Burnout Starts With the Manager
It’s July 6th. Last week was slow. Long weekend, wild weather, a Monday that felt optional. Now here it comes again — and half your team is already on a beach in their head.
Here’s where managers blow it this time of year. They look at the empty desks and start pushing the team.
Stop. Before you manage anybody, go look in the mirror and ask the question you’re about to ask them: How are you, really?
Because burnout doesn’t start with your employees. It starts with you.
I’ve spent 30 years in workforce education, and this is the part everyone misses. We hand burnout to the employee to fix — more resilience, another wellness webinar. But your people spend 40 hours a week reading one person’s mood for permission. Their manager. You.
Come back depleted and short-tempered? They feel it before you speak. Come back honest about where you are? They get to be honest too. The tone starts at the top of the room. Always.
And it’s the small stuff that lights the fuse. One more thing on the pile. Emails at 11pm that quietly make 11pm the standard. Good work that vanishes because nobody said thank you. None of it feels like burnout in the moment. It feels like Tuesday. Gallup finds that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement — which is exactly why burnout starts at the top of the roomThat’s exactly why it’s dangerous.
So here’s your move this week. Four things. No budget required.
1. Speak positively — on purpose. Your team is reading your tone for permission. Give them momentum, not guilt.
2. Kill the meetings. Cancel them. Don’t schedule them. Nothing says I respect your energy faster than handing people back their time.
3. Set a real summer goal. Rest and results aren’t enemies. Point the team at something worth chasing before Labor Day.
4. Name your goal first. Before you ask them, answer it yourself. You can’t ask your people to aim if you won’t.
You can buy the best EAP on the market. It still won’t outrun a manager who’s burned out and doesn’t know it. You’re bailing water while someone drills holes in the boat.
Good news: this is a skill, not a personality. It can be taught. That’s the work I do.
Come into my living room and let’s get down to business. If burnout is quietly costing you your best people this summer, let’s fix the manager first — starting with the one in the mirror. https://balancinglifesissues.com/workforce-solutions/
So before you ask your team: what’s your personal goal this summer? Share it below. 👇
