Executives are burning out, just like their employees—and they don't know how to handle it, management experts say

Four years ago, Aaron Littles burned out.

Littles was a chief operating officer at a health tech company during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, working 80 to 90 hours per week as his employer grew to 600 employees, up from 75, he says. When the owner of the company, who was eyeing retirement, raised the prospect of a promotion, Littles' shoulders slumped, he says. His marriage was already "on the brink" due to his demanding schedule, and "I was like, wait, you want me to do [even] more work?"

Instead, the company started an executive search for a replacement COO, and "that's when I truly recognized that I was spent," Littles says. He moved into a "much more manageable" chief transformation role, worked with an executive coach and spent about three months working remotely from Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains while trying to recover, he says. Today, he's the CEO of two Tampa, Florida-based health care staffing companies, PDTXperts and DayOne Staffing.

Many workers don't tend to sympathize with stressed-out executives, whose jobs often come with hefty paychecks and other privileges. But, perhaps unexpectedly, executive-level burnout is rising. Seventy-one percent of leaders reported increased levels of stress in leadership consultancy Development Dimensions International's Global Leadership Forecast 2025 report, up from 63% in 2022. The firm surveyed 10,796 first-level, mid-level, senior-level and C-suite leaders worldwide.

The feeling of having too much work and not enough time, and the challenges of navigating major changes in the global workforce — like the rise of artificial intelligence — have left many leaders feeling like they're struggling to keep their heads above water, the report found.

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By comparison, 55% of workers reported feeling burned out at work, in a November 2025 survey of more than 1,400 randomly sampled full-time U.S. employees conducted by market research firm Ipsos and consulting firm Eagle Hill.

Burned-out executives can trigger a "stress contagion" through their organization when employees, even subconsciously, notice their boss' unsettled vibes, says Tessa West, an author, social psychologist and professor at New York University. "The stress can pass from one person to another, and the effects are physical," says West. "And we often don't even know it."

Executives often feel pressured to mask their struggles, adds executive advisor Michel Koopman, the founder and CEO of leadership development firm CxO Coaching — particularly given the size of their paychecks and the number of workers who report to them. Bottling it up can exacerbate the already-mounting stress, he says.

"The higher you go, the more you have to hide your weaknesses. That's what people believe," says Koopman. "There's this belief that, when I'm at the top, I cannot be vulnerable. Well, that's a misconception."

Much of today's executive-level burnout originally stems from the pandemic, which was a "pivotal turning point," says Christy Rutherford, a Harvard University-trained global executive advisor and author of the book "90 Days to Burnout Recovery." Just like any employee, some executives are experiencing their sixth consecutive year of heightened workload and lack of resources, she says.

Ninety percent of employees who quit their job in 2024 did so due to their boss, according to a report from HR software company BambooHR, which surveyed 1,500 full-time adult employees in the U.S. These workers cited their boss' poor management style, poor communication and lack of recognition and constructive feedback as behaviors that influenced their resignations. All of those traits can be worsened by burnout, says Koopman.

If you notice your boss is showing signs of burnout, help out in the same way you would a co-worker, says Steven Rogelberg, an author and Chancellor's Professor of management at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's Belk College of Business.

"Offer to help, lend a listening ear, and support as you can," Rogelberg says. "At the same time, triage your needs so that you don't serve to add to boss burnout — and also diversify where you seek help and support, so it does not all fall on the boss." You could try saving your least crucial questions for when your boss seems more clearheaded or leaning on your colleagues or other managers for assistance when necessary.

If you feel like you can be open and honest with your boss, you could suggest that they take a short break during the workday or some time off to regroup, Koopman adds.

Rutherford has a "three-part burnout prescription" for clients who struggle with boundaries at work, she says:

Remind yourself to prioritize happiness and satisfaction alongside your metrics at work, says Koopman. "If all you're doing is [focusing] on those measurable, tangible results, you're masking the fact that you're not getting the satisfaction from all these other things that are important," like fulfillment and self-improvement, he says.

Find people who you can ask for help when you're stressed and consider scheduling micro-breaks throughout each day, he adds.

Prior to his burnout, Littles — who'd previously held other executive and entrepreneurial roles, and was a company commander in the U.S. Marine Corps — was working toward landing a CEO role, he says. By 2023, he felt ready to chase that goal again, he says.

Littles co-founded PDTXperts the following year, and acquired DayOne Staffing in April, he says. Now, as the CEO of two companies, he relies on effective delegation to stave off work stress, focusing on strategy while his team carries out the execution, he says. He encourages his staff — and himself — to use paid time off, fully unplug while on vacation and set boundaries around responding to emails outside of working hours, he adds.

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