Summary: Recent research from The Oxford Review shows that the most effective leaders burn out first because the very traits that make them successful require unsustainable emotional labour. Burnt-out leaders cascade burnout throughout teams, with 47% of their employees experiencing burnout. Traditional solutions like time management training miss the mark. Preventing burnout requires system change.
Much of the leadership development happening in organisations today inadvertently sets leaders up to fail.
That might sound like a bold statement, but a 20-year study by The Oxford Review found that our best leaders – the most effective, most dedicated, most authentic – are the ones most likely to burn out. With the study finding that 72% of leaders now report burnout, we’re clearly doing something fundamentally wrong.
The capacity trap
Traditional leadership development has operated on a simple premise of making leaders better at leading. We’ve poured resources into developing these capabilities without acknowledging that there would come a time when leaders would simply have too much to contend with.
The system is now asking leaders to do more than any human can sustain, regardless of their capability. They are expected to manage relentless change and an overwhelming amount of deliverables at a demanding pace, often with inadequate resources. We’ve confused a capacity problem with a capability problem.
The irony is that the very behaviours that make leaders effective are what drive them towards burnout. The constant emotional labour of projecting confidence whilst feeling stressed. The self-control required to always put others first whilst managing their own reactions. The energy transference of continuously inspiring and motivating teams whilst receiving little in return.
You cannot keep pouring from a cup that isn’t being refilled and expect to maintain optimum performance. Yet that’s precisely what we’re asking of leaders.
Why this matters for your organisation
The individual toll is significant, but so too is the organisational risk. This is because burnt-out leaders cascade burnout throughout their teams.
The Oxford Review found that 47% of employees working under burnt-out leaders experience burnout themselves, compared to just 18% under ‘well’ leaders. Burnt-out leaders are three times more likely to lose top talent and 2.5 times less likely to have engaged team members. This means that leader health has become a key indicator of organisational health.
High-performing leaders demonstrate seven key traits: they see you, they have your back, they are present, they are not afraid of challenge, they stretch you, they trust you and they set clear direction. The result of this leadership approach is energised, high-trust work environments. But channelling these traits is not easy – it requires self-awareness, a low ego, and emotional regulation.
When leaders are overwhelmed – firefighting constantly, driving for harder targets, navigating continuous change – it becomes nearly impossible to stay regulated, connected and open-minded. Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a researched eight-stage cascade moving from hyperactivity through exhaustion, withdrawal, cynicism, and eventually to serious physical and mental health consequences.
At each stage, leaders lose capacity for the very behaviours their teams need most. Psychological safety erodes. Leaders become reactive and risk-averse. People stop speaking up. Mistakes get hidden. The culture shifts from openness to self-preservation – even if people cannot articulate that shift.
As a result, organisations will likely experience decreased productivity, increased errors, loss of institutional knowledge, and inability to achieve strategic goals. Good people will then leave, or, worse, stay and disengage. When leadership – the nervous system of an organisation – is compromised, the entire organisation becomes incapable of navigating complexity.
A different approach: Lessons from Ford
Research from The Josh Bersin Company finds that healthy organisations are 2.2 times more likely to exceed financial targets and 2.8 times more likely to adapt well to change. These businesses understand that preventing burnout delivers better returns than developing already-burnt-out leaders to be more capable.
While many employers turn to time management or resilience training, these responses are usually ineffective. The solution to leadership burnout lies in resource management and system change. This means addressing workload at source, providing genuine autonomy, creating clarity around expectations, and building structured 121 and peer support where leaders can connect confidentially.
Vulnerability needs to be normalised from the top, which means building psychologically safe environments where people can be honest and work together to solve problems. And when leaders admit they are struggling, the organisation should respond with action, not defensiveness.
Consider Ford Motor Company’s transformation. After posting a $12.7 billion loss in 2006, the company returned to profitability by 2009 with a $2.7 billion profit – a turnaround credited largely to Alan Mulally’s ‘Working Together’ leadership philosophy. This approach involved creating psychological safety, normalising honest dialogue and transparency around problems, building genuine team cohesion and giving all leaders their own coach. Through instilling this philosophy, Ford demonstrated what happens when leaders can operate in an environment that sustains rather than depletes them.
Burnout is preventable if leadership development fundamentally shifts
Leadership development must address the being of leadership, not just the doing.
Leaders need to understand how to sustain their own performance whilst sustaining their teams. This is where quality of character becomes instrumental, which requires conscious leadership – leaders who understand how to maintain awareness, manage ego, and stay regulated under pressure. It requires awareness that, as a leader, your role is to behave in a way that is ‘for the good of all’ – with employees, leaders, customers, shareholders, partners, suppliers, community and society all benefiting.
Burnout is predictable and preventable. We need a fundamental shift in how we develop leaders to equip them not just to lead better, but to lead sustainably in an increasingly demanding world.
Key takeaways
If you’re concerned about leadership burnout in your organisation, these research findings offer a different perspective:
- Recognise you’re asking leaders to do more than humans can sustain. When you keep developing capability without addressing capacity limits, burnout becomes inevitable.
- Understand that burnt-out leaders damage entire teams. Research shows 47% of employees working under burnt-out leaders experience burnout themselves, compared to 18% under well leaders. Burnt-out leaders are three times more likely to lose top talent. Leader health has become a key indicator of organisational health.
- Look beyond resilience training to system change. Time management courses and resilience workshops rarely address root causes. Preventing burnout requires workload management at source, genuine autonomy, clarity around expectations and structured peer support where leaders can connect confidentially.
- Create environments where vulnerability is safe. When leaders admit they’re struggling, does your organisation respond with action or defensiveness? Psychological safety from the top allows honest dialogue about problems and builds the conditions where leaders can sustain themselves whilst sustaining their teams.
The study referenced in this article was created by Wilkinson, D. J. in 2025 at The Oxford Review of Economic Policy. The report, ‘A 20-Year Review of the Antecedents, Impacts, and Mitigation of Executive Burnout (2005-2025)’, was produced at the request of the article’s author, Natasha Wallace, and is not publicly available.
Natasha Wallace is a Leadership Wellbeing & Performance Expert and former Chief People Officer. She works with organisations globally to prevent leadership burnout and sustain high performance.
