The new rules of sustainable leadership
“Burnout isn’t a people problem. It’s a systems problem.”
That was the striking opening statement that set the tone for one of the most thought-provoking panel discussions at Elite Business Live 2026.
At a time when AI is accelerating workloads, hybrid working is reshaping team dynamics, and founders are expected to operate at full capacity around the clock, the conversation around burnout is evolving rapidly.
This wasn’t another panel about scented candles, yoga retreats or “just switching off”. Instead, the discussion explored a far more uncomfortable truth: many modern businesses are unintentionally designed in ways that make burnout inevitable.
Hosted in front of an audience of founders, SME leaders and entrepreneurs, the panel brought together:
- Rebecca Drew
- Dr Alka Patel
- Jo Eckersley
- Laura Fullerton
- Terese Bryson
Together, they unpacked why burnout is becoming one of the defining business challenges of modern leadership, and what organisations must do differently if they want high performance without sacrificing people in the process.
Burnout often starts long before leaders notice it
One of the strongest themes throughout the session was how difficult burnout can be to recognise, especially for founders.
For entrepreneurs constantly juggling pressure, responsibility and uncertainty, unhealthy working patterns can quickly become normalised.
“You’re juggling a huge amount. That becomes the day-to-day. It becomes the norm.”
Jo Eckersley spoke candidly about her own experiences with burnout, admitting she has experienced it multiple times throughout her entrepreneurial career.
The warning signs, she explained, are often subtle at first:
- Missing family occasions
- Working late because it feels quieter
- Waking up thinking about work
- Decision fatigue
- Feeling mentally “foggy”
- Prioritising work over recovery
Rebecca Drew added that burnout often “shows up in your body first”, through sleep disruption, slower thinking and reduced clarity.
But perhaps the most powerful insight came from Dr Alka Patel, who stressed the importance of distinguishing stress from burnout.
“Burnout doesn’t just show up when you say, ‘I’m burnt out.’ It’s there way before that.”
She introduced what she called the “ABC” warning system:
- Autonomy — losing control over your time and calendar
- Belonging — withdrawing socially or feeling disconnected
- Competence — struggling with decisions or doubting your effectiveness
For many in the room, it reframed burnout as something measurable and observable, not simply emotional exhaustion.
Modern businesses may be designed for burnout
The panel repeatedly returned to a difficult but important question: are many organisations unintentionally creating the conditions for burnout?
Jo Eckersley argued the answer is yes.
“We have evolved a work environment that demands of us as humans in a way that we’re not actually built to sustain.”
From agency culture and unrealistic deadlines to constant connectivity and reactive calendars, the discussion highlighted how many workplaces reward output while ignoring human limitations.
Terese Bryson explained that workplace design plays a critical role in preventing burnout before it escalates. At Sage, the focus is on creating environments that support:
- collaboration
- flexibility
- creativity
- connection
- different working styles
But she also acknowledged how difficult burnout can be to identify in hybrid or remote environments where leaders may miss early behavioural changes.
Rather than focusing purely on productivity metrics, Bryson encouraged leaders to pay closer attention to how work gets done, not just what gets delivered.
That shift in thinking resonated throughout the discussion:
- sustainable performance over constant performance
- energy management over time management
- human-centred leadership over presenteeism
AI may increase burnout before it reduces it
Naturally, the conversation turned to AI, one of the dominant themes throughout Elite Business Live 2026.
While AI promises greater efficiency, several panellists warned that it may actually intensify pressure on teams in the short term.
Dr Alka Patel captured the challenge perfectly:
“AI is speeding up work, but we haven’t sped up our biology yet.”
The concern wasn’t anti-technology. Instead, the panel explored the growing mismatch between accelerating digital expectations and the slower realities of human physiology.
Leaders are now expected to:
- learn AI tools
- implement new systems
- adapt workflows
- respond faster
- stay constantly available
All while maintaining performance levels that were already unsustainable for many.
Jo Eckersley warned that businesses risk focusing entirely on outcomes while ignoring the human cost required to achieve them.
The result? More stress, less recovery and increasingly overwhelmed nervous systems.
Recovery is becoming a strategic business skill
If there was one major takeaway from the panel, it was this: recovery can no longer be treated as an afterthought.
Laura Fullerton, founder of wellness-tech company Monk, argued that leaders need recovery systems built into daily life, not just annual holidays.
“Leaders and teams don’t burn out because of a lack of willpower. It’s because our nervous systems are overloaded.”
The discussion moved beyond generic well-being advice and focused instead on practical, physiological recovery strategies.
Dr Patel shared simple “time-based biohacks”, including:
- getting outside in morning daylight
- resetting circadian rhythms
- building small recovery rituals into the working day
- understanding cortisol patterns
Meanwhile, Fullerton explained why practices such as cold exposure and breathwork are gaining traction among founders, athletes and executives alike.
Rather than simply helping people “relax”, she argued these tools help retrain the nervous system to become more resilient under pressure.
“You’re doing something uncomfortable and thinking, ‘I’m someone that does hard things.’”
It was a subtle but important distinction. High performance does not require removing challenge altogether. Instead, it requires balancing challenge with intentional recovery.
Leadership wellbeing is no longer optional
Perhaps the most commercially important insight came from Rebecca Drew, who challenged leaders to stop treating wellbeing as a “nice-to-have”.
“This isn’t a well-being ‘woo-woo’ thing. It’s a strategic imperative for your business.”
The panel agreed that leaders have a responsibility to model sustainable behaviour themselves. Burnt-out leaders rarely create healthy cultures.
As Drew pointed out, founders cannot effectively support teams if they are operating in a constant state of stress and exhaustion.
That message felt especially relevant for SMEs and scale-ups, where founder behaviour often shapes the entire company culture.
The discussion also touched on vulnerability in leadership, particularly around whether burnout and wellbeing are still viewed too often as “women’s issues”.
While opinions varied, the panel broadly agreed that businesses must create cultures where conversations around stress, energy and mental wellbeing feel normal for everyone.
The future of business performance is human-centred
The panel on “Beyond Burnout, Towards Brilliance” offered a refreshing alternative to hustle culture and toxic productivity narratives.
The message was not to lower ambition. It was to build businesses capable of sustaining ambition long term.
For founders and business leaders, the key takeaways were clear:
- Burnout is often a systems issue, not a personal failure
- High performance requires structured recovery
- AI may amplify pressure unless businesses redesign work thoughtfully
- Leaders must pay attention to energy, not just output
- Sustainable businesses require sustainable humans
Because ultimately, as the panel made clear, brilliance is not built through exhaustion. It’s built through balance, awareness and intentional leadership.
To explore more insights from industry leaders and discover additional on-demand sessions covering growth, leadership, AI, sales and entrepreneurship, visit the interviews section on Elite Business.
