Handling Team Burnout

People don’t quit hard work. They quit toxic war zones. Work in itself rarely breaks people. In fact, many thrive under pressure, deadlines, and big goals. But here’s what they can’t survive: → Leaders who pit teammates against each other. → Environments where silence feels safer than honesty. → Cultures where every day feels like a fight to prove your worth. That’s not work. That’s war. And no one can thrive in a battlefield. If you’re a leader, here’s how to make sure your people burn bright, not out: 5 Tips for Leaders to End “Battlefield Culture”: 1️⃣ Lead with clarity ↳ eliminate confusion; people burn out faster when they fight uncertainty. 2️⃣ Normalize open conversations ↳ create safety for employees to speak without fear. 3️⃣ Recognize effort publicly ↳ appreciation fuels resilience more than pressure ever could. 4️⃣ Cut the politics ↳ reward collaboration, not competition. 5️⃣ Model calm under fire ↳ your team mirrors your energy. Chaos at the top = chaos everywhere. Hard work can inspire. But a workplace that feels like war will always destroy. P.S. In your view, what’s the biggest cause of burnout today? —  📌 Save this for later.  ♻️ If this resonates, repost it, more leaders need to hear this truth.  ➕ Follow Sandra Pellumbi for more.🦉

What if your greatest motivation isn't waiting at the finish line, but hidden in the small victories along the way? That secret is called momentum psychology. Imagine achievement as compound interest for your motivation - not dramatic leaps, but consistent small deposits that multiply over time. Most professionals overlook daily progress while fixating on distant goals, yet momentum psychology is the ultimate performance hack. Harvard Business School research shows that teams that celebrate small victories demonstrate 76% higher engagement and innovation rates compared to those focused solely on end goals. Here’s how to start: ✅ Implement a wins journal to document three daily achievements regardless of size - Neurologically, recording success builds confidence faster than accomplishing unmarked wins. ✅ Create team progress rituals that highlight incremental movement - Collective celebration builds cultural momentum beyond individual momentary motivation. ✅ Practice "progress spotting" by identifying forward movement in apparent setbacks - Reframing challenges as learning preserves momentum during difficult times. Your biggest achievements aren't single moments - they're built from countless smaller victories. The most resilient leaders don't wait for the finish lines; they create celebration checkpoints throughout the journey. Coaching can help; let's chat. Follow Joshua Miller for more inspiration. #executivecoaching #leadership #mindset

Stop trying to solve burnout with meditation apps. #Burnout at work is on the rise, and next year isn't likely to bring relief -- in fact the opposite. Under pressure to "do more with less," fears about #genAI and #RTO commands, it's not a surprise. Sharon Parker and Caroline Knight in MIT Sloan Management Review have put together a great framework for addressing a pressing issue that doesn't get glib about apps or just say "lighten their load." They also root it in a case for change: "58% percent of 18-to-34-year-olds said that their daily level of stress is overwhelming. Disengaged, stressed-out employees do not perform at their best." The SMART framework: 🔸 Stimulating work: Am I solving real problems that matter? Is there variety? 🔸 Mastery: Am I learning new skills, getting feedback and is it clear how my work contributes to broader goals? 🔸 Autonomy: Are the lines clear for what decisions I can make, and do I have flexibility to do work where and when I'm at my best? 🔸 Relational work: Am I engaged with a team, connected and feel a sense of belonging and support? 🔸 Tolerable demands: Is the work realistically scoped, so that I'm not in continual overload? Are there peaks and valleys? Their framework sounds easy, but anyone who's managed large teams knows how hard it is and how much design goes into making it happen. What I found historically with teams that helped were: ☀️ Frequent check-ins on how someone's feeling about the work, not just the status of the work: are you learning? Is it reasonable? Are you having fun? ☀️ Rotations of dreck and joy: routine work and doing the same type of project over again isn't fun; ensuring people get rotations in and out of "drudge" work. ☀️ Balancing autonomy and collaboration: Getting clear up front about shared goals, roles and levels of decision authority across the team. No swarm ball. ☀️ Taking breaks. Make sure people can step away from work, build and support boundaries and rest periods. Peak performance isn't "hustle culture." What works for you to relieve burnout? #Leadership #Management #Engagement #Productivity #culture

Hard truth: The source of your team's frustration, Is almost always your good intentions. Burnout is not about the workload. It's about how the work flows. Great teams can handle high standards. But they suffocate under  • False urgency • Unclear priorities • Bureaucratic busywork Worst of all?  They happen most when you're afraid to fail. 10 Leadership Habits Quietly Exhausting Your Team: 1. The Perfection Standard • People stop taking risks when perfection is expected • Innovation requires permission to fail fast and learn • High standards motivate, impossible standards paralyze 2. The Always On Signal • Instant replies train people to never unplug • Focus protects performance, it doesn't hurt productivity • Rest isn't resistance, it's required for sustained excellence 3. The Let Me Fix It Reflex • Jumping in steals growth opportunities from your team • People need space to struggle, fail, and figure it out • Your job is developing capability, not doing the work 4. The One More Hour Mindset • Impact gets confused with presence and time with value • Sustainable pace beats heroic sprints every time • Culture turns toxic when balance becomes betrayal 5. The Hero Complex • Being the solution makes you the bottleneck • Decisions should flow through the team, not around it • Your goal is to make yourself less necessary, not more 6. The Urgency Alarm • When everything's urgent, nothing actually is • Clear priorities give people permission to say no • Energy drains faster when interruptions attack focus 7. The "Good Vibes Only" Shield • Honesty goes into hiding when problems can't be discussed • Psychological safety means facing reality together • Trust erodes when feedback becomes forbidden 8. The One More Thing Disease • Projects expand when scope creeps go unchecked • Done is better than perfect when momentum matters • Excellence requires knowing when to stop, not just start 9. The "Let's Meet" Trap • Real work shifts to nights when days fill with meetings • Most decisions don't need a room full of people • Time is your team's most valuable resource 10. The Rapid Response Culture • Speed without strategy creates more problems than solutions • Quick fixes compound into technical and cultural debt • Sometimes slow is smooth, and smooth is fast Your habits shape their reality.  Make them intentional. Because your team can handle the work.  They just can't handle erratic leadership. Are you a new manager falling into the good-intention traps?  The right systems and skills are your fastest path out. MGMT Fundamentals is the practical training we wished we had. Two weeks. 6 modules. Practical tactics. Real coaching.  And every session is live with 50+ leaders. Join our last cohort for 2025 starting September 9th: https://lnkd.in/ewTRApB5 Before you go:  ♻️ Share to help other leaders build better habits 🔔 Follow Dave Kline for more leadership systems

Let’s face it - current headlines spell a recipe for employee stress. Raging inflation, recession worries, international strife, social justice issues, and overall uncertainty pile onto already full work plates. As business leaders, keeping teams motivated despite swirling fears matters more than ever. Here are 5 strategies I lean into to curb burnout and boost morale during turbulent times: 1. Overcommunicate Context and Vision: Proactively address concerns through radical transparency and big picture framing. Our SOP is to hold quarterly all hands and monthly meetings grouped by level cohort and ramp up fireside chats and written memos when there are big changes happening. 2. Enable Flexibility and Choice: Where Possible Empower work-life balance and self-care priorities based on individuals’ needs. This includes our remote work policy and implementing employee engagement tools like Lattice to track feedback loops. 3. Spotlight Impact Through Community Stories: Connect employees to end customers and purpose beyond daily tasks. We leveled up on this over the past 2 years. We provide paid volunteer days to our employees and our People Operations team actively connects our employees with opportunities in their region or remotely to get involved monthly. Recently we added highlighting the social impact by our employees into our internal communications plan. 4. Incentivize Cross-Collaboration: Reduce silos by rewarding team-wide contributions outside core roles. We’ve increased cross team retreats and trainings to spark fresh connections as our employee base grows. 5. Celebrate the Humanity: Profile your employee’s talents beyond work through content spotlight segments. We can’t control the market we operate in, but as leaders we can make an impact on how we foster better collaboration to tackle the headwinds. Keeping spirits and productivity intact requires acknowledging modern anxieties directly while sustaining focus on goals ahead. Reminding your teams why the work matters and that they are valued beyond output unlocks loyalty despite swirling worries. What tactics succeeded at boosting team morale and preventing burnout spikes within your company amidst current volatility?

I’ve found myself navigating meetings when a colleague or team member is emotionally overwhelmed. One person came to me like a fireball, angry and frustrated. A peer had triggered them deeply. After recognizing that I needed to shift modes, I took a breath and said, “Okay, tell me what's happening.” I realized they didn’t want a solution. I thought to myself: They must still be figuring out how to respond and needed time to process. They are trusting me to help. I need to listen. In these moments, people often don’t need solutions; they need presence. There are times when people are too flooded with feelings to answer their own questions. This can feel counterintuitive in the workplace, where our instincts are tuned to solve, fix, and move forward. But leadership isn’t just about execution; it’s also about emotional regulation and providing psychological safety. When someone approaches you visibly upset, your job isn’t to immediately analyze or correct. Instead, your role is to listen, ground the space, and ensure they feel heard. This doesn't mean abandoning accountability or ownership; quite the opposite. When people feel safe, they’re more likely to engage openly in dialogue. The challenging part is balancing reassurance without minimizing the issue, lowering standards, or compromising team expectations. There’s also a potential trap: eventually, you'll need to shift from emotional containment to clear, kind feedback. But that transition should come only after the person feels genuinely heard, not before. Timing matters. Trust matters. If someone is spinning emotionally, be the steady presence. Be the one who notices. Allow them to guide the pace. Then, after the storm passes, and only then, you can invite reflection and growth. This is how you build a high-trust, high-performance culture: one conversation, one moment of grounded leadership at a time.

If your team is burning out… it’s not a THEM problem. It’s a YOU problem. Burnout isn’t just about working too hard or too much… it’s about working under the wrong conditions and doing pointless work. And leadership sets those conditions. If your people are drowning, ask yourself: ↳ Do they feel safe stepping away? ↳ Are priorities clear, or are they chasing everything? ↳ Are they reacting to chaos because leadership lacks direction? ↳ Are they recognized, or just running on empty? Here’s how to help them recover: ↳ Set CLEAR priorities… stop making EVERYTHING urgent. (If it’s all urgent, nothing is!) ↳ Normalize rest… if they never see YOU take a break, they won’t either. ↳ Give recognition often, not just when things fall apart. ↳ Create space for deep work… constant firefighting is a leadership failure. ↳ Check in. Not just about tasks… but about THEM. How are they? Great leaders protect energy, focus, and recovery. Weak ones just watch their teams burn. What’s your best burnout prevention strategy? Let’s hear it. — 🚀 If this hit home, follow me (Jon Macaskill) for more leadership insights and please repost if you’d like! 📩 And if you subscribe to my newsletter here → https://lnkd.in/g9ZFxDJG I’ll send you FREE access to my 21-Day Mindfulness & Meditation Course. No fluff. Just real, actionable strategies to lead with clarity, resilience, and purpose.

One of the hardest balances to master as a leader is staying informed about your team’s work without crossing the line into micromanaging them. You want to support them, remove roadblocks, and guide outcomes without making them feel like you’re hovering. Here’s a framework I’ve found effective for maintaining that balance: 1. Set the Tone Early Make it clear that your intent is to support, not control. For example: “We’ll need regular updates to discuss progress and so I can effectively champion this work in other forums. My goal is to ensure you have what you need, to help where it’s most valuable, and help others see the value you’re delivering.” 2. Create a Cadence of Check-Ins Establish structured moments for updates to avoid constant interruptions. Weekly or biweekly check-ins with a clear agenda help: • Progress: What’s done? • Challenges: What’s blocking progress? • Next Steps: What’s coming up? This predictability builds trust while keeping everyone aligned. 3. Ask High-Leverage Questions Stay focused on outcomes by asking strategic questions like: • “What’s the biggest risk right now?” • “What decisions need my input?” • “What’s working that we can replicate?” This approach keeps the conversation productive and empowering. 4. Define Metrics and Milestones Collaborate with your team to define success metrics and use shared dashboards to track progress. This allows you to stay updated without manual reporting or extra meetings. 5. Empower Ownership Show your trust by encouraging problem-solving: “If you run into an issue, let me know your proposed solutions, and we’ll work through it together.” When the team owns their work, they’ll take greater pride in the results. 6. Leverage Technology Use tools like Asana, Jira, or Trello to centralize updates. Shared project platforms give you visibility while letting your team focus on execution. 7. Solicit Feedback Ask your team: “Am I giving you enough space, or would you prefer more or less input from me?” This not only fosters trust but also helps you refine your approach as a leader. Final Thought: Growing up playing sports, none of my coaches ever suited up and got in the game with the players on the field. As a leader, you should follow the same discipline. How do you stay informed without micromanaging? What would you add? #leadership #peoplemanagement #projectmanagement #leadershipdevelopment

When we talk about leadership, we often focus on strategy, execution, and decision-making. But the deeper layer, the one that often goes unspoken, is energy. I’ve seen it across industries and teams: Smart people with the right tools and plans… making reactive choices, burning out quietly, and losing clarity in the noise. The issue usually is a lack of margin. Presence. Recovery. High-stakes environments reward speed, but sustainable leadership requires rhythm. Over time, I’ve learned to treat energy like any other asset: - Build in buffers between moments of intensity - Pause for breath before reentering complexity - Normalize micro-recoveries for teams, not just PTO - Ask not just what’s blocked, but what’s draining us These are structural practices. Because the quality of our energy shapes the quality of our decisions—and our culture. Leadership is about knowing when to reset, so the push isn’t coming from depletion. Curious to know: how do you manage energy for yourself, or for your team?

Yoga, meditation, pizza parties, and smoothie bars often get a bad rap—or become easy scapegoats—for ineffective wellness strategies. But these activities can support well-being when used alongside deeper organizational efforts. Real change only happens when organizations tackle the core drivers of burnout and embed well-being into their core values and culture. This includes: • Fair workloads and staffing levels to prevent chronic overwork • Clear roles and expectations to reduce confusion and stress • Psychological safety so employees feel comfortable speaking up • Supportive leadership that models healthy boundaries • Flexible schedules and work options where possible • Opportunities for career growth, learning, and personal development • Effective communication and alignment to reduce unnecessary stress • Access to mental health resources and peer support networks Sustainable and holistic well-being isn’t served by isolated activities or “wellness programs.” It requires building a culture of joy, purpose, and connection where people feel valued and empowered to thrive in their work and life. Have you seen organizational cultures that get this balance right? #JustOneHeart #Wellness #Leadership #Culture