Struggling with Perfectionism?

Do you, or does someone you know, struggle with perfectionism?

Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds you down or polishes you up is for you and you alone to decide. Cavett Robert

I have been researching and discussing this issue quite a lot recently snd I wanted to share some of these insights with you.

Perfectionists strive incessantly and obsessively to produce flawless work. This often means they have higher levels of motivation and conscientiousness. That’s good, right?

Maybe not. Perfectionism is strongly and consistently related to numerous “detrimental” work and non-work outcomes, including higher levels of burnout, stress, workaholism, anxiety, and depression.



Four decades of research is telling us that this doesn’t make your people better performers at work. In fact, their results often show us that perfectionism is a much bigger 'weakness' than we assume.

here are also levels of perfectionism that move along a scale or continuum. From Excellence-seeking Perfectionism, to Failure-avoiding Perfectionism (think glass half-full or half-empty). And on to Atelophobia, where the very fear of being seen as flawed prevents a person from even commencing a project.

The energy levels one experiences on this continuum will vary as well, with initial high levels of nervous energy often associated with anxiety, but the longer we struggle the lower our energy levels drop. Think of the Fight or Flight response, which is very prevalent here, we can descend to the Freeze stage and find ourselves unable to cope.

Research shows that performance and perfectionism are not related to each other —perfectionists are not better or worse performers than non-perfectionists. And their engagement, performance, health, and happiness can be vastly improved with just a little effort on everyone’s part.

I can help with that. Reach out if your organisation wants to address this issue for better engagement with your people.