Overworked Plus Undertrained Equals Scrambled Leadership

Did you know the famous Stanford Prison Experiment is a fraud? The young men in the study didn’t turn into monsters. In fact, they really flexed their humanity. It was the researcher who had his thumb on the scale to get the outcome he wanted to write about.

Pretty crappy.

Okay, possibly psychological torture, but who’s counting. Bonus note: he did something similar at a children's camp years before, trying to get the kids to turn on one another. They didn’t, at all, then found his notebook that overtly stated his plans, then the kids finally turned… on him. (Source: Humankind by Rutger Bregman)

If you were so devious as to create an experiment today to study how much leaders matter to organizations… but you didn’t want to have leaders in your organization, you just might want to create circumstances where the leaders failed, thus proving their lack of impact. You might hire and promote folks to jobs they’re not precisely suited to, not train them, then set expectations out of reach.

Or, that just might be what people are experiencing presently. 

With the exception of sarcasm, humor, or satire, I try not to overstate conditions and circumstances. This is why when I mention burnout, I’m not talking about being tired, or somewhat lethargic. I’m referring to persistent sense of exhaustion, even dread about going to work.

The Hidden Epidemic of Leadership Burnout

For too long, burnout was mistakenly viewed as a problem exclusive to frontline employees. However, the reality is stark: leaders, managers, and executives are experiencing emotional exhaustion at record levels, with many contemplating leaving their roles for environments that prioritize health. In 2024, global employee engagement dropped, with managers showing the sharpest decline, primarily due to burnout. According to a 2024 LinkedIn survey, 47% of managers are experiencing burnout, surpassing individual contributors and directors. C-suite executives are not immune, with 71% frequently feeling exhausted or stressed, and nearly 70% considering quitting for health reasons in 2022. The record high CEO exits in 2023 were partly attributed to post-pandemic-related burnout.

Burnout is more than just a bad day; it's a form of chronic emotional fatigue that arises when workplace demands significantly outweigh available personal resources. It manifests as deep exhaustion, disengagement, a sense of lost purpose, and even a cynical attitude towards responsibilities. David Graeber may have a point, and what if burnout was causing you to think all of your work was useless?

Leaders, who are expected to project strength and be constantly available, often hide or mask signs of burnout such as dismissing physical symptoms like headaches or sleep disruptions as normal stress. This silent endurance can lead to leaders working harder, pushing past limits, and delaying vacations, believing things will improve. Belief is good, but perhaps not in the face of a lot of evidence to the contrary.

AppleTV's "Ted Lasso" Season 3, Episode 5

Double Jeopardy

A significant factor contributing to this crisis is the prevalence of "accidental managers" which refers to individuals promoted based on technical skills rather than leadership ability. Gallup research reveals that only one in ten people naturally possess the talent to manage, suggesting a vast majority may lack essential leadership development. These untrained managers contribute to inefficiencies, decreased team morale, and higher employee turnover. They are responsible for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units.

The impact of a burned-out or untrained leader is profound and cascades throughout the organization:

• Reduced Employee Engagement & Productivity: Each 10% increase in manager burnout correlates with a 5% drop in team engagement. Burned-out managers are less empathetic, make reactive decisions, and foster tense environments, demotivating their teams.

• Stifled Innovation & Missed Opportunities: Leaders in burnout struggle with strategic thinking, focusing only on immediate problems, which stalls innovation and leads to missed opportunities.

• Increased Turnover & Financial Costs: Burnout drives a significant number of workers, managers, and C-suite executives to consider leaving their jobs. Burnout-related turnover costs the U.S. health system billions annually.

• Damaged Employer Brand: Left unaddressed, leadership burnout can negatively affect a company's reputation and culture.

Causes of Leadership Burnout

Beyond individual capacity, systemic and cultural factors are key drivers:

• Always-On High-Performance Culture: Many organizations inadvertently glorify overwork, constant availability, and skipping vacations, creating a "perfect recipe for burnout".

• Emotional Overload and "Middle Squeeze": Managers are caught between demands from senior executives and the needs of frontline teams, absorbing emotional strain from both directions. This "sandwich pressure" contributes to nearly half of managers reporting burnout.

• Lack of Psychological Safety: The absence of safe spaces for leaders to admit vulnerability and ask for breaks without fear of career consequences compounds the problem.

• Unmanageable Workloads & Unclear Expectations: Excessive responsibilities, role conflict, unfair treatment, and unreasonable time pressure are frequently cited causes of burnout.

Strategies for a Resilient and Healthy Organization

Addressing leadership burnout and fostering organizational health requires a multi-level approach:

1. Invest in Comprehensive Leadership Development:

   1. Proactive Training: Provide management and leadership training before promotion or as an essential part of a new manager's first year.

   2. Focus on People Skills: Train managers not just on technical skills but on emotional intelligence, communication, conflict resolution, and empathy.

   3. Value and Empower Managers: Clearly communicate their value, involve them in decision-making, share their ideas, and recognize their contributions. Move decision-making to the lowest possible point in the hierarchy to empower them.

   4. Provide Resources and Time: Ensure managers have the information, coaching, and crucially, the time to perform their jobs effectively without exacerbating pressure.

2. Prioritize and Institutionalize Leader Wellbeing:

   1. Strategic Priority: Make leadership well-being central to your organizational mental health strategy, recognizing it as a critical business decision.

   2. Tailored Programs: Design wellness programs specifically for leaders that account for their unique workloads, fears, and constraints. This could include executive coaching focused on personal well-being, specialized psychological support, protected rest periods, and confidential peer support networks.

   3. Cultural Shift: Actively promote and institutionalize self-care. Taking time off should be seen as an investment in leadership sustainability, not a career risk. Openly discussing emotions should become part of the company culture, and well-being should be reflected in KPIs.

   4. Regenerative Leadership: Encourage a shift from outdated, pressure-driven models to conscious leadership grounded in empathy, vulnerability, and shared purpose. Healthy leadership doesn't glorify exhaustion but rather prioritizes personal health as essential to performance.

3. Cultivate a Culture of Psychological Safety and Clarity:

   1. Break the Silence: Create psychologically safe spaces where leaders feel safe to admit vulnerability and ask for help without fear of consequence. Mental health conversations at the leadership level should be a strategic priority, not taboo.

   2. Clear Expectations & Priorities: Work to define clear priorities and manage workloads effectively across the organization. This reduces the "everything is urgent" mentality that fuels burnout.

   3. Address Systemic Issues: Look beyond individual symptoms and confront the organizational structures and cultural norms (like the always-on culture) that perpetuate exhaustion. Eliminating toxic behaviors can significantly reduce burnout symptoms.

Taking care of your leaders is not just an act of compassion; it's a deliberate, strategic decision that safeguards the health, performance, and long-term sustainability of your entire organization. By investing in proper training, prioritizing leader well-being, and fostering a culture of psychological safety, companies can transform accidental managers into effective leaders and build resilient, thriving workplaces for everyone.