Beyond the Yoga Classes: Why Burnout is a Leadership Issue, Not Just a Wellness Problem

Burnout is everywhere. You can see it in the eyes of the high performer who suddenly stops speaking up. You can hear it in the sigh of the manager triple-checking their team’s work because they don’t trust anyone to get it right. You can feel it in the Monday morning meetings that resemble stress debriefs more than strategic conversations. The main agenda? Suriving another week.

And how are many organisations responding? With yoga sessions, resilience posters, and smoothie vouchers.

Let’s be clear: these quick-fix wellness offerings are not solving burnout. In fact, they’re insulting. Burnout is not caused by a lack of downward dogs or free fruit. It’s caused by broken systems, unclear priorities, and leadership that turns a blind eye to the human cost of relentless pressure.

Burnout is not a wellness problem. It’s a leadership failure.

Burnout is not just stress – it’s a signal your workplace is broken

Burnout isn’t just feeling tired. It’s deep, chronic depletion. It shows up as emotional exhaustion, disconnection, and a growing sense of “what’s the point?” Unlike short-term stress, burnout doesn’t go away after a weekend off. It builds over time when people are caught in work environments that constantly take more than they give.

According to Safe Work Australia research on psychosocial safety, poor psychosocial conditions cost employers around $6 billion annually, while depression alone costs $6.3 billion in absenteeism and presenteeism. But behind every statistic is a human being who gave everything and got chewed up by the system.

Burnout isn’t a personal weakness. It’s a signal that something in the system is off. And too often, that something is how leadership is showing up - or failing to.

How leaders are (unintentionally) driving burnout

Let’s talk about the real culprits. Not the employees in therapy. Not the HR team running mental health first aid courses. The real problem lies upstream.

Here’s how leadership, even well-meaning leadership, creates the perfect conditions for burnout:

• Lack of clarity - When everything’s important, nothing is. Too many leaders dump tasks on teams without clear direction or trade-offs. Staff are stuck chasing moving goalposts, unsure what true success looks like.

  
  

• Constant urgency - Every project is critical. Every deadline is immovable. Every email is marked urgent. This culture of manufactured crisis doesn’t build high performance, it builds anxiety and resentment.

  
  

• Micromanagement masquerading as ‘support’ - Hovering over your team, second-guessing every choice, being in every decision - that’s not supportive. It’s suffocating. You’re implicitly telling your people they’re not trusted, which kills motivation fast.

  
  

• Low psychological safety - In some organisations, people would rather push themselves to breaking point than admit they’re overwhelmed. Why? Because they’ve seen what happens to people who speak up — they’re labelled as ‘not coping’ or quietly moved on.

  
  

• Inconsistency and mixed messages - One minute it’s ‘we care about wellbeing’, the next it’s ‘can you just stay back and get this done tonight?’ People notice. And they stop believing you.

What good leaders do differently

If you’re serious about addressing burnout, start by looking in the mirror. The change starts with leadership - not with HR, not with a third-party wellness vendor. With leaders like you.

Here’s what effective leaders in Australia are doing right now to protect their teams’ energy and sustain performance:

• Set and protect priorities - Good leaders cut through the noise. They make hard calls about what won’t be done, and they defend their team’s focus like it’s oxygen - because it is.

  
  

• Role model sustainable behaviour - Your team notices when you send emails at midnight or never take leave. If you don’t model sustainable work habits, any talk of wellbeing will be ignored or laughed at.

  
  

• Listen, then fix what’s broken - Leaders who are brave enough to ask ‘what’s draining your energy?’, and then actually do something about it, build real trust. Start by running regular check-ins focused on energy, not just output.

  
  

• Create space for recovery - Design team rituals that encourage deep work, proper breaks, and protected thinking time. It’s not fluffy. It’s how elite teams maintain momentum without falling apart.

  
  

• Build middle manager capability - In large Australian organisations, the middle manager is the keystone. If they’re overwhelmed or under-equipped, your culture collapses. Invest in their development like it matters — because it does.

Wellbeing isn’t the enemy, but it’s not the cure either

Let’s be clear - there’s nothing wrong with yoga, apps, or wellbeing perks. But they’re the cherry on top, not the foundation. (Or as Kim would say in Kath & Kim, flowers are not a present, Brett, they’re a garnish).

Real wellbeing is structural. It’s about how work is designed, how priorities are managed, how leaders lead. If you don’t get those things right, no amount of breathing exercises will save your people.

Call to action: leadership that doesn’t burn people out

It’s time to stop outsourcing wellbeing to HR and start treating it as a leadership competency.

Ask yourself:

• Do I really know how my team is coping?

• Am I creating clarity or chaos?

• Am I pushing for results while protecting people?

If the answer to any of those makes you uncomfortable - perhaps that's good. That discomfort could be the beginning of better leadership.

Because burnout isn’t inevitable. But ignoring it? That’s a choice.

If you'd like assistance to improve a culture of burnout in your organisation, we offer services assisting with Corporate Culture Change and also Executive Coaching for senior leaders.