The Silent Epidemic: Understanding Burnout in Charity Leadership

A client came to me at the end of last year, she'd landed a new role. Her dream role in fact. She excitedly started telling me about the charity, the strategic vision, where she wanted to take the organisation, and what she wanted to put in place for her teams. But as she talked, her face dropped, it dawned on her, what if she burnt out again. 

After all, she'd worked so hard to create a life around work which supported her wellbeing, which enabled her to really live her life, and what if that crashed down around her under the weight of what she might be walking into? What if she finally became one of the 44% of charity leaders who are thinking about leaving the sector because of the impact of the work on her. 

The Growing Challenge 

The sector has always been a problem of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout to one degree or another, but in a sector which is relied on even more by central government and local authorities to deliver vital services which they can't themselves there is an even greater need for leaders to prioritise their own wellbeing (and of their staff & volunteers) to meet the ever increasing demands placed on services. After all, if you don't put on your oxygen mask on first, you can't help anyone else put theirs on. 

Signs of Leadership Burnout 

It's easy to miss the signs that you are burnout, or on to the path of it; especially in the hectic world of a charity. There is always so much to do – the strategy is bold, and brave, and ambitious; your team need your support and there are stakeholders you need deal with, plus everything else you have to do day to day. Add into the mix a full life outside of work, a partner, kids, parents who need support and friends to desperately want to see and it's no wonder you’re tired right?  

So here are the top signs of burnout I see in charity leaders: 

▪ An inability to truly switch off when you're not at work; that quick check of emails 'just in case', your mind wandering off to your to do list when your with the people that matter 

▪ Waking up in the night worrying about work 

▪ Feeling like you're behind, despite working later and later 

▪ Regularly cancelling the activities you love, or on people you want to see because you're just too tired 

▪ Feeling irritated by and snapping at your partner & kids 

▪ Feeling guilty about everything – you're at the point where you feel you're letting everyone down at work, and you're missing out at home 

▪ Making decisions at work feels difficult, even the things which used to feel easy, leaving you feeling stuck 

▪ You doubt your ability as a leader, and wonder when you'll be caught out and the board will realise you shouldn't be in this job 

▪ You avoid the difficult conversations because you don't have the strength 

▪ You've lost the motivation for the work that really excited you once upon a time, it was the thing that kept you going, and you can't even draw on that now. 

The Gradual Descent 

But this didn't happen overnight, it was a gradual process borne out of months and years dedicated to making a difference. What I see so often is a gradual weakening of boundaries and overidentification with work – in other words, it's become all encompassing, and the thing that matters most, even when you no longer want it to be your number one. This means that the occasional late night to deal with something actually urgent, the checking of emails outside of work when your team are dealing with a crisis become the norm; it'll often start when you find yourself in your first management position, your keen to prove yourself, to make sure you're team are supported, and ultimately the work is important, it might not be life or death (but it might) but it could have a big impact. But this means those boundaries between your work and your personal life are eroded, and work becomes more and more a part of your identity. If you're not making a difference, who are you? 

And because you want to be a different kind of manager and leader, you are at pains to support your team, you can see how stretched they are, so you hold on to responsibilities, you remind yourself that it's quicker if you just do it anyway. But this feeds into the cycle of overwork, and disempowerment of your team.  

Think about it: It also means you have less time to think and reflect, you stop being proactive in your work as there is so little time (despite working all the hours) and you find yourself in a place of constant firefighting. Leaving you in a position where you're constantly chasing the end of your to-do list, and promising yourself you'll have a break when "things quieten down", but I learnt the hard way the quiet time never comes. 

And as you rise within the organisation there's often less, and less support, and by the time you become a CEO, you may find yourself without the support of someone reminding you to take a break, to say no, to stop. Afterall 86% of CEO's don't have an appraisal. 

The Ripple Effect 

But the impacts of this don't just stop with you. 

In terms of your work, you're working harder than ever, but getting less and less done because you're trapped in a vicious cycle. You're solving all the problems, firefighting for everyone, but this means you have lost your strategic focus. You're not just doing your job, but picking up bits of other peoples, and so the strategic oversight flounders, and progress stalls, not because you're not working hard, but because you're doing the wrong work. 

The impact spreads throughout your organization. But teams mirror what their leadership does, so when your working pattern becomes unhealthy, so does theirs. By trying to be everything to everyone, by trying to protect them, you create an unintentional culture of overwork.  

And here's the thing: You haven't done this on your own - the culture of the charity sector tells us that the work is hard, the hours are long, and that if we're really committed, if we really want to make a difference we put our heads down, and get on with it. This results in teams working in survival mode, and this in turn reduces innovation; creates a toxic culture where we find departments working against each other, with each department's priorities competing, and somehow working against each other. 

The ultimate cost? We find ourselves in a struggle to retain and recruit staff. All of which has a ripple effect on the service delivery and outcomes for the communities we serve. 

Breaking the Cycle 

And whilst you might be thinking that burnout for you and your teams is inevitable, it isn't, it requires two key things to make sure your charity doesn't fall into the burnout trap. Firstly, an agreement within the senior team that the working culture of the charity will challenge the conventions of giving your all, of keeping on keeping on, and secondly, individual leaders implementing behaviours which help protect themselves from burnout, and explicitly modelling this for their teams.

So here's your roadmap to sustainable leadership: 

1. Know who you are outside of work, what matters aside from work, so work doesn't become your whole identity 

2. Commit to wellbeing practices you enjoy 

3. Prioritise the activities and tasks which give you energy inside and outside of work 

4. Establish clear boundaries around work hours, we know there will be occasions you have to work late, but make these the exception not the norm 

5. Reconnect with your motivation for doing this job 

6. Build in reflection & planning time in your week  

7. Defining what "good enough" leadership looks like in this role, stop striving for perfection 

8. Be clear what tasks are and are not within your remit, and delegate appropriately  

9. Build a support network of your peers  

These strategies aren't just theoretical - they're proven approaches that have already helped many charity leaders break free from the burnout cycle. But what does this look like in practice? 

Burnout isn't inevitable, but preventing it requires both vigilance and commitment. My client from the beginning of this story? She didn't just survive in her dream role - she thrived. Together by breaking down her fears, acknowledging her existing strengths, and implementing sustainable practices, she created a new way of leading that protected both her wellbeing and her passion for making a difference. 

The charity sector needs its leaders now more than ever, but this leadership needs to be sustainable. You don't have to choose between making a difference and maintaining your wellbeing - in fact, one enables the other. 

Ready to Take Action? 

If you recognise yourself in this article, remember that change is possible. Start small - pick just one of the nine strategies and start to implement it this week. Whether it's setting clear work boundaries, scheduling reflection time, or reconnecting with what energises you outside of work, each step away from burnout is a step toward more effective leadership. 

Take the First Step 

Ready to create lasting change in how you lead? Let's talk about how you can be a "good enough" leader while building a charity that makes a difference without sacrificing your wellbeing. Because ultimately, making a difference shouldn't come at the cost of your health and happiness. When you thrive, your charity thrives - and that's how real, sustainable change happens. 

Want to continue this conversation, then book a free call.