How to Spot the Signs of Burnout in Your Team
Burnout rarely starts with someone saying, “I’m not coping”. It often begins quietly, in high performers, team players, and the people you think you don’t need to worry about.
By the time it becomes visible, it’s already costing individuals and organisations energy, productivity, and retention. Spotting the early signs is one of the most valuable things a leader or business can do to protect their people and their performance.
The Subtle Signs of Burnout (That Don't Look Like Burnout)
Burnout doesn’t always show up as someone taking time off or crashing mentally. More often, it looks like this:
Behavioural shifts:
A normally engaged team member goes quiet in meetings
Someone starts skipping breaks or eating lunch at their desk
A once collaborative colleague becomes withdrawn or irritable
Small mistakes or oversights begin to creep in
Emotional signs:
Reduced enthusiasm or visible detachment
Increased frustration or defensiveness
Lower tolerance for stress or feedback
Physical indicators:
Frequent minor illnesses
Always “tired but wired”
Drop in energy or cognitive sharpness
Performance clues:
Working longer hours but getting less done
Delays in decision-making
Slower responses to emails and requests
Reduced creative or strategic thinking
At first glance, these can look like someone just having a busy week but patterns tell a different story.
Be Aware of Burnout Mindsets
In Emily Ballesteros’ book The Cure for Burnout: How to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Life, she describes three common burnout mindsets that drive this:
1. The High-Achieving Mindset
“Believe their worth is dependent on their accomplishments” - These are the high performers who constantly push to deliver, even when they're running on empty.
2. The People-Pleasing Mindset
“The more giving and less confrontational I am, the more people will like me” - Often seen in caregivers, managers, and people who hold teams together quietly. They rarely ask for help.
3. The Self-Victimising Mindset
“A combination of feeling helpless for an extended time and being sceptical about finding long-term satisfaction” - They will “poke holes in a solution rather than embrace it”. This can come across as being a great at analysing risk and looking for potential issues that could arise in a project.
These behaviours don’t trigger concern because they look like strength, reliability, and productivity. That’s why burnout often takes leaders by surprise. When you understand your own burnout mindset, you’re far better equipped to spot it in others, before it turns into crisis.
Culture Can Hide (or Reveal) Burnout
Even when the signs are there, culture often determines whether anyone feels able to act on them.
Think about environments where:
Emails are answered the second they come in
Back-to-back meetings are seen as a badge of honour
Leaders “power through” instead of modelling recovery
Everyone eats lunch at their desk
In workplaces like this, slowing down feels like opting out and if the standard is exhaustion, burnout becomes invisible. Changing the culture doesn’t mean lowering standards, it means creating space for people to recover and grow.
Spotting Burnout Early: What to Look For
Encourage leaders and teams to pay attention to:
Changes in tone or engagement: Someone who used to speak up becomes quiet or someone who was steady becomes short-tempered.
“Always on” behaviour: Emails at midnight, skipping lunch, refusing to take time off.
Withdrawal or loss of initiative: Pulling back socially, contributing less, disengaging from projects.
Cynicism or detachment: Comments like “What’s the point?” or “It’s just easier if I do it myself”.
Dips in quality or focus: Not careless, just cognitively overloaded.
None of these alone confirm burnout but together, they are strong signals.
What Leaders Can Do
You don’t need grand gestures; you need awareness and action. Here’s what makes a difference:
Notice patterns, not just performance.
Create space for honest conversations.
Model boundaries as a leader (not just encourage them).
Normalise breaks, rest, and focused work over endless availability.
Check in before burnout becomes a resignation.
You’re not expected to be a therapist, but you can be the reason someone doesn’t reach breaking point.
Remember!
Burnout is not a personal failure - it’s often a cultural response to prolonged pressure. The earlier we can spot it, the easier it is to prevent it.
This blog is part of my Corporate Wellness Series, exploring how to reduce stress, retain talent, and help teams thrive. If you'd like to explore how to build burnout awareness and resilience into your organisation, you can visit the Corporate Wellness section of my website.