The road to burnout is paved with good intention

Reader,

Last week, I shared one reason burnout is so hard to solve in a team: burnout doesn’t just drain energy. The way we respond to it often erodes confidence, too. (If you missed it, you can read it here, since I’ll be building on that conversation.)

This week, let’s look at another side of the issue:

Why do good intentions sometimes cause burnout?
How can rethinking priorities shift the way we work?

It all feels important.

To borrow the opening phrase from last week: no one sets out thinking, “I’m going to work so hard that I bring myself to the brink of burnout.” Yet it happens all the time.

Why?
Because it all feels important.
It all has to be done now.
There’s no one else to do it.
I can’t drop this ball.

Underneath all of this is good intention—the commitment: “I won’t let people down. I won’t let myself down.”

But is it true? Does it all really have to be done?

The rising leader’s question.

On a recent call with members of my leadership development community, something clicked for me.

Rising leaders serve as the bridge between doing and vision. They’re tuned into the question:

What’s it going to take to get this done?

It’s pragmatic, immediate, and tactical. It shows responsibility for outputs, resources, and deadlines.

The CEO’s question.

CEOs, on the other hand, carry the vision of the company. Their focus is on making the business successful now and in the future. They’re tuned into the question:

What impact are we making, that people will value and pay for?

It zooms out. It’s about direction, differentiation, and sustainability. It’s less about getting things done—and more about getting the right things done, in the right way, so they matter to the world you serve.

Of course, the CEO vantage point risks becoming disconnected from what it actually takes to execute. But their key question also holds the key to addressing burnout.

Work needs a filter.

While camping near Silverton, Colorado, I came across a little place to pan for gold.

A man in rugged boots and a weather-worn cowboy hat handed out pans. We filled them with dirt and gravel from the riverbed, then swirled them in the shimmering water. Slowly, the sand and small rocks spilled away, leaving behind only the heavier nuggets—some with glints of gold running through them.

Prioritizing work is the same.

There’s always more that could be done than can be done. Most of it is sand—filler, not valuable. The rest is a mix of gold, silver, and bronze.

Rising leaders often burn out trying to do it all. And it’s especially hard to say no to silver and bronze, because they’re still valuable. Just not essential.

How to filter.

So how does a rising leader filter work more effectively? By borrowing the CEO’s questions:

What impact are we making, that people will value and pay for?
What must we do to achieve that impact?

The better we get at distinguishing work that’s merely valuable from work that’s essential to achieving impact, the less susceptible we are to burnout.

And here’s the key: every company defines gold, silver, and bronze differently, because every company aims for a unique impact.

My own filter.

For me, my one aim is to help rising leaders think from a higher vantage point so they can gain clarity, accomplish more with their team, and lead with energy that lasts.

So in everything I do, I must ask: Does this directly create that impact? Or is it valuable but not essential?

For example, I’d love to spend more time working with founders to help them build entrepreneurial teams. That’s valuable. But right now, it’s silver. If I pursued it at the expense of my primary impact, I’d risk spreading myself thin.

Later, it may very well become gold—because companies grow, contexts change, and leaders do too.

Building leadership capacity.

If you want to build your own capacity (or help your team build theirs):

Don’t pick up lighter weights. Don’t let someone else lift them for you.
Instead, grow stronger by learning to:

Focus on impact (gold).
Filter work according to impact.
Say no—or not yet—to what’s valuable but not essential (silver and bronze).

When you do, you’ll be less prone to doing it all, and more aligned with your organization’s true priorities. And by practicing it yourself, you’ll be equipped to help your team do the same.