04 Dec Too Many Initiatives, Not Enough Oxygen 

As we approach the end of the year, many organizations are gasping for breath. Teams are in the thick of AI rollouts, system upgrades, process redesigns, reorgs – and still being asked to deliver on Q4 goals. It’s not just the volume of change. It’s the pace. The stacking. The relentlessness. 
 
We’re seeing it across industries: ambitious leaders driving much-needed transformation but unintentionally overwhelming the very people they need to carry it out.  And I’ve lived it myself in the various leadership roles I’ve held in corporate. 
 
So how do you lead through this moment without losing your people to burnout – or losing momentum on the change itself? 

The Hidden Cost of Initiative Stacking

When everything is a priority, nothing can breathe. 
 
It starts with good intentions: improve efficiency, digitize operations, adopt AI, and streamline teams. But over time, initiatives start to pile up – each with its own timeline, sponsor, and message. The result is a kind of cultural noise: people nod along in meetings but feel confused, overloaded, or quietly checked out. 
 
This isn’t a failure of execution. It’s a failure of oxygen. Humans and teams need space to make meaning, not just meet milestones.

Burnout Isn’t About Weakness. It’s a System Signal.

Let’s be clear: burnout is not a personal flaw. It’s a lagging indicator of a system under strain. 
 
We often hear leaders say, “We just need to push through the end of the year.” But pushing through assumes there’s fuel left in the tank. What if the real leadership act right now isn’t accelerating – but recalibration? 
 
The organizations that thrive through disruption are not the ones that never slow down. They’re the ones that know when to pause, how to recover, and what to let go of before piling on more.

What Great Leaders Do in Moments of Overload

If your team is stretched thin, here are five things you can do this month that will help you start the new year stronger, not just more exhausted: 
 
1. Name the chaos.  Give people permission to admit that things feel overloaded. Normalize it. You can’t solve what you won’t acknowledge. 
 
2. Create space by subtracting.  Audit your current slate of meetings, communications, and launches. What can you postpone or cancel without consequence? 
 
3. Prioritize energy, not just execution.  Before adding another change initiative, ask: Do we have the emotional and cognitive bandwidth to do this well? 
 
4. Model your own pause.  Leaders who take time to reflect, reset, and recharge give others permission to do the same. Burned-out leaders create burned-out teams. 
 
5. Clarify what carries into January and what doesn’t.  Every transformation effort should have a clear moment to reset. Define what’s closing out this year, and what will (or won’t) carry forward.

Culture Is Built in the Quiet Moments

This isn’t about taking your foot off the gas forever. It’s about knowing when to downshift. 
 
December offers a rare opportunity to pause with purpose. To reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and what kind of cultural capacity you want to build in 2026. 
 
Are you building a culture that only performs under pressure? Or one that can perform sustainably, with space for reflection, recovery, and resilience? 
 
Use this time to create oxygen so your team can come back stronger, clearer, and ready to lead the change ahead.