Exhausted, but still smiling: The dangerous myth of strong leadership
The following contribution comes from Louis Carter’s website, which describes itself as follows: Louis Carter is the founder and CEO of the Best Practice Institute (BPI) and Most Loved Workplace® (MLW), as well as a leading organizational psychologist recognized worldwide for his work on leadership, culture, and emotional connection in the workplace.
He created the Most Loved Workplace® certification and the Love of Workplace Index®, tools that measure and improve the employee experience through respect, alignment, and connection at work. Currently, MLW promotes the annual list of the 100 Most Loved Workplaces®, published by The Wall Street Journal, highlighting companies that achieve measurable excellence in their culture.
Author: Louis Carter
They smile. They remain present. But inside, they are crumbling.
That is the image of many leaders today: exhausted, isolated, but afraid to say so. They’ve been taught that strength means silence, that resilience means hiding the cracks. But what if that’s not leadership at all? What if it’s dangerous?
We need to talk about it. Really talk about it. Because the way we view mental health in leadership is broken, and lives, careers, and companies are paying the price.
The culture of perfection is killing us.
Let’s be clear: executive well-being is NOT a trivial matter. It’s not optional. In fact, leaders influence the emotional tone of organizations. However, if they are burned out, anxious, or disconnected, that mood is contagious. And yet, many continue to suffer in silence.
They feel the pressure to always be «on.» The strong leader, the one who has all the answers, the one who embodies the myth of constant positivity, is ingrained in the leadership culture, and it’s toxic.
The World Health Organization defines burnout syndrome
as a syndrome caused by chronic work-related stress that has not been successfully managed. However, many leaders refuse to admit they are struggling. Why? Because there is a stigma. And because showing vulnerability is still perceived as a failure in many boardrooms.
They feel they will be judged for their burnout.
The true cost of «Overcoming difficulties»
Let’s look at the data. A 2022 Deloitte survey revealed that 70% of executives seriously considered leaving their jobs due to mental health reasons. Nearly 80% of senior leaders stated they would rather look for a new job than talk to someone internally about their mental health issues.
Infographic showing that a 2022 Deloitte survey revealed that 70% of executives seriously considered leaving their jobs due to mental health reasons.
Unfortunately, this translates into much more than a simple health issue; it represents a retention crisis. Yet, in most leadership manuals or corporate cultures, this conversation is absent.
When leaders don’t receive support, they can’t lead effectively.
They become reactive, emotionally distant, and sometimes even aggressive. This impacts teams, affects performance, and creates a cycle of silence where everyone wears a mask.
As I said in one of my sessions, “Leadership is about knowing when to pause. The best executives I coach don’t just push themselves harder; they recognize when their own well-being is key to their team’s success.”
When Mental Health Takes a Backseat
However, some companies are starting to notice. Others continue to act as if it’s just a trend. The problem? Initiatives are often performative: meditation apps, informal Fridays, or perhaps a workshop. But the core issue—how we define and reward leadership—remains unchanged.
For real change, we need more than perks. We need cultural honesty.
That starts at the top. Leaders must lead by example. Not just by sharing burnout stories once, but by normalizing openness. That’s the real test: How do you respond when someone says, «I’m not okay»? Do you offer support or silence?
Toxic positivity does more harm than good.
However, let’s not confuse optimism with denial. Toxic positivity encourages leaders to ignore pain, hide doubts, and maintain a strong presence. But at the same time, it creates a false image of leadership.
Emotional pressure creates toxic environments.
Research on emotional suppression in leadership shows that when leaders feel pressured to hide their emotions, it creates a climate of detachment and burnout, ultimately harming team performance (APA Study). This suppression leads to reactive decision-making, strained relationships, and a culture where employees hesitate to seek help.
Studies have shown that executive well-being depends heavily on psychological safety. Leaders need permission to be human. They need space to rest, reflect, and reset. Without it, people not only burn out, but they also end up broken.
Who’s doing it right?
However, not all companies are making mistakes. Some are leading by example. TravelPerk, a Spain-based corporate travel platform and MLW-certified company, made global headlines in 2023 for expanding its partnership with iFeel, a mental health provider. The program offers anonymous therapy sessions, wellness check-ins, and access to professional help for all staff, including senior executives.
Why is this important? Because it sends a clear message: mental health is not a weakness. It’s a fundamental part of leadership.
And TravelPerk isn’t alone. Roth Staffing Companies, another MLW-certified organization, implemented «mental health days» across the board. But more importantly, they empowered their leaders to talk openly about stress, anxiety, and work-life balance. It’s not about pretending to care. It’s about embedding self-care into how leaders work. These actions may seem small, but they build a culture where the mental health of leaders is valued, not punished.
How the Stigma of Burnout in Leadership Is Built
Let’s dig deeper. Why do so many executives hide their burnout? Because, at some point, ambition became associated with self-neglect.
We praise leaders who push themselves, sacrifice, and persevere. We rarely reward those who pause, question, or protect their energy. This creates the stigma of burnout. Leaders don’t just fear being judged. They fear being replaced. Or worse, being seen as incapable. So they fake it.
They show up, smile, and perform. Even when they’re exhausted.
However, that performance comes at a cost. It affects their families. Their bodies. Their ability to think clearly. And it spills over to others, because when leaders model burnout, teams imitate them.
Redefining Strength at the Top
It’s time to ask: What if strength in leadership meant knowing your limits? At Louis Carter’s executive coaching firm, we challenge this myth daily. We teach leaders to see vulnerability not as weakness, but as wisdom. Because admitting burnout isn’t giving up. It’s taking a step forward.
Mental health in leadership should be part of the framework, not a footnote. Executives must learn to spot the early signs of stress, regulate their emotions, and build support systems. That’s true strength. And it’s more than personal.
A Harvard Business Review study found that emotionally open leaders
increase trust and loyalty within their teams. This drives performance, retention, and innovation. It used to be «desirable.» Now, it’s essential.
Why Executive Wellbeing Is Everyone’s Business
You might be thinking, «I’m not a CEO. Why should I care?»
Because leadership behavior shapes culture. When leaders suppress emotions, they create silence. When they embrace honesty, they open doors. That affects how safe others feel. This goes far beyond the need for therapy in the boardroom. It’s about permission. Permission to pause. To feel. To be authentic.
That doesn’t mean leaders share every emotion. It means they stop pretending they don’t have them. Executive well-being is a signal. If it’s ignored at the top, it’s ignored everywhere.
Burnout Isn’t What You Think
Many people imagine burnout as a breakdown. But most leaders keep going. That’s the danger. They answer emails. They lead meetings. But inside, they feel numb. Disconnected. Exhausted.
This silent burnout is harder to detect and more dangerous. Because it often ends in bad decisions, sudden departures, or emotional breakdowns. By the time someone realizes it, it’s usually too late.
That’s why early intervention is important. That’s why support must be consistent, not reactive. And that’s why leadership must change its narrative: from «always strong» to «always self-aware.»
Let’s Lead Differently
So what do we do? We stop pretending. We ask better questions. We create space for honesty.
At Louis Carter’s Coaching, we work with leaders to develop emotional agility and sustainable leadership models. We help them face stress without shame and lead without hiding. It’s a new way forward.
But it only works if leaders are willing to embrace discomfort. To stop smiling through pain. To stop using force as a mask. Because true leadership is more than simply pretending you’re okay to boost employee morale. It’s more about creating cultures where it’s safe not to be.
The future of leadership depends on emotional honesty.
What kind of leader do you want to be? One who hides the cost of success or one who redefines it?
The world is changing; the pressure is mounting, and burnout is becoming a silent epidemic in leadership. If we don’t talk about it, we stagnate.
But if we do? We build stronger companies. Safer teams. And more human leaders.
Let’s make leadership a space where people can thrive, not just survive. Let’s stop applauding burnout and start honoring balance.
Lead with truth. Take the Louis Carter Burnout Risk Assessment. Identify the gaps in your culture and let’s do something about them today.
The Strange Truth Behind Leadership Burnout in 2025
The following contribution comes from the VANTAGE CIRCLE portal, which describes itself as follows: Discover our journey
We help organizations around the world deliver a fulfilling employee experience and foster meaningful connections among colleagues through innovative recognition and well-being solutions.
The article is by Tanya Ahmed, a digital marketing expert at Vantage Circle, a cloud-based employee engagement platform. She is a leadership enthusiast and holds an MBA in Leadership from Queen Mary University of London. Her experience spans diverse fields, including customer relations, content creation, sales, and marketing.
Global Employee Recognition and Well-being Platform
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “leadership burnout”? Images that immediately spring to mind include physical exhaustion, mental fog, and emotional depletion.
As an entrepreneur, you’re probably used to pushing yourself and persevering. But how long can you keep this up before your health, your business, or your family suffers?
According to Gallup survey data from 2020 and 2021, «manager burnout is only getting worse.»
Experts say that pandemic fatigue in its final stages is affecting many managers and business leaders, with some feeling completely exhausted.
Among the many challenges the pandemic brought, the Great Quit is perhaps one of the most significant. Managing the day-to-day details of a remote workforce while watching your best employees leave is a recipe for stress and anxiety.
As a leader, you’ll feel the responsibility to serve, support with positivity, and have answers to all the uncertainties.
The pressure, isolation, and weight that come with being at the top can be overwhelming, making things seem hopeless and difficult to manage. Symptoms of burnout can include emotional exhaustion, detachment, loss of motivation, and decreased efficiency. All of which can have a ripple effect throughout the workplace.
Burned-out leaders become slow and indecisive when faced with important decisions.
They feel much less confident in their decisions. Low confidence can lead to poor choices, missed opportunities, and reduced employee engagement and morale.
What is leadership burnout?
A leader working on a laptop with full energy vs. a burnt-out leader with no energy.
Leadership is an active role; «to lead» is a verb. But the leader who tries to do it all is headed for burnout, and fast. – Bill Owens
Leadership burnout is the feeling of physical and emotional exhaustion experienced by senior executives and high-performing managers when they overload themselves with too much work or neglect their wellness practices, or it can be caused by isolation.
There’s a saying: «At the top, it’s lonely.» In a wide-ranging interview in 2016, five years after succeeding Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke candidly about the challenges of leading one of the world’s most iconic companies.
«It’s quite a lonely job,» he admitted.
The World Health Organization defines burnout syndrome as an occupational phenomenon in the International Classification of Diseases chapter on «Factors influencing health status.»
The WHO notes that burnout syndrome results from chronic work-related stress and is characterized by three dimensions:
Energy depletion.
Increasingly negative feelings toward work.
Reduced professional efficacy.
Burnout syndrome is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long. – Michael Gungor
Burnout has become a buzzword lately. But what does it mean?
Burnout is when your body says, «Enough! I’m out!» Burnout goes beyond simple exhaustion; it’s not just «I’m tired.» It’s more like «I have no mental energy left.»
Development Dimensions International’s 2021 Global Leadership Forecast
reveals that nearly 60% of leaders reported feeling exhausted at the end of the workday, which is a strong indicator of burnout.
Burnout can occur when you experience prolonged stress at work or when you’ve held a demanding position for a long time.
You can also experience burnout when your work efforts haven’t produced the expected results, and as a result, you feel deeply disillusioned.
Stress, uncertainty, and long workdays can also cause distress in leaders.
If left unchecked long enough, it’s a condition that can manifest as exhaustion, disengagement, depression, and burnout.
So, what drives people to this point? What signs can you, as a leader, look for to know if you’re heading toward burnout?
Let’s look at some ways to identify these signs.
The Silent Crisis of Burnout in Leadership Teams
The following contribution comes from the motional hub portal, which defines itself as follows: We equip organizations with clinically validated, AI-powered voice analytics that provides real-time insights into employee well-being: no surveys, just actionable data.
Our goal is to redefine workplace well-being by making AI-powered tools the global standard, enabling organizations to improve health, resilience, and performance.
Discover why burnout in leadership teams is a hidden risk and how CEOs can build a sustainable and resilient leadership culture from the top down.
The Silent Crisis of Burnout in Leadership Teams
Table of Contents
Request a Demo
Share
In recent years, workplace well-being has become a key issue for organizations. Mindfulness programs, wellness weeks, meeting-free days, and mental health benefits have been introduced… And, without a doubt, these initiatives have helped create more humane and sustainable environments.
However, there is a group within organizations that, despite being central to performance and culture, often remains overlooked: leaders.
