Living With The Cost Of Unreliable Leadership

Living With The Cost Of Unreliable Leadership

From Frustrated And Exhausted by Ruth Wood

January 6, 2026 · 12 min · Episode 113

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of unreliable leadership on women's well-being and performance at work, challenging the narrative around burnout.

In this episode of Frustrated and Exhausted , Speaker I dive into the powerful topic of how unreliable leadership impacts women, their well-being, and their performance at work. Instead of focusing on personal shortcomings, I challenge the common narrative around burnout and exhaustion, encouraging listeners to look at the environments and conditions that drive these feelings. A Different View on Burnout: Eexplain that chronic exhaustion isn’t always about individual resilience or personal flaws. Instead, it’s often a normal response to unpredictable, unreliable, and unsupportive work environments. The Impact of Leadership: The conversation highlights how inconsistent communication, shifting priorities, and a lack of transparency from leaders can leave teams feeling exhausted and on edge—even when leaders don’t intend harm. Research on Psychological Safety: Referencing Amy Edmondson’s work, the episode discusses how low psychological safety in a workplace can suppress openness, making employees hide mistakes rather than seek support, ultimately harming performance and engagement. Internalizing Systemic Problems: The episode acknowledges that high-performing women often…

People in this episode

Host: Ruth Wood

Topics covered

  • unreliable leadership
  • burnout
  • psychological safety
  • women in the workplace
  • work environment
  • leadership impact

Keywords

  • leadership
  • burnout
  • psychological safety
  • women
  • work performance
  • systemic issues
  • communication

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