Good leaders are burning out. Here’s what HR can do about it

The future of leadership is not about doing more. It’s about sustaining judgement, humanity, and trust – especially when pressure is high, writes Mark Jeffery.

For most of my career, I have worked closely with human resources teams during periods of organisational pressure: restructures, growth phases, regulatory change, and moments of cultural fracture that rarely make it into strategy decks.

What I am seeing now, across sectors, is not a lack of leadership capability.

It is something quieter, and more concerning.

Many organisations are being led by people who are very good at their jobs – and are slowly burning out because of it.

These leaders are dependable, conscientious, and deeply committed. They meet expectations, support their teams, and take responsibility seriously. They are often the people HR trusts most when things are difficult.

And yet, over time, being “good” becomes a trap.

The hidden cost of reliability

In practice, high-reliability leaders often become the default solution to organisational strain. They absorb complexity. They carry emotional load. They step in where systems are unclear or underdeveloped.

Because they cope well, they are given more.

More responsibility. More ambiguity. More emotional labour.

Rarely more support.

From an HR perspective, these leaders rarely show up as “at risk”. Engagement scores may remain steady. Performance remains high. Absenteeism is low.

But something else begins to erode: judgement, energy, and connection.

Leaders start to operate in constant response mode. Decisions become faster but thinner. Reflection disappears. Reactivity replaces intention.

This is not a resilience problem. It is a capacity problem.

Why this matters for HR

HR professionals are increasingly tasked with supporting leadership capability during times of sustained uncertainty – hybrid work, workforce shortages, regulatory pressure, and rising psychosocial risk obligations.

At the same time, leaders are expected to be emotionally intelligent, inclusive, decisive, and calm under pressure.

What is often missing is a shared organisational language for how leaders are meant to hold that pressure.

Without it, HR interventions default to capability frameworks, training programs, and wellbeing initiatives bolted on at the edges.

All useful – but insufficient if the underlying leadership load remains unexamined.

Leadership is not just behaviour – it’s regulation

One of the most overlooked aspects of leadership is nervous system regulation.

Under pressure, leaders do not fail because they lack skill. They fail because emotion outruns intention.

We see this in reactive conversations, avoidance of difficult feedback, micromanagement disguised as accountability, and decision paralysis followed by urgency-driven action.

From an HR standpoint, these moments often show up later as performance issues, team conflict, psychological safety breakdowns, and attrition that “came out of nowhere”.

Yet the root cause is rarely addressed early: leaders operating beyond their emotional and cognitive capacity.

A practical reframe HR can use

One of the most effective shifts I have seen is when HR helps leaders move from asking: “How do I keep performing at this level?” to “What do I need in place to sustain good judgement at this level?”

That question changes everything.

It invites conversations about decision load, role clarity, boundaries, support structures, and how pressure is distributed, not just absorbed.

Importantly, it also legitimises pause – not as weakness, but as leadership discipline.

Fair doesn’t mean the same

Another trap HR teams navigate daily is the belief that fairness means treating leaders the same.

In reality, leaders have different thresholds, experience, and support needs. One may thrive with autonomy. Another may need clearer containment during periods of complexity.

Good HR practice recognises this without compromising standards.

Consistency in values. Flexibility in support.

When leaders feel equally valued, even if they are supported differently, trust grows.

What HR can do differently tomorrow

This does not require a new program.

It requires small, intentional shifts in how HR partners with leaders: listen for capacity, normalise conversations about judgement under pressure, interrupt the hero model of leadership, and design roles with emotional load in mind.

The leadership question that matters

In my experience, leadership growth rarely begins with ambition. It begins with honesty.

Not, “How do I get better?” but, “What is this role asking of me – and is it sustainable as designed?”

HR has a unique opportunity to make that question safe, legitimate, and practical.

Because the future of leadership is not about doing more.

It’s about sustaining judgement, humanity, and trust – especially when pressure is high.

And that is work HR professionals are uniquely positioned to lead.

Mark Jeffery is an author and senior executive with experience in organisational leadership, change, and workforce strategy across the not-for-profit and commercial sectors.