Picture this: Oxford, 2023. A researcher named William Fleming stops asking whether the mindfulness pilot at one company worked and instead pulls together data on tens of thousands of workers across hundreds of organisations. He looks into mindfulness sessions, resilience workshops, and apps with breathing exercises in survey data covering 46,336 workers. His findings? Participants making use of these company-provided initiatives appeared no better off than everyone else. Mea

A client came back from two weeks in Greece and told me the calm lasted until Wednesday. By her second week back, she said, it was as though she had never left. All the work stress, rumination, anxiety, sleeplessness - it all came back totally unchanged. Holidays in Greece is always a good idea (trust me). But, are holidays even enough anymore? Or, do we all collectively need to embrace the concept of micro-retirement instead? Admittedly, the idea is rather seductive. At leas

Are your friends at work helping you with your burnout, or are they actually making it worse? If you ever needed proof on how much we value relationships at #work, take a look at these numbers: 57% of employees would accept a job paying 10% below market just to work with a close friend, and 87% say that friendships are crucial for staying with the company (KPMG). The Conservation of Resources theory offers a solid explanation backing these statistics. Good friendships provide

Recognition is now cited as a driver of #burnout at roughly twice the rate it was a year ago. The organisational response has been MORE: more structured Comp&Ben programs, more public shoutouts on Slack, more AI-generated appreciation messages. But more is NOT better, and it's definitely not addressing the deeper issue. Three forms of recognition, three kinds of protection Research identifies 3 distinct forms of #recognition, each protective against a different dimension of b

"My problem isn't just getting through the workday. It's that I've stopped believing that it's going to get any better." If that sounds like you, you may be struggling with more than just tiredness - and it's a surprisingly common pattern. The truth is we have been naming #work exhaustion for a long time. In 1869, neurologist George Miller Beard called it neurasthenia, a nervous exhaustion from the pace of modern industrial life. A century later, Herbert Freudenberger gave it

How can I be burning out and still keep going? Someone once described it to me as feeling like a car running on the reserve tank. You’re still moving but you’re ignoring the red light signaling low fuel on your dashboard. I’ve heard versions of this more times than I can count, in #coaching sessions, exit interviews and individual conversations with people who were DOING absolutely fine, and yet, not FEELING fine. So, what is actually going on here? A 2024 DHR Global survey o

Is your #office looking fuller and fuller these days? Almost hitting pre-pandemic levels? And yet Gallup's 2026 global workplace report, published this month, found that, although physical presence has increased in offices globally, daily loneliness among workers is still a struggle. 5 years after the pandemic, with people back in buildings, the emotional state of the workforce is worse than before COVID hit. #RTO mandates were supposed to fix this. But they didn't. Here's wh

As the year wraps up and feeds start filling with retrospectives and predictions, I wanted to focus on hope. This is the first of a two-part post focused on positive news from the world of #work and #leadership. It's about amazing things from 2025 that you may have missed but are worth ending the year with, and it's a great reminder that, despite the noise, some things did move in the right direction. Shorter Workweeks Are Proving They Can Work One of the largest multi-countr

Ah, summer. For many, it's a time for sandy toes, slightly more relaxed schedules, and... quiet reflection on their #career path. While...

Let’s talk about that unsettling feeling when you notice a team member who used to be a firecracker is now just… fizzling . They’re here,...

Tell me if this you: Your mind feels like a web browser with 100 tabs open You are constantly juggling dozens of urgent tasks You are...

If there’s one lesson 2024 taught me—painfully, but powerfully—it’s the importance of forcing myself to look for the positives, even when...

As the year winds down, it’s time for my annual tradition: a cup of tea, some festive jazz music and a reflection on what helped me grow...

A recent article in the Financial Times highlights an interesting trend: fewer employees want alcohol at workplace events. With nearly 60%...

Imagine waking up tomorrow and knowing that all your basic needs are covered. What would you do with your time and career?