Training Your Leaders to Delegate May Prevent Burnout

Nearly 1 in 6 leaders are experiencing burnout, according to the 2025 Global Leadership Forecast report by consulting firm DDI.

Based on insights from 10,796 leaders worldwide, 71% of survey participants report they’ve experienced significantly higher stress since stepping into their current role.

Additional findings from the DDI report include:

Hybrid and remote leaders report the highest burnout rates — at 57% and 56%, respectively — highlighting the challenges of isolation and blurred work-life boundaries. In-person leaders, on the other hand, report a 52% burnout rate.
Burnt-out leaders are 34% less likely to rate their effectiveness above their peers than those not experiencing burnout.
Stressed and burnt-out leaders are 3.5 times more likely to leave their position to improve their well-being.
Burnt-out leaders are 50% as likely to be engaged in their roles than those who are not.

Based on separate insights from DDI’s assessments of more than 70,000 manager candidates, only 19% demonstrate strong delegation abilities, underscoring an opportunity for employers to provide training to build such skills.

As part of National Stress Awareness Month in April, Workspan Daily spoke with several experts on what is causing leadership stress and burnout, and how organizations can better support the well-being of their leaders.

Causes and Effects

According to Stephanie Neal, the director of DDI’s Center for Analytics and Behavioral Research, lack of time, lack of resources and lack of trust are three key factors that drive leadership stress and burnout. In fact, DDI’s report found only 30% of leaders felt they had enough time to do their job well.

“The gap between the quality of performance leaders want to achieve and the amount of time they have to execute often leads to overwork or chronic frustration,” Neal said. “Resource and information constraints further exacerbate the problem, making leaders twice as likely to be concerned about burnout. When leaders aren’t armed with the right tools and information, they can experience decision fatigue and decreased perceived competence.”

Kathleen Schulz, the global innovation leader of organizational well-being at risk management firm Gallagher, shared that in their organizational well-being poll, the number one word that C-suite respondents used to describe their culture was “stressful,” followed by “demanding” — a stark difference from the “all industry” response that had “collaborative” as the top vote-getter, followed by “supportive.” Additionally, 43% of C-suite respondents stated that interpersonal conflict within their organization was on the rise, compared to 32% of “all industry” responders.

“At the heart of rising conflict and contributing to stress and burnout is poor communication — and often a misunderstanding of the root causes of burnout,” Schulz said. “Burnout is often felt individually, prompting employers to implement resources to address the symptoms. These resources are an important component of a holistic strategy. However, while burnout is felt individually, the root causes are often organizational in nature.”

Schulz noted top contributors for stress and burnout as:

An unsustainable workload (64%);
Insufficient rewards/recognition for their efforts (33%); and,
Mismatched values and skills (25%).

“This, on top of the increasing pace of change, market volatility that they are expected to respond to, change fatigue, and pressure related to the success or failure of the organization [is causing this stress and burnout],” she said.

Leaders are entering a new era of stress and burnout risk, said Andrew Shatte, the chief knowledge officer and co-founder of meQuilibrium, a workforce performance, engagement and well-being platform.

“The last five years, from the pandemic on, have left [leaders] depleted, and now, we’re looking down the barrel of great change and uncertainty,” he said.

Shatte said it was important to note stress can occur under the conditions of high work demand, such as complex projects with many moving parts and tight deadlines, while burnout generally occurs when the stress and demands outstrip available resources.

“Like a bank balance, the more energy we expend without replenishing, the closer we move to burnout, which is a kind of energy bankruptcy,” he said.

And when that bank is empty, it can be costly to the organization.

“The effect of burnout extends far beyond the individual, undermining employee engagement, talent retention and, ultimately, business performance,” Neal said. “Leaders experiencing burnout are also half as likely to be engaged in their role, and this disinterest can be contagious, eroding company culture and team morale. This disengagement eventually leads to turnover, with stressed and burnt-out leaders more likely to leave their position to protect their well-being. As leadership departures put greater workload stress and pressure on other team members, it can create a vicious cycle of more stress, fatigue and employee attrition.”

Schulz added the cumulative impact of leadership burnout can stifle innovation, reduce productivity, fuel turnover and impact the organization’s financial stability and reputation.

Therefore, it’s important to look for signs of stress and burnout, Schulz said. These may include:

Extreme fatigue and exhaustion
Cynical behavior and increased irritability
Reduced job performance
A detachment from work, colleagues and sometimes even family members
Headaches
Sleep disturbances
Mood swings
Anxiety
Changes in appetite
Increased use of drugs or alcohol
Feelings of overwhelm

“Team dynamics may shift as burnt-out leaders become increasingly impatient and irritated with team members,” Neal said. “Additionally, they may display less enthusiasm for company culture initiatives and projects that they were once passionate about.”

Delegation as a Solution

The subject of delegation is not a common topic in performance check-in conversations, but it should be, noted Allison Vaillancourt, a vice president in the organizational effectiveness practice at Segal, an HR and benefits consulting firm. “[Corporate] managers should ask their management direct reports about their delegation philosophy and struggles, and encourage them to practice assigning tasks to others,” she said.

Yet, leaders often struggle with delegating for various reasons, said Schulz.

“It can be perceived as taking longer to train someone to do a task than doing it themselves, or there may be issues around [giving up] control, a lack of trust or being worried about the person completing the delegated task outperforming the leader,” she explained.

Additionally, employees are often promoted into leadership roles based solely on their success as individual contributors, earning recognition for their high output and technical expertise, Neal said, but as they transition into manager positions, many of them fear they’ll seem inefficient or appear to be shirking responsibility if they delegate work.

To help leaders embrace delegation, Shatte said organizations should consider developing a culture of “leaning in and letting go.”

“From the C-suite on down, leaders must lead by example, modeling how to map one’s sphere of influence and lean into that work, while understanding one’s limits,” he said. “The culture must present it as a strength to call for help.”

Employers also may consider reframing delegation in terms of employee empowerment, Neal said.

“It’s about aligning tasks with team members’ capabilities and motivations to help them grow without feeling overwhelmed,” she explained. “Leaders should express confidence in their team members’ abilities and give them ownership and decision-making authority over tasks so they can learn from past mistakes. HR teams can further support leaders by providing leadership development programs or courses that help managers implement positive behavior changes.”

By helping leaders understand the power of effective communication and their overall influence, Schulz said they can leverage delegation to grow the team around them, providing recognition to boost employee engagement and build trust.

“Employers, and particularly HR, can help leaders understand the strengths, weaknesses and interests of their teams so that delegated tasks are aligned with team member skills and career goals,” she said. “Leaders new to delegating can start small and increase complexity as confidence grows. Delegation isn’t just about offloading tasks; it can free up time/capacity for leaders to be more focused on higher-level strategic initiatives that add more value to the organization.”

For example, leaders may consider delegating work that is often routine and repetitive, or work that requires specialized knowledge, Schulz said.

“Understanding the unique skills and expertise of the team is crucial and will allow tasks to be delegated to the team member who has the right level of knowledge, or can be considered as a development opportunity,” she said.

Schulz noted delegation also may be an important component of succession planning to prepare future leaders and enable continuity.

“As leaders struggle with unsustainable workloads and burnout, delegation can be a strategy for reducing stress and positively supporting mental health, while at the same time building trust and morale within the team,” she said.

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