The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You (That Predicts Everything)

About this episode

This episode explores leadership burnout through the lens of interoception and emphasizes the importance of recognizing bodily signals to prevent burnout.

Your body has been warning you about burnout, bad hires, and misalignment long before your brain caught up. This episode looks at leadership burnout through the lens of interoception, or your ability to notice and respond to signals from your own body. Cait Donovan explains why leadership burnout often feels sudden even though stress has been building for a long time, and why many leaders miss the early signs until they hit a wall. The conversation connects workplace burnout, self-trust, and emotional regulation in a way that feels both practical and deeply human. Cait explores how early life experiences can shape the way leaders relate to stress, interpret other people, and move through pressure without realizing how disconnected they have become from themselves. That insight opens up a more honest conversation about burnout, decision-making, and the hidden patterns that shape culture and performance. What makes this episode especially useful is how actionable it is. Cait shows how small daily choices can help rebuild trust with your body, strengthen self-awareness, and improve the way you lead. In a future of work that asks more people to lead with clarity, steadiness, and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Cait Donovan, Cait

Topics covered

• leadership
• burnout
• interoception
• self-awareness
• emotional regulation

Keywords

• workplace burnout
• self-trust
• decision-making
• culture
• performance

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: FRIED: The Burnout Podcast

More episodes of FRIED. The Burnout Podcast

• 350 Episodes In: The Burnout Story I Haven't Told in a While, a #straightfromcait episode · June 7, 2026 · 30 min
• The 4 Behaviors of A Toxic Workplace a #straightfromcait episode · May 31, 2026 · 9 min
• Toxic or Just a Bad Fit? How to Tell the Difference at Work with Leanne Elliott of Truth, Lies, & Work · May 24, 2026 · 55 min
• We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From Leaders And It’s Causing Leadership Burnout: A #straightfromcait episode. · May 17, 2026 · 12 min
• Burned Out and Managing Multiple Generations? What Leaders Get Wrong About Generational Conflict at Work with Kristin Scroggin · May 10, 2026 · 59 min
• Why Giving Your Best Employees More Autonomy Sometimes Backfires (And What to Do Instead) A #straightfromcait Episode · May 3, 2026 · 12 min