Tired Teams Don’t Need More Pressure
- Ralph Cochrane
- May 14
- 1 min read
The best leaders recognize the difference between burnout and disengagement.
This is the time of year people start checking out. You can feel it with kids first.
Our daughter has officially entered the “How many days left until summer?” phase of the school year. Every morning feels slightly more dramatic than the last.
And honestly, adults aren’t always that different this time of year.
At work, I’ve noticed the same thing happening with teams lately. Energy dips. Attention drifts. People mentally start fast-forwarding toward vacation season before they’ve actually arrived there.
The challenge for leaders is understanding the difference between exhaustion and disengagement.
A tired employee doesn’t necessarily need pressure. Sometimes they need encouragement. Clarity. Recognition. A reminder that what they’re doing still matters.
I remember one leader I worked with who used to push harder whenever the team’s energy dropped. More meetings. More urgency. More pressure.
It had the opposite effect.
The best leaders know how to steady a team without overwhelming it.
Sometimes leadership in June looks less like motivation and more like helping people finish strong.
At home, we keep telling our daughter:“You’re close. Keep going.”
Truthfully, a lot of adults probably need to hear the same thing right now too.
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