The Invisible Burnout of Leaders
Burnout among project, construction and commissioning managers is frequently overlooked because it is seen as part of the job. There is an unspoken expectation that leaders will maintain control under pressure, absorb the stress of the project and shield their teams from the worst of the challenges — often at the expense of their own well-being. They are expected to remain steady in the face of adversity, manage escalating demands without complaint and weather the storm while having little protection themselves.
Leadership burnout goes unnoticed for two reasons:
- The Mask of Competence: When your job is to “keep calm and carry on,” most people won’t see the moment your resilience tips into exhaustion.
- The Hero Narrative: We celebrate stoicism, reward grit and (wrongly) interpret stress as a personal failing rather than a system signal.
But when senior leaders burn out, the consequences ripple across the entire project. Delays stretch, quality suffers and the very teams they were protecting feel the fallout.
Systems Protect the Frontline But Leave Leaders Exposed
Frontline protections matter — fatigue management protocols, risk assessments and mental-health initiatives support operators and technicians. But at the leadership layer, it’s often a different story.
Permit-to-Work systems, golden rules and buddy checks don’t usually extend to construction managers. No one audits whether the commissioning lead has eaten, slept or spoken to their family this week. Too often, organizations rely on individual coping mechanisms and heroic endurance rather than building safeguards into the structure of leadership roles.
But resilience isn’t just an individual trait. It’s an organizational condition. A high-pressure job with no relief valve isn’t heroic. It’s a hazard.
What if “Safety in Design” Applied to Leadership Stress?
In engineering, we design systems to prevent failure. We add safety factors, decompression chambers and bypass valves. What if we took the same approach with high-stakes leadership roles?
- Redundancy in Responsibility: Two leaders briefed on critical scopes — not just one. Illness, family emergency or burnout would not derail the job or the person.
- Stress-Resistant Scheduling: Planning buffers that account not just for physical constraints, but human load (especially during holiday season).
- Decompression Protocols: Time off the tools — and off email — for senior leads post-commissioning. Not two days. Two weeks. Paid. Protected. Pre-planned.
Four Practical Tools for Protecting the Protectors
Forward-thinking project leaders focus on the following:
- Upstream Expectation Management — Setting realistic delivery dates with the leadership team, not just the client, and sticking to them. Scope creep is a silent killer of well-being.
- Peer Support Circles — A structured, off-site space once a month where project leaders share issues, solve problems and normalize stress. Peer-to-peer safety net.
- Rotational Shadowing — Bringing in deputies or rising talent to shadow project and construction managers in the final stretch. This builds capability and creates breathing room.
- Boundary Checkpoints — Having a dedicated leader (not involved in day-to-day delivery) check in weekly: Are you sleeping? Are you eating properly? Do you need to step away? This gives permission — and power — for people to say yes.
Tom didn’t quit that day in the portacabin. He finished the job, hitting mechanical completion two weeks late but with no major incidents.
He also took six months to recover.
The next time you run a shutdown, a major project or a high-stakes turnaround — don’t just ask how the plant is doing. Ask how the people are doing, especially the ones who never complain.
Because even the strongest need somewhere safe to land.
And it’s time we started protecting the protectors.
