Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In part 2 of this series, we talked about the discipline required to avoid becoming the problem you’re trying to fix—slowing down, defining terms, showing your work, and resisting the very natural urge to react before you actually understand what you’re reacting to. All of that matters....
Category Archives: Mentoring
Imprecision in Thought — Part 2 The Discipline of Not Being Part of the Problem
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the last post, we talked about that moment when something sounds wrong—the face scrunch, the irritation, the immediate certainty that what you’re reading or hearing doesn’t hold up. The problem doesn’t stop with what you’re reacting to. It includes what you’re about to become if you...
You’re Part of the System Now: Burnout and Responsibility
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Some Final Thoughts on Burnout There’s a point in many high-stakes professional systems where the questions quietly shift. Early on, they tend to be personal:Why does this feel so hard? What’s happening to me? How do I get through this without losing something I can’t get back? That’s...
When Burnout Isn’t About Stress or Recovery
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Alignment, Identity, and the Limits of Fixing What Doesn’t Fit In the last installment, we followed burnout past the point where it could reasonably be treated as a private problem. Once responsibility for others enters the picture, the effects are no longer contained. They show up in judgment,...
Burnout’s Quiet Damage: Why It Matters Before Anyone Breaks
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Burnout rarely announces itself with collapse. Most of the time, it arrives quietly—through gradually diminishing impact. Patience thins, and time isn’t spent on the investment in curiosity and connection. Imagination contracts, and robust interactions to spur innovation are no longer sought. Fewer questions get asked. Fewer risks...
Burnout Is a Wastebasket Term — and That’s Why We Keep Treating It Wrong
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Simplicity Is Seductive — and Dangerous “I’m burned out.” That sentence has become professional shorthand—an all-purpose signal for exhaustion, frustration, disillusionment, or quiet despair. It lands with emotional force and usually earns immediate empathy. And because it sounds definitive, we tend to treat it that way: problem named, response deployed....
The Beauty in the Dust: Growth in Imperfection
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Thresholds That Truly Change Us I’ve crossed plenty of thresholds in my life. Graduations, promotions, marriage, a few plaques on the wall. All those moments came and went, all important in their own way. Despite the cultural significance, and that many of these events are dear to many...
Living Richly Together: Perspective, Certainty, and the Ancient Problem We Keep Pretending Is New (Psychological Richness, Part 4)
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the third part of this series, I teased the idea of psychological richness applied beyond the individual. If richness is a mechanism to pursue personal growth, perspective shift, and learning, what if it is applied on a larger scale? Can richness be a mechanism to approach...
Running Without a Map: Why Change Needs More Than Good Intentions
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Feedback is a mirror. Over the past two posts, we’ve looked at two ways leaders stumble with feedback: ignoring it altogether (Ignoring the Mirror) and overreacting to every reflection (Trapped in the Mirrors). Both leave you stuck. But there’s a third trap, and it’s sneakier because it...
Ignoring the Mirror: Why We Resist Feedback and Growth
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction We previously defined feedback as the key enabling behavior of true mentorship. Good feedback acts as a mirror, reflecting something about us that we may not see on our own, and provides a pathway to change, grow, and improve. But what happens when you don’t like the reflection?...