Burnout: The Hidden Risk for Transformation Leaders

Are You Heading Toward Burnout Without Realizing It?

As someone who has worked with over 1,000 transformation leaders worldwide, I see the patterns clearly. Many are on the brink of burnout for three major reasons:

1️⃣ Not Being Set Up for Success

Many leaders are asked to deliver transformative results without the necessary resources, structure, or support.

• The Right Talent: Without a capable team, leaders end up carrying too much themselves, becoming overwhelmed and stretched too thin.
• The Right Buy-In: Lack of alignment or commitment from key stakeholders creates resistance, misdirection, and frustration.
• The Right Structure: When programs lack clarity and well-defined frameworks, leaders are left to fill the gaps, often at the expense of their well-being.

No matter how skilled or determined you are, success is impossible when the foundation isn’t strong.

2️⃣ The “Hard Work” Culture

In many industries, working hard has become a badge of honor. Late nights, endless meetings, and constant email responses are seen as signs of dedication and importance.

But here’s the problem: 🚫 Hard work doesn’t always equate to impact. 🚫 Being busy isn’t the same as being effective.

The result? Leaders are exhausted yet disconnected, unable to truly switch off or recharge. When “success” is tied to burnout, it’s not success at all—it’s unsustainable.

3️⃣ Gaps in Capability

Transformation leadership is one of the most demanding roles in the business world. It requires mastery across multiple areas:

• Designing and Shaping Transformation: Setting a clear vision and strategic direction.
• Influencing and Articulating: Gaining stakeholder buy-in and communicating effectively.
• Leading Teams and Self: Inspiring others while maintaining personal resilience.
• Executing and Course Correcting: Delivering results while adapting to challenges.
• Creativity and Foresight: Anticipating trends and driving innovation.
• Adopting Change and Creating Cultural Shifts: Ensuring transformation is embraced and embedded.

When leaders lack proper training, mentoring, or practice in these areas, they end up compensating with time and effort rather than skill and precision. This leads to longer hours, harder work, and ultimately, burnout.

Breaking the Cycle

Burnout doesn’t just impact leaders—it affects the success of the transformation programs they lead. To avoid burnout and thrive as a transformation leader, here’s what you can do:

✅ Build the Right Foundations: Ensure you have the necessary talent, buy-in, and structure to succeed. If these aren’t in place, advocate for them. Transformation doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

✅ Redefine Success: Move away from equating success with busyness or exhaustion. Focus on effectiveness, clarity, and outcomes rather than endless activity.

✅ Invest in Capability: Leadership in transformation is a skill to be developed, not a natural ability. Seek mentoring, training, and opportunities to refine the critical skills that make transformation successful—and sustainable.

Conclusion

Transformation leaders are some of the most resilient and capable professionals in the world, but resilience doesn’t mean ignoring the warning signs of burnout.

Take a moment to reflect:

🌍 Grateful to be recognized as a Global Transformation & Change Adoption Expert 🌟

Thrilled to share some exciting news!

I’ve been invited to join Harvard Business Review’s Advisory Council—a panel of select global professionals contributing to cutting-edge research and thought leadership.

As someone deeply invested in shaping the future of transformation and change adoption, this opportunity to collaborate with Harvard Business

Review aligns perfectly with my mission:

✔️ Helping leaders bridge strategy to execution. ✔️ Enabling transformative change that’s humane and embraced. ✔️ Empowering organizations to do the right work, well.

🟢🟢This milestone is a reminder of the collective impact we create when we challenge the status quo and push boundaries in transformation and leadership.

🔴🔴I am also here to challenge the fluff, the endless templates and models, and superficial knowledge and teachings that has done more damage than good for the transformation and change adoption practices

💬 Let’s keep the conversation going

Till next week

Jess Tayel

Founder of the People of Transformation membership & community.

Elevate Change & Transformation high-performing leaders to soar above the sea of sameness and achieve new heights in mastery, influence, & impact without the drag of going solo or slow progression.