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Research shows that go-to people in work environments those who are reliable, helpful and consistently sought after for their skill or expertise are more prone to burnout. This happens because they often take on disproportionate amount of responsibilities, experience pressure to always deliver and can struggle to set boundaries. So, as a manager or a leader in your organization, are you pushing your go-to employees towards burnout? Or a leader in your organization, are you pushing your go-to employees towards burnout? Welcome to Mental Health Potluck, where everyone brings something to the table. I'm Danny Clark, licensed clinical social worker and family therapist. This podcast is all about serving up bite-sized mental health insights, practical wellness tips and real conversations that nourish the mind and the soul. Today, we're tackling workplace burnout how to identify it, what causes it and, most importantly, how organizations and leaders can prevent it. Because burnout occurs through a slow progression, people don't often recognize that it's happening when it's happening, but there are a few different ways that you can consider if you are experiencing burnout or if somebody in your workplace is experiencing burnout. So when we look at what burnout is, it's actually a chronic stress response. It's not a one-time deal. It's something that builds up over time and when we look at it, we look at it based on three different components. The first one is exhaustion Are people feeling physically and emotionally drained while they're at work? Another one is cynicism, and this one is important because this is where we start to detach from work and sort of lose its purpose, and so it's reflective in a lot of ways, and like how you respond to emails or way you talk to different people in meetings and things like that. The last one is inefficiency, and this is feeling like your work doesn't matter, and there's a sense that whatever you do is overlooked or not even recognized. What's important to know is that it's not an individual failure. Burnout is a response to an unhealthy work environment, and so sometimes it's not so much about how do you fix or change your habits as much as it is. Sometimes you have to change your environment or the environment has to change itself. So people often struggle to recognize burnout because it develops gradually and can be mistaken for everyday stress or fatigue.

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But there are reasons why burnout occurs, and they can be difficult to identify. Normalizing of overwork is one of the biggest, most prevalent reasons why people have burnout. This is when there's a work culture that glorifies being busy, making exhaustion seem like a badge of honor rather than a warning sign. The other one is slow progression. So it's something that you notice. You're changing over time. So, while you look at the present moment that you're feeling anxious or you might feel stressed or you don't feel motivated, what's best is to look at where you were, or when did that start to occur, and did it occur because of some kind of event or a change in the work environment?

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Another reason why burnout is hard to recognize is because there's a blurred line between what is stress and what is burnout. You see, stress is often seen as temporary, while burnout is chronic. People may believe that they just need to take a short break or go on a vacation, but they don't realize their exhaustion is persistent. You see, stress can happen because you have a project that's going on and there's some new changes that are occurring, but burnout is where you have something that is persistently occurring that makes you more and more unhappy and unfulfilled in the job that you're doing. And lastly, the thing that's the most critical is that there's a lot of different ways in which we may not even recognize it happening, because we're in this mode of adaptation to our work environment.

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If stress and exhaustion are your everyday norm. It's easy to stop questioning them when everyone around you is also exhausted. You might assume it's just part of the job. Many people notice the headaches, the constant fatigue, the stomach issues, but they don't connect it to the emotional exhaustion. Instead of addressing the root cause, they treat the symptoms with caffeine, painkillers or just pushing through. What results in all of this is that there's a denial of burnout occurring, and admitting to burnout can feel like failure or weakness, especially in high-performance environments. The grind is glorified and saying you're struggling can feel like a wave of a white flag.

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We know that some industries and jobs are more susceptible to burnout, but caring professions like teachers, nurses and social workers experience it at some of the highest rates. It's not just about long hours or workload. It's the emotional labor, the constant giving, supporting and problem-solving that wears them down. For example, teachers are managing classrooms, meeting academic standards, supporting students emotionally and often dealing with underfunded systems. Nurses face high patient loads, unpredictable shifts and the emotional toll of caring for people in crisis. Social workers are navigating complex cases, advocating for vulnerable populations and often working with bureaucratic systems that make change very difficult for people. And these professions don't just require physical effort. They demand emotional and mental energy, often without adequate support or resources. So burnout in the field doesn't just impact the profession. It affects students, patients and communities who rely on them.

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What we know is that burnout doesn't just happen in isolation. It's shaped by workplace culture, expectations and leadership. When it comes to recognizing and supporting employees experiencing burnout, managers and leaders play a huge role. A good leader doesn't just push for results. They pay attention to how their team is getting there. Research has shown that go-to people in work environments those who are reliable, helpful and consistently sought after for their skills and expertise are more prone to burnout. This happens because they often take on disproportionate amounts of responsibility. They experience pressure to always deliver and can struggle to set boundaries. The problem is that the more they handle, the more they're given, and over time, that constant demand leads to stress, exhaustion and burnout. What makes it worse is that go-to employees rarely ask for help. They don't want to let anyone down, so they keep pushing through until they can't anymore.

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So what can managers do? Well, the first step is recognizing how you, as a manager, might inadvertently be contributing to your best employee's burnout. What's important to recognize is that your go-to employee, their personality, might be what's causing them to take on more than they can handle, but it's our responsibility as managers and leaders to not take advantage of that. So what do we do as a manager? Well, here are five key questions leaders can ask themselves to see if they're inadvertently contributing to an employee's burnout, the first one being are we consistently increasing our employees' workload? When reliable employees are constantly given additional tasks, they may struggle with capacity limits. We want to watch for employees who always say yes but seem overwhelmed or miss deadlines due to too much work. Another question leaders can ask themselves is are they expecting their go-to employees to always be available, even outside regular work hours?

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Some go-to employees are contacted frequently for help. This can blur boundaries and prevent rest. Employees who respond to work emails or messages late at night or during weekends, or even while they're on vacation, could be showing signs of stress. Leaders should also consider if they have an over-reliance on their go-to employee's emotional labor. These are the employees who often are the ones who handle workplace tensions and emotional support, which can lead to mental fatigue. Employees being the problem solver in interpersonal conflicts and emotional situations can leave them feeling emotionally drained. Another question leaders can ask is are they providing the appropriate recognition or compensation for the additional work they may be putting on those go-to employees when their additional efforts are overlooked.

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Go-to employees may feel undervalued and unappreciated. High performers often hear great job but don't see that reflected in their pay title or workload adjustments. Appreciation is good, but real recognition is often better. And the last question that's important for leaders to consider is how are they providing any kind of support or offering them help when they recognize that burnout is occurring? Just because someone seems like they can handle it all doesn't mean that they really need to. If they don't feel safe asking for help, they'll just keep pushing through until they can't anymore.

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So burnout isn't a personal failure. It's a structural issue. When managers recognize these patterns early, distribute workloads more evenly and create a culture where employees feel safe, setting boundaries, they don't just prevent burnout. They build stronger, more sustainable teams. Leadership that prioritizes well-being isn't just good for employees, it's good for business, because in the long run, burned out employees don't just leave jobs, they disengage, they underperform and they take the heart of the workplace with them. Well, hopefully this got you a little more information on burnout and how it's a real challenge. But when leaders recognize the signs and take action, workplaces can become better, healthier and more sustainable for everyone. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts. You can send me an email at danny at texasinsightcentercom, or leave a message in the comments. And don't forget to join me next time on Mental Health Potluck, where we bring different perspectives to the table and talk about what really matters in mental health and well-being. No-transcript.