In my work with new and emerging leaders in recent years – since around Covid time – I have been hearing a very concerning sentiment. While many recognise that leadership is necessary for career progression, few genuinely want to step up. For too many, leadership looks less like an opportunity and more like something to avoid or at best survive, rather than aspire to.
Most young professionals still believe in the idea of leadership. They’ve been inspired by great leaders and are drawn to the prospect of supporting others to grow, building strong teams, inspiring change and activating potential. But when they look up, what they often see are leaders who are stressed, burnt out, anxious and perpetually busy.
Healthy Leaders Create Healthy Teams
Leadership has always come with a heavy load. But in a time of relentless demands brought about by high levels of competition, economic pressure and 24/7 connectivity, we must consider what is realistic and sustainable for leaders. If we want healthy teams, we need healthy leaders and organisations must create space for this. Healthy leaders need space for self-leadership including time to think and reflect, reenergise and build their leadership capabilities beyond their operational responsibilities.
This isn’t always the organisation’s fault, unless it’s a political quagmire filled with misaligned executives, unrealistic deadlines, or hiring freezes. Often, leaders themselves contribute by being too hands-on, unable to delegate or empower others. Delegation may cause short-term discomfort however it brings long-term benefit to individuals and the organisation. But too often I see that with increased workloads, leaders take the path of least resistance by doing more themselves and the cycle of exhaustion continues.
Creating a Leadership Culture
Organisations must create space for leaders to lead. That space must be intentionally designed and focused on. The senior team must regularly ask: What kind of leadership culture are we creating and is it something others aspire to be part of?
In our work, we define leadership as creating an emotional climate that underpins high performance and engagement. These two elements, performance and engagement, are the holy grail of great teams. One without the other inevitably leads to problems.
And here’s the key: to create a healthy climate around a leader, there must first be a healthy climate within that leader.
A burnt-out leader cannot build a thriving culture. If you are frazzled, your team will feel it. If you’re fearful, anxious or exhausted that energy will stunt creativity, innovation and productivity and it will show up in every interaction. The knock-on beyond the individual is that teams cannot rise above the emotional state of their leaders; they mirror it.
The Leadership Squeeze
When leaders’ plates are too full, they simply cannot prioritise the activities that define great leadership: personal mastery, thinking time, self-improvement, one-on-one conversations, coaching, development planning, building psychological safety and aligning teams. Those things require leaders to have time and space, and to be energised and present.
It seems we still don’t fully grasp what leadership is. Old-school leadership told us to “leave emotions at the door,” but modern-day leaders require emotional intelligence and need to be attentive to the emotional climate they create each day. These are far from soft skills. Today’s leaders must manage both the operational and emotional climates around them and that’s no small task.
A Call to Senior Leaders
A healthy leadership culture doesn’t require grand reinvention. It requires intentional rebalancing.
If you’re a senior leader, when last did you assess the leadership culture in your business? In a target-driven world obsessed with metrics, it’s easy to forget that leadership is fundamentally a human act. Real people with energy, emotions and limits fill those roles. If they are not looked after, the entire organisation suffers.
Fortunately, the shift we need is subtle, not seismic. Here are four places to start:
Assess leadership health
Create spaces to evaluate and discuss the wellbeing and effectiveness of your leaders. Don’t just measure outputs, measure energy, engagement and sustainability.
Align on what leadership requires
Go beyond job descriptions. Define what it means to lead well in your organisation and make space for leaders to practice those behaviours daily, not just when time allows.
Make leadership aspirational again
Build a culture that leaders and emerging leaders want to be part of; one where they can learn, connect and recharge; one that doesn’t celebrate overwork and exhaustion. Show future leaders that leadership is not about survival, but about purpose and growth.
Provide meaningful support
Invest in leadership development, individual coaching and peer check-ins. Give leaders opportunities to soundboard challenges and learn from one another.
Leadership remains one of the greatest levers for organisational success, but only when it’s practiced by people who are healthy, inspired and supported. If we want our emerging leaders to aspire to lead, we must model leadership that looks worth aspiring to.
Travis Gale is the Founder and Managing Director of Appletree Group, a company dedicated to helping organisations shape and sustain strong, healthy cultures.
An organisational culture strategist, author, keynote speaker and coach, he has spent over 15 years guiding leaders and teams to thrive through challenge and change. He is the creator of The Middle Journey (TMJ). Featured in his book The Middle, TMJ is a practical framework that helps teams build grit and resilience in pursuit of their goals. Passionate and purpose-driven, he is committed to helping people and organisations unlock potential and achieve lasting success.
