Everyday is bring yourself to work day!
Everyday is bring yourself to work day!
teams@work. Everyday is Bring Yourself to Work Day!
A hand holds up a blue card with the word “Burnout” printed in bold red letters against a yellow background.
DELIVERING EXCELLENCE WITHOUT BURNING OUT
Since being approved in 2024, TCU's Values are easy to find and embrace. "Excellence" is one value in particular that most TCU employees say they apply to their work daily. TCU has defined excellence as: Excellence in our pursuit of the greater good. Achievement through critical thinking, intellectual inquiry and creative expression fuels lifelong learning and lasting impact. (tcu.edu/about/mission-vision-values.php)

But what happens if your interpretation of excellence in work shows up differently than that of
co-workers or your manager? Or when you or your colleagues start doing too much in pursuit of excellence, only to feel exhausted because the purpose of the work has been lost along the way. More importantly, what happens if you see burnout in your colleagues and can't recognize it in yourself? If you manage others and feel exhausted, overwhelmed, or ineffective inside, you may be experiencing burnout. Often, managers project their burnout onto their team and direct reports without realizing it.  
In her article Burnout in Disguise: When Excellence Masks Exhaustion, Nell Derick Debevoise
identifies three ways hidden burnout shows up in workplace patterns:
THE PERFECT PERFORMER
Always saying yes. Reliable and celebrated
for being the glue, but simmering with resentment.
THE MISSION-DRIVEN MARTYR
Carrying the cause at all costs. Making a difference, but slowly eroding empathy and energy.
THE OVERDONE OPTIMIZER
Mastering every routine, from macros to meditation, but forgetting joy. Optimized… and empty.
Debevoise points out that while each persona begins as a strength: reliability, compassion, discipline, when taken to excess, they become straitjackets. In response, she recommends going beyond traditional fixes like taking breaks, setting boundaries, finding your why--which are still valuable and instead evaluating the balance of life as a 3-dimensional model.
Define what excellence means to you and your team.
Navigate failure as an opportunity, not punishment.
Maintain focus on the purpose behind the work
you and your team do.
Diagram with three circles labeled Me, We, and World connected by arrows. Me sits at the top in pink, We on the left in blue, and World on the right in pink. Arrows between the circles show fulfillment, impact, motivation, and inspiration flowing among the three.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelldebevoise/2025/09/30/burnout-in-disguise-when-excellence-masks-exhaustion/
Learning to Prioritize and Express Your Needs at Work
Strengthen your everyday impact with tools that help you understand
and communicate your needs. Start the course below.
The Importance of Expressing Your Needs at Work | LinkedIn Learning
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