Burned Out? It's Not Surprising; Plight Common Among Bankers

Michael Romanchak knew he was in trouble two years ago, when he began to look forward to problem loans in order to break up the monotony of his banking work day.

"Dilemmas were the thrills," he said.

Mr. Romanchak, 45, found himself increasingly frustrated with the routine and less patient with subordinates. "My life was like Bill Murray's in 'Groundhog Day.' You wake up doing the same thing every day."

Mr. Romanchak's deepening dissatisfaction with commercial lending prompted him to leave a 25-year career at BankAmerica Corp. and Comerica for a money management firm.

Experts said that Mr. Romanchak, like a growing number of banking professionals, was suffering from burnout - a chronic state of mental and physical exhaustion.

New York psychiatrist Herbert J. Freudenberger, who first diagnosed the condition 26 years ago, said burnout "may be self-imposed or externally imposed by families, jobs, value systems, or society."

Psychological symptoms of burnout include easily induced anger, malaise, and loss of self-confidence, Dr. Freudenberger said. It can manifest itself physically as skin irritations, aches, or pains.

The condition pervades all industries, and experts say the number of burned-out bankers is growing.

"There are more cases now, because banking is much more competitive," said banking analyst Perrin Long. In the past, "we didn't have fax machines, fewer fares were listed on the big board, and when we had a merger it wasn't cutthroat.

"Now, everything and everybody is more complex and more intense."

Indeed, Mr. Romanchak said heightened competition among the bigger banks sapped the creativity out of his work. He found himself looking forward to problem loans, because they gave him the only opportunities to put his own stamp on his work. He also became less enthusiastic about moving into upper management.

In one severe case, burnout rendered a regional bank CEO impotent and dependent on antidepressants, Dr. Freudenberger said.

"He was also blowing up at his stepdaughter and drinking too much," the psychiatrist said. "But the guy wasn't depressed. He was just suffering from a case of burnout."

According to a survey published in the Employment Weekly Jobs Rated Almanac, bankers ranked 107 of 250 occupations measured for stress.

Frank Betz, who burned out on his banking job after 12 years at Chase Manhattan Corp., blames the rising number of mergers for the increase in burnout cases.

"Banking is a lot less fun today because of the terrible consolidation," said Mr. Betz, who left his commercial lending job to open a sailboat rental company. "The downsizing and the compression from mergers has bank officers paranoid. None of the bankers that I talk to today has a feeling of security."

Although only 5% of Dr. Freudenberger's patients are bankers, he is seeing a rise in banker burnout due to consolidation. Dr. Freudenberger said he has one patient who has been demoted three times, once for each of his bank's mergers.

"He had been downgraded from senior vice president to manager and became so disenchanted and angry that I thought he was headed for an ulcer or a coronary," Dr. Freudenberger said.

Carl Sloane, who oversees a program for mid-career senior executives at Harvard's business school, said top-tier bank executives are the most susceptible to burnout.

"People in top positions don't have many outlets to turn to if they become dissatisfied with their job," he said. "Basically, you don't talk about your problems. There is this quietude with your family and friends. In a way, they have no choices - and head into a downward glide."

Dr. Freudenberger said some personalities are more vulnerable to burnout. They include people who are "authoritarian and perfectionist" or those who have a hard time accepting failure, he said.

"The CEO of the regional bank thought he was a superman. He was getting pressure from an overseas division and trying to handle the personal problems of some of his employees. I told him: 'You've got to stop this. You're ruining your life.'"

Dr. Freudenberger said the CEO eventually left the industry and bought a million-dollar house in Thailand.

The thrice-demoted vice president left his banking job to open a bed- and-breakfast in Connecticut.

Dr. Freudenberger said bankers without such options should try to move around in the industry or find a career in a related one.

Mr. Romanchak, who now works as a stockbroker at Calmar in Palo Alto, Calif., said bankers should not blame their companies for burnout, but should work on honing their transferable skills. He pointed out that before he left banking, he had set aside time to become more skilled at computers.

"Some people go and climb Mount Everest to escape burnout," he said, "but for people like me it was more of a quiet search. Eventually, if there is no challenge or mental reward, sooner or later you're going to get restive."

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