When the Tank Is Empty: Leading Through Burnout

Opening Reflection: It crept in slowly. At first, I told myself it was just a run of hard weeks. That a good night’s sleep or a weekend off would put things right. I still showed up to meetings with energy, still hit deadlines, still led the Monday call with conviction. But inside, something had changed. I no longer looked forward to the work. Ideas felt harder to summon. Decisions that once came easily now sat heavy in my mind. I didn’t call it burnout at the time. I told myself I was just tired, that this was the cost of leadership, of being dependable, of showing up when it mattered. But gradually I noticed things I couldn’t explain away. I stopped following up with the same rigour. I became less curious, less generous. I was still functioning, but not fully. Not as myself. It wasn’t a dramatic collapse. It was more like a…