Burnt-out managers are destroying teams. These 5 daily habits reverse it

Managerial burnout isn’t inevitable. These 5 habits can prevent it.

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I’ll never forget the morning I froze in front of a client. I was a Vice President at Kearney, the global management consulting firm, presenting our proposal to a three-person client subcommittee. Mid-sentence, my mind went completely blank. Not the normal “lost my train of thought” blank. The kind of blank that leaves a scary emptiness where confidence used to live.

I’d been putting on a mask each day. I’d tried to be positive and stay on top of everything. But that morning, I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt anxious and exhausted at the same time. My mind was racing, and my body was depleted. The mask had finally cracked in the worst possible place.

What I didn’t know then was how common my experience has become. Recent Wiley research reveals that 47% of managers describe their work stress as severe, compared to 37% of employees. The people responsible for preventing team burnout are burning out faster than the teams they’re protecting.

This isn’t just a personal crisis—it’s an organizational one. Gallup research shows managers contribute to 70% of team engagement and well-being. When we crash, we don’t fall alone.

But here’s what I learned after rebuilding my career and interviewing hundreds of leaders. Burnout isn’t inevitable. The managers who stay resilient practice five specific daily habits.

1. They practice self-care and talk about it

When managers visibly practice self-care, team performance improves. American Psychological Association research shows a direct correlation. But it’s not just about doing self-care privately—it’s also about modeling it openly.

Ellen Derrick, Partner at Deloitte Asia-Pacific, told me that she “grew up an athlete” and exercise remains critical to how she works through stress. What transformed her team wasn’t just that she exercised—it was that she stopped hiding it.

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