More than half of leaders (56%) in a new global survey are being driven to burnout by organisational challenges, and 43% say these challenges have pushed half their leadership team to quit.
A challenging business environment means many leaders are facing unrealistic performance expectations, which has led to unprecedented highs in turnover and burnout rates, according to data from LHH, a global talent solutions company.
The report, Embracing the Transformation of Leadership, found that market volatility (28%), increased competition (27%), and inflationary pressures and increased costs (27%) are the biggest external pain points for respondents’ companies this year.
LHH surveyed 2,675 C-level executives across ten countries.
On the internal side, leaders cite team effectiveness (23%), finding talent (22%), and digital transformation (22%) as the main hurdles for their companies in 2025. While global disruptions are driving increased pressure in the C-suite, internal shortcomings are also contributing to increased challenges for leaders, the report said.
According to wellbeing expert Leanne Spencer, burnout cultures require employees to constantly push through to get things done, but such an approach is not sustainable.
The less room professionals leave for that “period of recovery”, she said in an interview with FM, the more their capacity to perform diminishes.
Misaligned teams are stifling collaboration
Disorganisation is creating more barriers to efficiency. Many organisations are failing to assemble high-performing leadership teams that can work together and communicate, the LHH report said.
Twenty-six per cent of chief human resource officers and 23% of CEOs see collaboration as among the largest capability gaps affecting leaders’ effectiveness, the report said.
“If you were to examine the top leadership teams at many organisations, you’d find strong personalities, misaligned objectives, and non-complementing skillsets,” the report found. Teams of this nature often work against each other, the report added, as leaders pursue their vision for the company independently.
Lack of clarity is affecting confidence
One way to maintain success is building self-confidence in their leadership teams, the report said. Low confidence in teams is exacerbated by many organisations failing to provide tailored support to integrate new leaders into their roles.
Thirty-three per cent of new leaders (those with less than one year of experience in their role) reported that they are not confident in their ability to perform, with younger people and those in the first three years of their role significantly more likely to quit and burn out than other cohorts.
Confidence drops when support is minimal, the report said.
Leaders in charge of managing teams need to give clear instructions to help mitigate burnout, said Mike Drayton, a clinical psychologist, author, and leadership coach.
In a podcast interview with FM, Drayton said: “Be very clear about people’s roles. What they’re expected to do at work. Who’s responsible for what. And what outputs, what expectations you have in regard to what they produce.”
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.