7 Signs of Burnout Every Senior Leader Should Know

I write this from experience. On 16 September 2025 I experienced burnout, not as an abstract concept, but as something that stopped me in my tracks after 40 years of high performance across six sectors. Looking back, the signs were there long before that date. I ignored them. This article is about the ones you might be ignoring too.

"High performers do not burn out because they are weak. They burn out because they are very good at functioning past their limits, until they cannot."

1. You Cannot Switch Off. And You Have Started to See That as Normal

In the early stages of burnout, the inability to switch off feels like dedication. You are on call mentally even when you are not on call professionally. You check your phone during dinner. You wake at 3am thinking about a problem at work. You find it impossible to be fully present with the people you love.

Over time, this becomes your baseline. You stop noticing it as unusual because it has been your reality for so long. That normalisation is one of the most dangerous features of burnout: by the time you recognise there is a problem, you have often been in it for months or years.

The question to ask yourself is not "am I stressed right now?" but "when did I last feel genuinely, properly rested?"

2. Things That Used to Energise You Have Started to Feel Like an Effort

High performers are typically energised by their work. That energy, the drive to solve problems, to lead, to build things, is part of their identity. When burnout begins to take hold, that energy starts to drain.

It does not necessarily disappear overnight. It often fades gradually: the project that would have excited you six months ago now just feels like another demand. The conversation you would have relished now requires effort you cannot quite summon. The ambition that once felt natural now feels like something you are performing.

If you recognise this pattern, take it seriously. It is not laziness. It is depletion.

3. Your Patience Has Shortened Noticeably

Burnout tends to erode emotional regulation before it erodes everything else. People who are heading toward burnout often notice that they become shorter-tempered, less tolerant of ambiguity, and quicker to frustration, with colleagues, with family, and often with themselves.

High performers frequently interpret this as a sign that other people have become less capable, or that their environment has become more frustrating. That re-attribution, blaming the outside rather than examining the inside, delays the recognition of what is really happening.

If the people who know you well are noticing a change in how you respond to difficulty, that is worth paying attention to.

4. You Are Getting Things Done But Producing Less

This is a subtle one, and it tends to show up later in the burnout trajectory. You are still busy. Your diary is still full. But when you step back and look at what you have actually produced, what has moved forward, what decisions have been made, what has genuinely changed, the output does not match the effort.

You are working hard but not working effectively. The gap between activity and output is a classic sign that cognitive performance is declining under sustained pressure. Most high performers notice it but attribute it to external factors, too many meetings, poor systems, difficult stakeholders.

Sometimes those factors are real. But if the gap persists regardless of circumstances, look inward.

5. You Have Started to Disconnect From Why Any of This Matters

Perhaps the deepest and most telling sign of burnout is the loss of meaning. It is not just that work is hard, it is that it has started to feel pointless. The goals that once mattered seem hollow. The achievements that once brought satisfaction feel empty. You are going through the motions.

This is sometimes called depersonalisation or cynicism in the clinical literature on burnout. In plain terms, it is the experience of disconnecting from the parts of your work and life that used to feel most alive.

When you reach this stage, it is very difficult to address it through conventional performance strategies, working harder, restructuring your priorities, taking a holiday. What is needed is something more fundamental: a structured process of reflection, recovery, and rebuilding.

What to Do If You Recognise These Signs

The first step is the hardest: acknowledging it. High performers are exceptionally skilled at rationalising away the signals their body and mind are sending. The capability that makes you effective, your ability to push through difficulty, becomes the obstacle to recovery.

If you recognise more than one or two of these signs in yourself, I would encourage you to speak to someone. That could be your GP, a trusted colleague, a partner, or a coach who has lived experience of burnout and understands what recovery actually involves.

Recovery is possible. I know that from the inside. But it requires honesty, support, and the willingness to stop functioning on empty.