Business and Tech
Organizations have long viewed employee well-being through the lens of frontline workers. Evidence increasingly suggests that leaders’ own well-being has been overlooked, with real consequences for their teams.
Angela Kegler, Ph.D.
Leadership Expert, American Management Association
Leadership roles have expanded significantly. Beyond setting direction, leaders are now expected to guide AI adoption, coach employees, foster engagement, build culture, manage change, and navigate uncertainty in increasingly complex environments. Yet, the systems around them have not always kept pace. Many leaders are being asked to carry broader responsibilities without the capacity to manage them sustainably.
What the research shows
Recent leadership research from the American Management Association found that 71% of leaders regularly perform work outside their formal role, while nearly 60% report that these additional responsibilities limit their ability to focus on strategic priorities. Leaders have become the buffer for staffing shortages, unclear ownership, urgent deadlines, and operational breakdowns.
Over time, that strain takes a toll. Sustained overextension can weaken execution and limit leaders’ ability to develop others. Encouraging resilience has become the standard response from organizations, but resilience cannot fix what is ultimately a structural problem. Solving this issue means redesigning the processes that shape how leaders work.
Five ways to rebuild capacity
Human resources and executive teams can play a pivotal role by focusing on five areas.
First, create greater clarity around priorities. Leaders cannot manage competing demands when everything is treated as urgent. Clear frameworks for decision-making and organizational alignment reduce cognitive overload and improve focus.
Second, redefine delegation as development, not just workload reduction. By intentionally transferring responsibility and decision-making authority, leaders build capability in others while preserving their own strategic capacity.
Third, strengthen leadership pipelines. Development opportunities, coaching, and succession planning help prepare new leaders before they assume larger responsibilities. Research shows many managers do not feel fully ready for future demands, underscoring the need for continuous capability building.
Fourth, reduce administrative burden through process improvement, revised ownership structures, and emerging technology like AI. This allows leaders time to create clarity, develop others, and drive strategy instead of compensating for organizational inefficiencies.
Finally, measure leadership effectiveness not only by results achieved but by capability developed. Organizations that reward succession readiness and talent growth create more sustainable leadership capacity and reduce dependence on individual heroics.
Why leader well-being matters
The future of employee well-being depends, in part, on the well-being of leaders. Organizations that intentionally support leadership capacity can improve health and engagement while developing future talent and creating workplaces that can thrive amid continuous change and uncertainty.
The full research and practical recommendations behind these insights are available at amanet.org in the whitepaper “Leadership Development in a Transforming Workplace: Emerging Demands, Gaps, and Opportunities for Today’s Organizations.”
