Recently, during a workshop with a group of senior leaders, I invited participants into a brief breathing exercise. Afterward, one leader spoke up and shared something that stayed with me:

“Those three breaths felt awful for me.”

When I asked her to say more, she explained that slowing down felt unfamiliar and unsettling. Her mind raced. The pause felt uncomfortable, even threatening.

She wasn’t alone in that experience.

Many leaders have become so accustomed to sustained urgency that stillness can feel unsafe. Fast pace becomes the norm. Pushing through becomes the strategy. Slowing down, even briefly, can feel like losing control.

When the pace finally eases, it often brings leaders face-to-face with what has been deferred for too long: exhaustion, emotional strain, unresolved tension, and deeper questions about sustainability. In that sense, speed can become both a coping mechanism and a risk factor.

The Hidden Burnout Crisis Among Leaders

The growing exhaustion among leaders is not simply a function of workload. It is the cumulative impact of sustained pressure, compressed timelines, and constant decision-making without sufficient recovery.

In 2024, leadership burnout continues to rise. Recent data indicates that approximately 60% of leaders report feeling physically and emotionally depleted at the end of the workday — a key indicator of burnout. This depletion is often experienced quietly, masked by competence and commitment.

Leaders are frequently deeply invested in supporting their teams while lacking space, structure, or permission to address their own stress. Many are unsure where to begin.

At the organizational level, this challenge is compounded by a perception gap. Research shows that while 96% of CEOs believe they are doing enough to support employee well-being, only 69% of employees agree. This disconnect suggests that well-intentioned efforts may be addressing surface-level symptoms rather than underlying systemic pressures.

If leaders are operating from chronic strain, it becomes difficult for them to meaningfully champion well-being initiatives or sustain healthy cultures over time.

Where to Start Supporting Leaders to Reduce Stress

Many leaders experience a one-directional flow of support. They hold responsibility, absorb pressure, and carry emotional weight, often without parallel systems that support their own regulation and recovery.

While executives may recognize the risks associated with burnout, few feel equipped with practical frameworks to address it. This points to the need for more intentional leadership development approaches that integrate stress literacy, self-awareness, and systemic responsibility.

Organizations can begin by focusing on a small number of foundational areas:

#1. Create Supportive Networks and Foster Open, Solution-Focused Conversations

Leadership teams have an opportunity to build trust through structured, honest dialogue. When leaders develop greater awareness of their own stress patterns, they are better able to engage in conversations that move beyond blame and toward shared responsibility.

In one organization, a senior leader recognized that her approach to timelines was unintentionally contributing to sustained stress for members of her team. Through reflection and feedback, she adjusted her planning process to include greater collaboration and realism. The shift reduced chronic pressure and improved trust.

When these insights were shared at the senior leadership level, they prompted broader conversations about pace, expectations, and decision-making norms across the organization.

#2. Invest in Ongoing Leadership Development and Executive Support

Training that helps leaders consistently identify and reduce chronic stressors should be considered essential, not optional. Leaders influence stress levels not only through policies and priorities, but through everyday behaviors, communication patterns, and expectations.

Effective development programs focus on practical application: helping leaders recognize early signs of overload, understand their role in shaping team capacity, and make adjustments that support sustainable performance.

When leaders are supported in building these skills, the impact extends beyond individual well-being. Teams experience greater clarity, reduced friction, and improved capacity to navigate complexity without constant urgency.

Closing Reflection

Burnout among leaders is rarely the result of personal weakness or lack of resilience. More often, it reflects systems that reward speed without accounting for human limits.

Addressing this challenge requires more than wellness initiatives. It requires supporting leaders in developing the awareness, skills, and structures needed to lead with clarity, sustainability, and shared accountability, even in high-pressure environments.

Shauna Moran is a fractional organizational strategy partner and keynote speaker working at the intersection of women’s leadership, burnout prevention, and organizational systems. She is the founder of the Impact Amplification Program™ and Leadership Systems Partnership™, helping organizations build resilient leadership capacity at scale.

Shauna Moran will be presenting ‘Building Burnout-Resistant Leadership Systems: Strategies for Sustainable High Performance‘ at HR Conference & Expo 2026, which will take place from May 5-6 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Register now to join the session.