19/03/2026
I was speaking with a female leader recently about overwhelm, pressure and stress.
What stood out most for her was the tiredness. Not the sort that disappears with a good night’s sleep or a quiet weekend. She had tried rest, taking time away, slowing things down a little, but none of it seemed to make much difference.
At one point, I mentioned burnout.
That led us to pause and reflect on her previous year. What became clear quite quickly was that nothing dramatic had happened. There hadn’t been a crisis or a defining moment where everything changed.
Instead, things had gradually begun to pile up.
More responsibility here. More decisions there. A few additional expectations along the way. Each part on its own was manageable, but what often goes unnoticed is the cumulative effect.
The weight builds slowly.
At first, it’s usually the things that we enjoy that fall away, the things that gave us our energy, that filled our cup. She felt so tired that there was no energy for the fun things, the pockets of joy, the moments of pause. The activities like walking, reading, doing weights and family fun all fell to the wayside; she had forgotten the last time she had a coffee with friends.
Then thinking becomes a little less clear. Decisions take more effort. The mind becomes noisier and harder to switch off. Sleep stops feeling quite as restorative.
The body and brain are simply working harder than they should for too long.
It reminded me how often pressure builds like that in professional life. Not suddenly, and rarely loudly enough to draw attention.
Just gradually enough that people adapt without quite realising what’s happening, this adaptation is often masked by professionalism.
That gradual shift is something I’ve become increasingly interested in helping people recognise earlier. I wrote a short piece called The Quiet Shift, which explores some of the early signals that pressure may be building and includes a simple question people can ask themselves, or their team.
You may even find it a useful question to ask yourself.
PS pop me a Yes Please in the comments if you would like a copy of my The Quiet Shift pdf
