Why Good People Feel Exhausted At Work
About this episode
Ruth explores why capable individuals in high-performing organizations often feel exhausted at work due to outdated systems and misalignments rather than personal resilience.
In this episode, Ruth dives into a pervasive issue she’s observed in high-performing organizations: why even the most capable, committed people end up feeling exhausted at work. Drawing on real-life conversations with senior leaders and research like Christina Maslach’s work on burnout, Ruth explores how exhaustion isn’t always about personal resilience, but frequently about weary, outdated systems and misalignments in the workplace. Key Topics The Paradox of the Successful but Exhausted Organization Organizations can look externally successful—great results, strong performance, low turnover—while internally staff feel heavily burdened and tired 01:08 . Focusing on Individuals vs. Systems Leaders often respond to burnout by asking how to make people more resilient or efficient, but Ruth challenges this, suggesting these are just “sticking plasters” if the underlying system is tired 02:39 . What Really Causes Burnout? Referencing Christina Maslach’s research, burnout is shown to arise from mismatch between individuals and their environment—not just workload, but also lack of control, unclear expectations, misaligned values, or lack of recognition 03:32 . Symptoms of a Tired System…
More episodes of Frustrated And Exhausted
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- When To Push & When To Walk Away – How Leaders Decide Between Persistence & Pivoting with Tina Munglani
- When Smart People Stop Speaking – Psychological Safety In Teams
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