For as long as I’ve been in leadership, fatigue has been accepted as “part of the job.” Early mornings, late nights, and long days on the road are treated as the price of entry. But something has shifted since 2020.
The global pandemic stretched leaders thin in ways we’d never imagined. The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) of “change management” has now become a constant backdrop of leadership. The pace is faster and the demands more relentless, with timeframes compressed but expectations accelerated. For many of the leaders I work with, this new normal requires regularly working 16-hour days or flying halfway around the world for just 72 hours of meetings.
No longer a temporary “busy season,” fatigue is now a permanent state for too many leaders who sometimes even see it as a badge of honor. But fatigue erodes effectiveness and engagement, becoming a silent tax on our leadership and performance.
Fatigue as a Tax: When Over-Pushing Takes a Toll
I’ve lived this lesson myself. When I went back to grad school while raising three kids and running my business, I learned quickly what it meant to run on empty. I still remember writing a paper in a hotel bathroom at 4 a.m. so I wouldn’t wake my daughter before a day of college tours. Years later, I was flying back and forth to Massachusetts to help my parents downsize while managing my business and supporting my family through my mother-in-law’s sudden decline in health. By the time I’d settled everything, the joy had quietly drained out of life. My days had turned from vibrant color to black and white, and everything felt like a slog. I wasn’t depressed; I could see clearly that I was completely depleted and needed to rejuvenate before I could rebuild. It’s an easy place to get stuck—but I didn’t.
That’s what extreme fatigue becomes: a silent tax that drains our resources over time, eroding our well-being, leadership effectiveness, and performance. Research shows that sleep deprivation impairs attention, working memory, and decision-making. One classic study (Williamson & Feyer, 2000) found that after about 17-24 hours awake, our cognitive and motor performance equals a blood alcohol content of .05-10% (legally intoxicated). Imagine how many buzzed leaders are making consequential decisions on a daily basis!
We may think we’re pushing through, but what we’re actually doing is compounding debt.
The Cost of Normalizing Fatigue
Many leaders mistake running on empty for grit or commitment. Just as often, they believe they have no choice. “It will be fine when I get through this stretch,” they tell themselves.
But what if there is no “other side”? What if the volatility and pace of work are not temporary but here to stay for the remainder of our professional careers? We risk more than groggy mornings.
Shawn Achor’s research in positive psychology reminds us that energy is what expands our possibilities. Fatigue narrows them. A fatigued leader doesn’t just feel worse: they make smaller, more risk-averse decisions, and they miss opportunities that a flourishing leader would see.
Worse, sustained fatigue becomes burnout, and burnout drives disengagement. Research with physicians found that about one in three (33.3%) experiencing high emotional exhaustion reported an intention to leave their role within five years. Another study found that burnout’s disengagement dimension explains nearly half (49%) of the variance in turnover intentions among professionals.
We can’t afford to lose momentum, but neither can we run ourselves into the ground. The way forward is to replace the grind with a rhythm that renews both our drive and our joy.
Flourish Mode: Recovery and Recalibration
Flourishing isn’t about doing less. Instead, it’s about choosing practices that renew our energy and reorient our perspective.
Sleep is important, but it’s only one form of rest. Renewal requires variety. Our recovery practices can take many forms: savoring a moment of joy, walking outside, moving our bodies, playing, spending time with friends, or immersing ourselves in music, art or literature.
My most important reset is an annual vacation by the sea. The expansive horizon, the rhythm of the waves, and the crisp marine air all restore me in a way nothing else does. That’s my “big rest.”
Flourishing isn’t built on just one vacation a year, of course. It’s also about cadence. Here’s what mine looks like:
- Hope (taking stock 2x a year) — deliberate reflection on where I’ve been and visioning on where I am going.
- Drive (daily) — focused energy to my work.
- Micro-rest (twice a day) — meditation and stepping outside, even briefly.
- Day of rest (two to four times a month) — one unstructured day where I can decide what I want to do. (Often it’s chores, but the spaciousness to decide itself is restorative.)
- Big rest (once a year) — a true vacation in expansive natural space (forest or sea).
The idea to take to heart is this: we are not infinite (as much as we would like to spend ourselves as if we were), but we are renewable.
Practical Takeaways for Leaders
Here’s how to recognize when you’re running on empty:
- You’re getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep more than 3 days in a row.
- You’re skipping exercise.
- You don’t have enough time for the people you love.
- Even your peak times feel sluggish instead of energizing.
- Your patience is short, and humor evaporates.
- Your optimism fades, and creativity is compromised.
And here are my suggested steps toward flourishing:
- Schedule micro-rests daily.
- Build one unstructured day into each month.
- Take time for a major reset annually.
- Reflect on your vision regularly to regain the long view.
Flourishing leaders don’t just survive the pace of work. They elevate their teams, their organizations and themselves through intentional practices that sustain their energy and expand their impact. These practices don’t comprise taking a break from leading; instead, these practices are foundational for becoming great leaders.
When we build in recovery and recalibration, we renew energy, regain perspective and reclaim momentum. That renewal fuels the creativity, innovation and sustained performance that make it possible to create what matters most at work and in life.
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