Excessive Burnout Among Leaders Is Increasing. One Neglected Practice May Offer Aid
Modern-day leaders are under a monumental amount of stress, and it's not just about skipping lunch or dealing with never-ending meetings. According to DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025, an astounding 71% of leaders worldwide admit to higher-than-ever stress levels since stepping into their roles. This strain isn't just mental; it's emotional, cognitive, and even physical.
This pressure doesn't just reside in the C-suite, either. The report, based on surveys of over 10,000 leaders across various industries, shows that leader burnout is widespread. If left unchecked, businesses may lose their edge in talent competitions, and more significantly, their resilience and profitability.
So, what's fuelling this leader burnout?
It's not a question of whether leaders are overworked; it's about the undetected forces that sneakily chip away at their effectiveness, clarity, and emotional energy. The DDI report points to three main culprits:
1. Face-to-face fatigue
Leaders working on-site report the highest stress levels (74%). They face the pressure of maintaining an "executive presence" 24/7, which, over time, takes a heavy emotional toll.
2. The hybrid and remote work paradox
Despite reporting lower stress levels, hybrid and remote leaders are experiencing higher rates of burnout (57% and 56% respectively). Being isolated, dealing with blurred work-life boundaries, and constant context-switching are some of the underlying issues.
3. Misaligned work arrangements
When leaders and their teams don't share the same work environment, stress levels rise. Remote employees with in-office managers and on-site employees with remote managers are more likely to feel the strain. Misaligned dynamics lead to communication gaps and unclear expectations, fertile ground for burnout.
The surprised costs of ignoring burnout
Burnout isn't merely a personal problem; it's a business risk. By 2024, 82% of employees will be at risk of burnout, according to a study. Another report, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, links burnout's cost to between $4,000 and $21,000 per employee annually in lost productivity and turnover. Leaders who are burned out are:
- 34% less likely to outperform their peers
- 3.5x more likely to leave their roles to protect their well-being
- Half as likely to feel engaged, negatively impacting their teams
Burnout doesn't just affect leaders; it disrupts the entire organization's culture, performance, and trajectory.
Wait a minute, there's an overlooked solution
Most leaders search for quick-fix solutions to overcome burnout: new productivity tools, better time management, or more self-care practices. However, the most effective remedy might be an unassuming skill: delegation. The DDI report identified delegation as the leading protectant against burnout. Yet, in separate assessments of over 70,000 manager candidates, only 19% showed strong delegation abilities.
Delegation is simple in theory but challenging psychologically. It demands trust, clarity, and a mindset shift. But when mastered, delegation becomes one of the most scalable forms of self-care for leaders, empowering them to build trust, distribute tasks appropriately, and alleviate the immense pressure on their shoulders.
Burnout: a risk and an opportunity
With talent retention being a top concern for CEOs over the next five years, burnout is a crucial aspect of that challenge. It poses a risk, but it also presents an opportunity. Leading organizations will treat burnout as both a wellness issue and a strategic priority, investing in their leaders and putting systems in place to support sustainable leadership and peak performance.
[1] Source: Harvard Business Review, "Why Time Management Hurts Executives" by Dorie Clark, Sep 17, 2018[2] Source: Forbes, "The 9 most shocking facts about stress at work" by Jacquelyn Smith, Aug 23, 2018[3] Source: American Psychological Association, "Understanding Leadership Burnout" by Gordon A. Sheppard, Jim Gordon, Christina Maslach, and Michael D. Leiter, Sep 2016
- The stress levels of CEOs worldwide have reached an all-time high, with 71% admitting to higher stress since assuming their roles, as reported by DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025.
- This stress isn't just mental; it's emotional, cognitive, and even physical, and the DDI report identifies three main culprits for leader burnout: face-to-face fatigue, the hybrid and remote work paradox, and misaligned work arrangements.
- Hybrid and remote leaders are experiencing higher rates of burnout (57% and 56% respectively), despite reporting lower stress levels, due to being isolated, dealing with blurred work-life boundaries, and constant context-switching.
- Despite the potential risks and costs associated with burnout, many leaders are searching for quick-fix solutions, such as new productivity tools, better time management, or more self-care practices. However, delegation, identified as the leading protectant against burnout, is often overlooked.
- Delegation is simple in theory but challenging psychologically, demanding trust, clarity, and a mindset shift. When mastered, delegation becomes one of the most scalable forms of self-care for leaders, empowering them to build trust, distribute tasks appropriately, and alleviate the immense pressure on their shoulders.
- By treating burnout as both a wellness issue and a strategic priority, leading organizations will invest in their leaders and put systems in place to support sustainable leadership and peak performance, thereby addressing the top concern of talent retention for CEOs over the next five years.
