Leadership and Burnout: What the Latest Research Actually Says

Perry Maddox digs into the latest research on wellbeing, leadership and burnout, identifying a powerful factor driving leadership flight.

The leaders are leaving.

According to new research, nearly 70% of C-suite leaders are considering quitting. They want a job that better supports their wellbeing.

You can hear the boardroom alarms ringing. After all, leadership turnover is a major risk and a huge cost. Seven in ten leaders considering an exit is no joke.

Luckily, leadership and burnout don’t have to go hand in hand.

The solution is standing right there in the mirror.

The Latest Research on Leadership and Burnout.

The latest leadership research from Deloitte examines the C-suite’s role in wellbeing. (All statistics cited in this article come from this research).

Here’s what it tells me:

C-suite leaders are doing a terrible job of tending to staff well-being.

Not surprised? Me neither, but don’t ignore this research. Amidst some fascinating insight on wellbeing, leadership and burnout, three trends stand out.

Finding 1: Leaders are clueless about their people’s wellbeing. 

Leaders consistently overestimate their employee’s wellbeing. For example, 84% of C-suite leaders believe that their employees have good mental wellbeing. Only 59% of their employees agree. This same pattern follows for physical, social and financial wellbeing.

Finding 2: Employees don’t think that leaders care.

Not a big surprise, given how grossly leaders misunderstand employee wellbeing. Still, it’s a major problem when 91% of C-suite leaders think they care about staff wellbeing but only 56% of  their staff agree.

Finding 3: Work is a Problem. Only one in three employees say that their job helps their wellbeing. Meanwhile, 63% of staff report they can’t take time off and disconnect when outside of work.

Put it all together.

Clueless leaders and jobs that reduce employee wellbeing.

Yikes.

Leadership and Burnout: The Big Why.

Let’s circle back to that headline figure of 70% of C-suite leaders who are considering quitting. The report evokes the pandemic and Great Resignation as reasons, but the big problem is clear:

Instead of pandemics and macro trends, the root cause of wellbeing-driven leadership flight is self-inflicted: incompetent leadership.

Sorry to break this to you, c-suite leaders. Leaving for another organization won’t solve your wellbeing problem. Not if you consistently fail to:

• Protect staff wellbeing. 68% of c-suite leaders admit not taking enough action to protect employee wellbeing. Those are the ones who admit it, so the reality is likely worse.
• Communicate about wellbeing.  73% of leaders claim to share about their personal wellbeing with their teams. Only 22% of employees agree.
• Walk the Walk. Remember those two-thirds of staff who say their job hurts wellbeing?  Pretty similar to the 71% of leaders who don’t personally model a culture of wellbeing.

We have a bunch of leaders with wellbeing is so poor that they want to quit, at the same time they are failing so miserably to care for their people.

The problem with these leaders isn’t wellbeing.  It’s ownership.

Twice in my career, I succeeded an executive who left for reasons associated with burnout.  Both times, my first impression of my new teams was how dismal their wellbeing and morale was.

By burning out their teams, the leaders had inadvertently burned themselves out.

It’s not a change of employer that leaders need.  It’s a change in the leaders themselves.

When leaders prioritize staff wellbeing, theirs will rise too. Envision a team of well, happy and thriving staff.  That’s the kind of team that performs better, that breeds excitement and joy, that creates and innovates, and that is more resilient to challenges.

That’s a team who makes a leader’s life easier.

Thinking of Leaving?  Here’s a Tip.

Several years ago, a friend in the office stopped me as I walked out.

“I know why you do that,” she grinned.

She watched me walk the length of the office to exit the back door each day, rather than using the front door near  my desk.

This was during the years where we first saw over 90% of global staff report a good work-life balance top 90%.  At the same time, we also saw leadership retention grow dramatically. We all worked hard on these issues as an organization, and part of that effort was how we led.

Like walking the long way out of the office each day.  Rather than leaving to find better wellbeing somewhere else, my friend knew exactly why I left the office:

“It’s so we all see you leaving on time.”