Maxwell Leadership Executive Podcast #370: Is Burnout Affecting Your Team?
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Nov 13, 2025 Explore the phenomenon of 'quiet cracking,' where employees silently struggle with unhappiness and overwhelm. Discover how AI and productivity pressures contribute to this issue. The hosts discuss practical strategies for leaders, including training, recognition, and fostering psychological safety. Learn about the symptoms to look for, such as irritability and slowed decisions. Finally, they emphasize the need for leaders to model resilience and effectively manage workloads to combat burnout and enhance team engagement.
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Quiet Cracking Defined
- "Quiet cracking" describes employees quietly deteriorating emotionally while still showing up and doing work.
- Leaders often miss this slow collapse because it's gradual and not immediately obvious.
Silent Burnout Harms Engagement
- Quiet cracking is an involuntary mental breakdown that reduces engagement and increases desire to quit.
- Affected employees keep working but silently drown under pressure and overwhelm.
Symptoms Mirror Burnout
- Quiet cracking closely resembles burnout with symptoms like low motivation and irritability.
- Gallup links this trend to massive productivity losses across organizations.