The team had momentum. But lately, it felt… off.
Quinn noticed it wasn’t the ideas stalling, it was the people. The spark was dimmer. The responses slower. And the energy? Nowhere near what it used to be.
It wasn’t burnout from work itself.
It was the build-up of everything around it.
Meetings that never led to decisions. Slacks that never stopped pinging. The emotional labor of always being “on.”
This was invisible work. And it was eating up their actual capacity to think, build, and lead.
What Was Draining Them
🌀 Context switching Jumping from strategy to status to feedback to crisis, all in one hour.
🔇 Emotional buffering Softening emails, reading moods, staying “positive” no matter the pressure.
🧩 Unclear ownership Everyone contributing, but no one really owning. Work was shared, but responsibility was foggy.
These weren’t the tasks in their calendar. They were the taxes on every task.
What Quinn Shifted
✅ Decision Hygiene Smaller meetings. Clearer owners. Fewer things up for debate. Not everything needed consensus. Some things just needed a call.
✅ No-Spin Feedback Honest check-ins that didn’t require emotional gymnastics. “This isn’t working yet” became a normal, non-threatening phrase.
✅ Time to Reboot A day a month with no meetings, no deliverables, and no Slack. Not a vacation. A bandwidth reset.
✅ Effort Clarity They stopped applauding “team players” for doing everything, and started recognizing people for doing the right things.
Quinn’s Takeaway
Not all burnout looks like collapse. Sometimes, it’s just people running on low signal. If you want energy to go into the work, you have to clear what’s blocking it.
Teaser for Episode 18: The Loyalty Tension
Quinn uncovers a deeper challenge: the silent pull between loyalty to the company and loyalty to personal growth. When long-time team members start questioning whether they’re still growing, the real dilemma emerges: can loyalty evolve?
