Burnout meets its match

More spark, less stress with executive coaching

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
— Anne Lamott, Almost Everything: Notes on Hope

As the year winds down, burnout is heating up. Year-end deadlines, budget pressures, and relentless demands for greater productivity can leave even the most capable leaders running on empty.

But while unplugging sounds wonderful, leaders can’t always step away from the demands of the job. What if executive coaching could help them recharge while staying in the game?

Our friend and colleague Jennifer Porter, head of the Global Executive Coaching Center of Excellence at BTS, recently shared some encouraging research that suggests it can.

A 2023 randomized controlled trial (Brooks, Ripoll, Sánchez & Torres, Frontiers in Psychology) involving 92 leaders found that those participating in a 10-week executive coaching program experienced significant reductions in all three dimensions of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy.

Even better? Their energy and enthusiasm for work increased. Leaders in the control group experienced no comparable improvements.

For talent development professionals, that’s a compelling reason to rethink coaching’s role. Beyond building leadership skills and improving performance, coaching may help leaders replenish the very energy they need to succeed.

As you plan development priorities for the coming year, consider this: Could investing in coaching help your leaders do more than perform better? Could it help them feel better, too?

Question of the week: How is your organization helping leaders replenish their energy, not just improve their performance?

One great thing for 11.02.26 – The research behind the results: Read the original 2023 randomized controlled trial examining executive coaching and burnout. (Frontiers in Psychology)