When I first spoke to the Chief People Officer at a medium size Housing Association, they were at a breaking point and seriously worried about leaders with burnout. One of their key department heads, let’s call her Sarah, had been running on empty for months.
She was the go-to person for everything, constantly firefighting, stepping in to cover gaps, and managing every detail herself. The leadership team admired her dedication, but behind the scenes, Sarah’s once vibrant energy had dimmed. Her late-night emails became the norm, and her laughter was replaced with a weary sigh.
The tipping point came when Sarah became really ill and had to take time off. It took her longer to recover and, when she returned, things weren’t the same. She struggled to pick up where she left off, feeling out of sync and questioning her ability to keep going.
Sarah felt isolated and doubted her abilities. A feeling that many leaders silently carry.
Eventually, she transitioned into a different role, leaving a leadership gap that took months to fill.
The Real Cost of Burnout
Sarah’s story isn’t unique. When organisations have leaders with burnout, the ripple effect is felt across the entire organisation.
Decision-making becomes reactive, which means communication and goals suffer and then performance drops too.
Teams lose direction, goals and deadlines are missed, which, in turn, costs the company money and leads to increased pressure on people and a dip in morale.
The financial cost is equally significant too; productivity slows, mistakes increase, and turnover in leadership teams means expensive recruitment and onboarding processes.
Balancing employee wellbeing with workplace demands is a constant pressure. Many leaders find themselves managing the stress of their teams while also dealing with their own workload pressures and anxieties.
Not to mention the added pressure on the remaining team to pick up the slack, which can lead to even more burnout.
If this story sounds familiar, let’s have a chat. Book a call with me here and let’s see how we can support your leaders before burnout becomes a bigger problem.
A Practical Solution: Coaching for Leaders with Burnout
After Sarah’s experience, her organisation decided to take action to support leaders with burnout. They introduced a coaching programme to support leaders in managing their workload and stress levels before reaching a breaking point.
As an Executive Coach, I specialise in working with leaders to help them delegate and prioritise to improve productivity so they engage teams and meet strategic goals. With this organisation, we blended ILM7 coaching techniques with leadership skills and proven management models such as the GROW model, providing not just a space to reflect but practical strategies leaders could use immediately.
For instance, we focused on delegation. Many leaders with burnout, like Sarah, feel they need to do it all themselves. Through coaching, they learned how to communicate expectations clearly, trust their teams, and step back from micro-managing.
We also worked on setting healthy boundaries – it’s not just about saying no (as many people think) it’s about setting expectations and sharing clear deadlines so there’s much less time chasing for updates and protecting time for deep work and recovery.
The Results
Within three months, the shift was noticeable. Leaders with burnout, and those who had been on the verge of burnout were now more confident in delegating, managing their time effectively, and setting boundaries.
The result? Less stress, more focus, and a healthier work environment. Teams became more autonomous, decision-making improved, and the organisation avoided the costly cycle of leaders with burnout and leaving. Team productivity increased by 25% too!
I really love doing this work. And I really love that my clients and organisations get such amazing results. My passion is helping leaders thrive, not just survive, in their roles
As ever though, whilst I provide the strategy, coaching and guidance, they’re the ones showing up for themselves and their businesses to do the work and use the support available to get the results that they want.
Get in touch with me here and let’s book a call to explore how executive coaching can help leaders with burnout and transform your organisation’s leadership development and talent pipeline.
Why this is the Best Time to Help Leaders with Burnout
If you’re noticing signs of leaders with burnout, it might look like constant firefighting, long hours, reluctance to delegate (and more)… Don’t wait for the breaking point. NOW is the best time to help your leaders with burn out.
April is Stress Awareness Month too, so it’s the perfect time to introduce the topics of stress and burnout without leaders feeling like they’re the only one struggling.
If April is also your new financial year, then it’s the best time to get the budgets in for burnout support and leadership development across the entire year.
Supporting your leaders early isn’t just the right thing to do; it makes business sense. Healthy leaders create healthy teams, better performance, and sustainable results
Is it time to think about how you want your leaders to be performing in three- or six-months’ time? I’d be delighted to have a chat with you and share insights and recommend a plan that meets your company needs (and your budget) to give maximum impact.
Emma Langton has over 13 years experience in supporting leaders to enhance engagement, performance and wellbeing. Her coaching, training and speaking is valued by organisations across the UK for getting results quickly with her straight talking Yorkshire style.
Often referred to by her clients as the boundary queen and the resilience goddess, she shares her passion for progress with practical tips and advice so that her clients improve leadership skills, reduce stress and pressure and elevate wellbeing. She regularly provides insights for BBC, Forbes, Metro and also has a podcast called Lessons for Leaders with 100 episodes.
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