India).

Experiencing burnout even in the job that you love is not uncommon.

Emergencies like terrorist activities, earthquakes, floods, riots etc. threatening the nation often come unannounced and the politicians have to be ready for that, else their personal reputation is at stake.

Jacinda was New Zealand’s PM for about 5 years. In some Asian countries and in Russia, it is not uncommon for politicians to complete decades in the highest office or in high offices and never feel strained about it. The job is harder if the population is larger and internal and external problems more complex, yet they enjoy it, don’t appear ruffled and find time for it.

In India, the current PM Narendra Modi is known to work for at least 18 hours day after day. He supposedly takes no weekends and no vacations. He does no entertainment (including partying as it is called nowadays). Yet he seems to be enjoying the job and is the most respected leader in the world today.

Around 2000 AD, India had a PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who would close shop at 6 pm and indulge in spending evening hours like a common man.

PM Modi works in the official aircraft as well. As early as in the 1960s it was not uncommon for the then Indian PM Late Lal Bahadur Shastri to be working in an aircraft. 

No Indian PM has voluntarily left office or died due to work-life balance (WLB) issues. Three Indian PMs died in office, each one of them had a different reason of death but not WLB. In fact, in India very few politicians, big or small die in office or leave office due to WLB.

An important component of WLB is time. It is not only work, but the workplace and the working conditions that influence WLB. To name a few – happiness in what you are doing, freedom at work, flexi-hours, health and safety at workplace, monetary compensation etc. These days a component of WFH (work from home) also contributes to WLB.

The risks to work life balance should be managed well by all concerned, else the likelihood of getting stressed due to the job one does will remain, eventually impacting health, quality of life, efficiency and productivity at work. 

India has around 650,000 villages and each one has a political structure and support staff working in tough conditions, yet it is unheard about anyone resigning due to WLB issues.

Should the heads of State (the PMs, the Presidents etc.) entertain themselves to have work life balance?

 

Are politicians, especially the Indian politician different from the common man or do they enjoy their jobs better than the common man that WLB takes a backseat or they find time to de-stress.

Is WLB meant only for the common man or is it being fed into the minds of the common man by preachers and media or is it that the common man doesn’t enjoy the job? Or is WLB just a currently most talked about term.

In developing countries, especially, there is little control that the common man has on the contributory factors involved in WLB, like happiness in what you are doing, freedom to work, flexi-hours, working from home (WFH), monetary compensation etc. The risks to work life balance should be managed well, else the likelihood of getting stressed due to the job one does will remain, eventually impacting health, quality of life, efficiency and productivity at work. 

What does the resignation of Jacinda, the PM of New Zealand, mean to Indian politicians and the common man in India who are working in corporate offices and factories, both big and small, organized and unorganized?

For the common man, Jacinda’s resignation signals that it is good to take proactive steps if you think you don’t have the time to do the job, even if the job is hard and you are enjoying it. And to take proactive steps definitely if you are not enjoying the job. Taking proactive steps to your advantage is a stage just before burnout, and Jacinda didn’t want to burnout. It was a personal decision and she wanted to spend time with her family. Her daughter was about to start school. It was more to do with ‘quality of life’ as she must have missed out on these things as a PM.

It is important for senior managers including C-suite executives to be aware of this, not only for themselves but for the employees working in the organizations they lead. Experiencing burnout even in the job that you love is not uncommon.

This brings us to another question. Should the heads of State (the PMs, the Presidents etc.) entertain themselves to have WLB?

In August 2022, in a leaked video, Finland’s PM Sanna Marin was seen singing and dancing with friends at a private party. Similar videos are seen in social media all over the world but the video leak of the 36 year old Sanna Marin triggered a debate in Finland if it was drugs being used in the party, if she was working or on vacation and was she sober enough to handle an emergency had one arose. People even asked if it was good for the PM to ‘party’.

The Finnish PM Sanna Marin eventually took a drug test to end speculation about illegal drug abuse and said, “I hope that, in the year 2022, it’s accepted that even decision-makers dance, sing and go to parties,” Marin told reporters. “I didn’t wish for any images to be spread, but it’s up to the voters to decide what they think about it.”

I feel it is a personal choice for the head of the state whether to ‘party’ or not.  

The above examples point towards an understanding of mental health. An Indian politician is untouched by the pressure of work in a large country with complex issues. The PM of New Zealand proactively resigned citing lack of time. The PM of Finland was accused of partying and was seen as having fun, eventually stressing her; the very reason why she perhaps chose to party. 

Could there be some advice to a head of the state from OH point of view? Very few Asian politician will ever reach out to any doctor for some advice on an issue like this because it exposes them and mars their long-term prospects. However, if an OH physician is in the panel of doctors advising the head of the state, and one day he/she will be, the advice during conversations with the head of the state should be around taking time off in-between long meetings, sleeping in time, eating healthy, having short vacations, doing whatever it takes to de-stress oneself (including partying) etc.

The same advice is for the common man, with one difference – if you do not enjoy your job or the place of work, change. If the change of job requires upskilling, do it well in time. These are some of the proactive steps to manage stress, else it leads to burnout.

As mentioned earlier, it is good to take proactive steps if you think you don’t have the time to do the job, even if the job is hard and you are enjoying it. And to take proactive steps definitely if you are not enjoying the job. Taking proactive steps to your advantage is a stage just before burnout.

Remember, experiencing burnout even in the job that you love is not uncommon.

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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations’. Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. An experienced virtual consultation expert he was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view. He is currently involved in a health startup.