Quiet Quitting has been getting a lot of air time. Before you do it, consider the risks and rewards.
The founder of The Intelligent Body's career has been dedicated to helping people, teams, and organizations enhance their performance through two primary paths: 1) leadership/sales and 2) Physical Intelligence (PI) consulting, training and coaching. Quiet Quitting sparks a valid response from each discipline.
Here's the PI perspective: PI is our ability to use physiology to actively manage the balance of certain key chemicals in our bodies/brains so that we can stress less, achieve more, and live/work more happily. Resilience is one of 4 PI pillars. Downtime is essential for resilience. We can only be resilient if we allow our adrenal system time to recover. Ideally, building and maintaining resilience is a way of life. Unfortunately, in many cultures, workaholism is expected, even celebrated, especially among certain age groups. Too many people are/have been feeling overwhelmed, operating in overdrive, (exacerbated by COVID), and are approaching or in true burnout (a serious, life threatening medical condition). If this is you, then rest and recovery are crucial – taking care of your physical and mental health, leveraging support systems and speaking with your manager if work requirements are unreasonable or, if reasonable, are beyond your abilities at the moment. In this sense, the aspect of Quiet Quitting that encourages people to seek better work/life balance is helpful…although we don’t need a catchphrase to do it and the “Quiet” part of it doesn’t sit right with me...unless you work in fear-based environment.
Which brings us to the leadership perspective: Leaders with high performance cultures have established a foundation of trust and encourage open communication – there are shared values, a shared purpose, and motivating common goals – they provide ongoing coaching, are receptive to feedback, support career development , and advocate for their team. In those environments, employees have more energy, are more engaged, productive, and satisfied with their lives, have fewer sick days, and there are fewer cases of burnout. Those employees are committed to giving their best, viewing it as an important part of their brand. For decades, I've worked with countless people and organizations on the concept of “brand” – envisioning it, cultivating it, and communicating it through words and actions. Quiet Quitting that advocates for not giving your all, not doing your best work, refusing to go above and beyond, is clearly an individual choice – and will likely have a negative impact on your brand – and on organizational performance.
The issue is part individual: Are you someone leaders will want on their team? … and part organizational: As leaders, are you creating cultures where your team members won’t feel the need for Quiet Quitting because you’re allowing them to maintain their resilience?
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