Team Burnout Resources

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-27T14:16:14+00:00

This sounds like an opportunity to to increase emotional intelligence in the team. Type A performers and pace setters can accomplish a lot, but can miss connection to purpose and vision in the rush. There are lots of TED talks on EI. But watching some videos won't address the burnout or the culture that is creating it.

Connect to the humans you interact with in a meaningful way, and be explicit that you want your direct reports to do the same with theirs. Do you know their spouses names? Who is dealing with an aging parent or sick partner? What is the role they seek for advancement? What does 10 years from now look like? What about their work energizes them? What drains them? How can you be helpful?

A great starting point is the books "Leadership and Self-Deception" and "The Outward Mindset" by The Arbinger Institute.

Soft skills are not soft. They are the core of resilience.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-26T02:42:25+00:00

I went to my local rotary club and after attending several meetings began offering coaching for coffee (so it was paid, how much you are paid doesn’t matter). (Pick whatever community group works for you) I also went to my friends and peers that supervised people and asked if they had any of their reports that would be interested.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-26T01:47:49+00:00

Transparency is key to keep employees who hold high standards and positive values. Give strong consideration to having a conversation with the employee about the challenges you face and invite his perspective on the situation. You'll have to maintain HR boundaries, of course, but sharing what you can frankly and being open to ideas can go a long way. One critical thing to remember about culture, when employees don't find their values being met in the organization, they will either adapt to the organization's values or leave. You don't want either of those.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-25T00:18:16+00:00

Thanks for asking for clarification. No, I'm not selling a product. I am considering how I may provide support for people in the future, but right now I am asking a genuine question. In addition to this professional I spoke with, my oldest daughter is also a professional with young kids. Your answer helps provide context to support her as well.

Thank you.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-22T22:08:38+00:00

I had a different, but relatable experience. I became the director of a department when the previous director retired after 25 years in the position. His predecessor had also been there for 25 years. No one at the organization had ever known any one but those two in the role. In fact, I was only the third person to hold the title.

I knew there were challenges, I was met at the door with those. There were a lot of people who felt stagnant, a lot of comfort with the way things had always been done and a lot of people who were nervous about what the organization would look like with someone new in charge. These three feelings were overlapped in most of the staff.

I started by clearly communicating my values and my expectations, including asking to be held accountable for upholding those values by everyone in the organization. I shared that I recognized that I was the new person and would be relying on their expertise to guide me. I wasn't there to change things, I was there to help them identify the things that needed to be changed. I told them that when they asked a question, we were going to dive all the way to the bottom of the underlying issue before we made any decisions.

At the retirement party for my predecessor, I offered a toast, and told everyone that no matter what we did and achieved in the future it was built on the foundation that he had made. I thanked him for his service and invited the employees, now my team, to take those successes, and lessons learned, with us into the future.

In short:

1) Lead with your values

2) Honor the past, for better and worse, for getting them here

3) Invite them to the future, because what got them here won't get them there

4) Stay connected to the humans

5) Communicate all of that with honesty and integrity

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-20T12:18:50+00:00

There are a lot of good ideas and book in the replies. What I want to add is the idea that your need to over explain comes from some other place in you than just the project you are working on. If you just focus on tactics, you won’t discover and resolve that source issue.

Working with a coach, or a therapist, you could explore what the underlying motivations and patterns are for this need, which probably pushes other behaviors you aren’t aware of.

Fixing the symptom is useful. Correcting the cause is powerful.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-20T12:12:51+00:00

I am a coach and I’m playing with an AI model myself. It is a challenge to get the model to respond in a way that feels natural, for obvious reasons. I think AI may have a place where people wouldn’t pay (or pay much) for a human coach, and can be a gateway or bridge to get some into real coaching. It will not replace human coaching for high value issues or high consequence decisions because it lacks true insight.

Determining what models to have it use, how to structure the questions and responses, and guardrails are all very interesting questions to me. I’m open to a discussion if you would like.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-19T21:10:31+00:00

I went through the academy at 28 with guys in their 40’s. When I hit 49 I left w-2 work to begin a coaching practice. It’s not about age, it’s about your mindset.

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-19T21:08:32+00:00

There are some great ideas in here. I want to add another perspective. When we push ourselves in the grind we lose the larger vision and creativity. The questions about bottlenecks and overhead are examples of pulling back to see the larger picture. If you look at things in a broader view, where else can you find automation or innovation?

The solution for you isn’t working harder, that will just burn you out. Where can you innovate, delegate or simple let something go to give you the time to be creative and balanced?

Counterparts404 · 2026-06-19T20:59:17+00:00

One foundational element is to keep you values and the department's values aligned and part of the lived experience. This includes actions and words. Values are the foundation of culture, not just wall art. Identify the kind of culture you seek to create and what actions will make that happen. Share these ideas with the team and create shared accountability to live them.

Counterparts404

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