7 Ways to Combat Leadership Burnout, For You and Your Team

Burnout Is Everywhere AND Leaders Aren’t Immune

Leadership burnout is on the rise.Every week, I hear from leaders who say, “I’m exhausted and my team is too.” When you’re balancing strategy, performance, people, and constant change, it’s easy for energy, clarity, and connection to fade. The result? Effectiveness drops, relationships strain, and the work starts to feel like a grind.

Research shows more than half of U.S. workers report symptoms of burnout, from emotional exhaustion to reduced performance. For leaders, burnout often looks like taking on too much, skipping recovery, and putting everyone else’s needs ahead of your own.

But here’s the truth: when a leader burns out, the whole team feels it.

This post offers seven practical, research-backed strategies to help you reduce burnout, rebuild resilience, and re-energize your team.

1. Reconnect with the “Why” Behind the Work

When people lose sight of purpose, burnout grows. Reconnecting to why you do what you do reignites motivation and focus.

For leaders: Schedule a short weekly “why check-in.” Revisit your mission not just your to-do list.

With your team: In your next team meeting, ask, “What part of this work gives you energy?” or “How does this connect to our bigger purpose?”

➡️ When purpose feels clear, energy and performance rise.

2. Protect Boundaries and Prioritize Recovery

Leaders often feel pressure to be “always on.” But exhaustion isn’t a badge of honor. Healthy boundaries are one of the strongest defenses against workplace burnout.

For leaders: Turn off notifications after hours and let your team know you’re doing it.

With your team: Set shared norms like “no email after 7 p.m.” or “tech-free lunch breaks.”

➡️ Protecting recovery time builds trust and sustainability.

3. Manage Empathy Wisely to Avoid Emotional Overload

Empathy is essential to strong leadership, but unmanaged empathy leads to fatigue. Brené Brown distinguishes between cognitive empathy (“I see what you’re feeling”) and affective empathy (“I feel it with you”). The second can drain your energy fast.

For leaders: Notice when you’re carrying others’ emotions. Name it and release it.

With your team: Discuss the difference between seeing emotion and absorbing it, and model healthy boundaries.

➡️ Empathy done well builds connection without depletion.

4. Balance Demand, Control, and Support

According to Adam Grant’s research, burnout increases when people have high demands but little control or support.

For leaders: Audit your team’s workload. What can you simplify, delegate, or clarify?

With your team: Ask, “What choices do you have here?” and “What support would help?”

➡️ A sense of control fuels motivation and prevents overwhelm.

5. Encourage Micro-Rest and Stress Recovery

Preventing burnout doesn’t always mean taking a long vacation. Small, intentional breaks can complete the body’s stress cycle and reset the brain.

For leaders: Schedule two-minute pauses between meetings to stretch, breathe, or step outside.

With your team: Build “micro-rest” moments into the culture, such as a short reset after tough discussions.

➡️ Recovery isn’t a luxury; it’s part of performance.

6. Strengthen Team Connection and Trust

Burnout isn’t just about workload — it’s often about disconnection.When teams trust one another and feel safe to be human, engagement and well-being increase.

For leaders: Be open when you’re stretched thin. Vulnerability creates psychological safety.

With your team: Start meetings with a quick check-in: “What’s one non-work thing you’re grateful for today?”

➡️ Trust and connection are powerful buffers against burnout.

7. Reconnect People to Their Impact

Burnout thrives in environments where people feel ineffective or unseen. Purpose and recognition are fuel for resilience.

For leaders: Each week, connect the dots between effort and outcome: “This matters because…”

With your team: Celebrate small wins and share stories of how your work made a difference.

➡️ Meaningful work builds motivation and staying power.

Final Thoughts: Leadership Well-Being Starts With Awareness

As a leader, you don’t just drive results — you set the tone.If you treat burnout as inevitable, it will quietly become the norm. But if you treat it as a signal to rebalance, you begin to create a culture where people (including you) can thrive.

Start with one or two of these strategies this week. Then share the conversation with your team. When leaders lead with energy, empathy, and purpose, the entire team grows stronger and the work becomes more sustainable, creative, and human.