About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges of burnout among helping professionals and explores sustainable leadership with Dr. Jeff Frey.

What happens when the people dedicated to helping others begin to burn out themselves? In this episode of DBA Chronicles, we sit down with Dr. Jeff Frey, entrepreneur, healthcare executive, educator, researcher, and author, to explore one of the most pressing leadership challenges of our time: sustaining the people whocarry the weight of service, care, and impact. Drawing from more than three decades of experience across healthcare, technology, higher education, and entrepreneurship, Jeff shares how his doctoral journeyevolved into a mission to understand why so many high-performing leaders burn out and what organizations can do differently. In this episode, we explore: Why burnout is often a systems problem and not an individual failure The unique vulnerability of healthcare workers, nonprofit leaders, educators, counselors, and other helping professionals The concept of sustainable leadership and finding the "Goldilocks zone" between overcommitment and disengagement How emotional intelligence contributes to leadership longevity Why healthy leaders create healthier organizations, stronger engagement, and better outcomes The value of the DBA as a bridge between research…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dr. Kelly Burich, Dr. Valrie Grant

Guest: Dr. Jeff Frey

Topics covered

• burnout
• leadership
• sustainable leadership
• emotional intelligence
• healthcare
• nonprofit
• education

Keywords

• burnout
• leadership
• healthcare
• emotional intelligence
• sustainable leadership
• nonprofit
• education
• Further Faster
• DBA

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DBA Chronicles, Further Faster

More episodes of DBA Chronicles

• Episode 062: Distracted but Driven with Dr. Jennifer Adelhardt · July 15, 2026 · 40 min
• Episode 061: The Actor, the Audience, and the Business of Belonging with Dr. Conwell Worthington III · July 1, 2026 · 52 min

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