{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/675b3c38619022857c924a42/69c2a0fffce4b829c581f90c?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Ep 53: How High Achievers Burn Out Twice: Stress, Joy at Work, and What Leaders Still Get Wrong with Amy Leneker","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/675b3c38619022857c924a42/1774362842643-0c043308-3576-4960-8348-3b608b062e7a.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>In <strong>Episode 53 of <em>The Gen Mess with Tess</em></strong>, Tess Brigham sits down with <strong>Amy Leneker</strong>, founder and CEO of the Center for Joyful Work, to explore why burnout keeps happening even to highly successful leaders who know better.</p><p><br></p><p>Amy has helped more than 100,000 leaders and teams, including Fortune 100 companies, rethink leadership, workplace stress, and employee well-being. A former public policy executive and recovering workaholic, Amy shares how burning out twice forced her to confront the internal patterns that kept driving overwork, achievement, and chronic stress.</p><p><br></p><p>Together, Tess and Amy unpack why burnout is not simply about workload; it is often tied to identity, workplace systems, leadership culture, and the stories people tell themselves about success.</p><p><br></p><p>This conversation explores:</p><ul><li>why high performers often confuse overworking with worth</li><li>how burnout can repeat even after changing jobs</li><li>what workplace stress is doing to leadership pipelines</li><li>why younger employees are redefining ambition</li><li>how Gen Z experiences stress differently at work</li><li>why recognition and appreciation matter more than many leaders realize</li><li>the three conditions that create joy at work: meaning, mattering, and momentum</li><li>how AI may force a new era of critical thinking in leadership</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Amy also shares findings from her national workforce research showing that employees increasingly need joy at work to perform well, yet many leaders still operate inside systems that reward exhaustion instead of sustainability.</p><p><br></p><p>For HR leaders, managers, and executives, this episode offers a practical framework for understanding employee burnout, generational tension, workplace stress, leadership development, and what healthy ambition may need to look like next.</p><p><br></p><p>If your organization is asking why employees are disengaged, overwhelmed, or pulling back from leadership, this conversation explains what may be underneath it.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><h2>Chapters with Timestamps</h2><p>00:00 – Why Amy Leneker Burned Out Twice</p><p>02:14 – The Stress Story High Achievers Carry</p><p>04:12 – Why Leadership Still Rewards Burnout</p><p>06:45 – Why Joy Belongs in the Future of Leadership</p><p>08:21 – Gen Z, Stress, and New Definitions of Work</p><p>11:52 – Are Younger Workers Redefining Ambition?</p><p>16:15 – The Three Conditions That Create Joy at Work</p><p>20:23 – Why Gen Z Needs Appreciation More Than Leaders Think</p><p>25:36 – The Exercise That Changed Amy’s Career</p><p>31:13 – Parenting, Leadership, and Invisible Overwork</p><p>35:01 – Why Workplace Systems Keep Breaking People</p><p>40:13 – AI, Critical Thinking, and the Future of Work</p>","author_name":"Tess Brigham"}