Burnout in Female Leaders: Unique Challenges and Building Resilience

While burnout can affect anyone, research suggests that women in leadership positions face a unique set of challenges that put them at higher risk. This blog explores the causes of burnout in female leaders and offers strategies to build resilience.

The Burnout Epidemic: A Gendered Perspective

Recent studies have shed light on the stark burnout situation in female leaders. According to a McKinsey report, 43% of women leaders experience burnout, compared to 31% of their male counterparts. This disparity calls for a closer examination of the factors contributing to this gender gap in workplace stress.

Unique Causes of Burnout in Female Leaders

Whilst every situation is unique, several causative factors can be split into three main categories – individual, environmental, and corporate.

Individual factors include:

• Perfectionism and people-pleasing: many female leaders struggle with perfectionist tendencies and a desire to please others, often stemming from societal expectations and gender stereotypes.

• Imposter syndrome: female leaders frequently grapple with feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy, despite their achievements.

• Work-life balance challenges: women often bear a disproportionate burden of household responsibilities alongside their professional duties, including managing and coordinating children and childcare. Women are 2.5 times more likely to request some form of flexible working for childcare compared to men – these pressures can then combine with career development and often skew work-life balance.

Environmental and situational factors include:

• Gender bias and stereotypes: women in leadership positions frequently face heightened scrutiny and must navigate gender biases in male-dominated environments. 88% of females receive personality-based feedback compared to just 12% of men, and women are 20% less likely to receive constructive feedback that could help improve their performance.

• Lack of support networks: limited access to mentorship and support systems can leave female leaders feeling isolated, with 63% stating they’ve never had a formal mentor.

• The 'always on' culture: the pressure to be constantly available and responsive can be particularly intense for women leaders, especially when balancing work and home life as outlined above.

Corporate factors include:

• Unequal opportunities: despite progress, women still face barriers to accessing top-tier leadership positions and equal pay. Only 30% of leadership roles within the UK are occupied by women – it’s hard to get to the top, and so additional effort is often needed to justify acquiring and then maintaining a senior position.

• Lack of inclusive policies: many organisations fail to implement policies that adequately support the unique needs of female leaders, such as flexible work arrangements or comprehensive parental leave.

• Microaggressions: subtle forms of discrimination, such as having their judgment questioned or being mistaken for junior staff, can contribute to chronic stress. These can stem from factors such as unconscious gender biases and a historically male-dominated culture.

Building Resilience: Strategies for Female Leaders

With this unique set of challenges faced by women, it is essential to maximise personal resilience to avoid burnout. Steps to take include:

1. Establish clear boundaries. Setting and maintaining boundaries is crucial for preventing burnout. Whilst this can seem scary, setting ground rules across all aspects of your life increases respect and eradicates a lot of internal pressure on yourself.

2. Learn to say no. Prioritise tasks that align with your core responsibilities and values. Taking on the workload of others increases your stress, reduces your resilience, impacts your delivery, and prevents others from being held accountable for their responsibilities.

3. Designate clear work hours, and stick to them. Establish clear start and end times for your workday to maintain work-life balance. As another form of boundary, if maintained this also supports your ability to switch off and recharge, AND demonstrates to others when you are available.

4. Create a separate workspace. If working remotely, designate a specific area for work to help mentally separate professional and personal life. Blurring of boundaries impacts upon your ability to rest and switch roles – so no participating in conference calls whilst cooking the dinner, for example.

5. Cultivate a support network. Women's networks are essential for building resilience. Engage in mentorship programmes, join professional networks, and foster connections with other female leaders to share experiences and strategies.

6. Prioritise self-care. Self-care is not a luxury, but a necessity. Incorporate regular exercise, mindfulness practices, and hobbies into your routine to recharge and maintain emotional well-being. Remove unnecessary tasks – or delegate – across your whole life, and then use the time you’ve created to focus on you.

7. Develop emotional intelligence. Enhance your emotional intelligence to better manage stress and interpersonal relationships, working within your circle of control will reduce anxiety over things that are not within your ability to change. This skill is particularly valuable for navigating the complex emotional landscape of leadership roles.

8. Seek coaching for resilience and development. A programme of coaching will support you in navigating and working through both internal challenges and beliefs, as well as external scenarios. Coaching is an essential personal development approach that focuses on the uniqueness of you, and will help you leverage your skill set to increase your well-being and resilience.

Corporate Responsibility in Preventing Burnout

Organisations play a crucial role in supporting female leaders and preventing burnout. Burnout should not be seen as something that is down to the individual – chronic stress and burnout are a direct response to the pressures within the organisational environment, culture, and working practices of the company. Actions specific to female leaders that companies must focus on taking include:

• Implement inclusive policies: develop and enforce policies that address the unique challenges faced by women leaders, such as extended parental leave and flexible work arrangements.

• Provide mental health resources: offer access to counselling services and wellness programmes tailored to the needs of female leaders.

• Address gender bias: conduct regular training on unconscious bias and create accountability measures to ensure a fair and supportive work environment.

• Provide clear support mechanisms: offer support networks, mentoring, and coaching focusing on the needs of female leaders.

Conclusion

Burnout among female leaders is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach. By understanding the unique challenges faced by women in leadership positions and implementing targeted strategies for resilience, both individuals and organisations can work towards creating a more sustainable and equitable leadership landscape.

It's crucial to recognise that supporting the resilience and well-being of female leaders is not just a matter of fairness—it's essential for fostering innovation, diversity, and overall organisational success.