Overwhelm is easy to miss and costly to ignore. As a leader, your job is to recognize when capable people are quietly running on empty, burning out, or disengaging—and intervene accordingly.
Here’s how.
1. Spot the silence and the strain
Don’t mistake calm for calmness. Overwhelm often hides behind composure or quiet disengagement.
- Signs: Restlessness, missed deadlines, indecision, or working through breaks.
- Action: Instead of observing the surface, ask open-ended questions to surface what’s really going on.
2. Create “micro-control” in unpredictable times
When everything feels urgent and uncertain, help your team regain focus. A sense of control is the best antidote to stress.
- How-to: Break down big goals into manageable milestones. Clarify what matters most: “What is critical, and what can wait?”
- Value: Small doses of predictability, even the smallest ones, restore a sense of confidence and ownership.
3. Recalibrate expectations—Starting with your own
Perfectionism and invisible standards are “black holes” that drain energy. Replace vague assumptions with shared definitions of success.
- Mindset Questions: “What does 80% done look like?” or “Where can we let go while still keeping the core value?”
- Goal: Lower unnecessary pressure without lowering shared ambition.
4. Normalize setting boundaries
Create an environment where saying “I’m at capacity” is seen as a responsible act, not a sign of weakness.
- Shift Language: Move from “Can you take this on?” to “What would make this project more manageable/feasible?”
- Leadership Role: Lead by example by publicly supporting individuals who speak up to protect their boundaries and sustainable performance.
5. Design work for recovery, not endurance
View rest as a vital part of the high-performance process, rather than a privilege.
- Build Rhythm: Encourage a work culture that alternates effort with short recovery breaks.
- New Mindset: Normalize time off and mental detachment after hours as essential requirements for long-term creativity and performance.
Source: Harvard Business Review
