🗞️ The Wellness Briefing – Edition No. 06: “The High-Performer’s Double Bind” | August 5, 2025

2 minute read

Quick, high-impact wellness insights for ambitious professionals. Delivered Tuesdays.

Welcome Back to The Wellness Briefing

Here’s the paradox no one tells you about burnout: the more capable you are, the harder it is to ask for help. High performers often suffer in silence because they’re the ones others rely on.

Let’s begin.

---

🧠 1 Insight Worth Reading: "Managers You Can Support Your High Performers by Asking This Question Twice" – An insightful Fast Company article where the author highlights because top performers are so consistent and so reliable, many managers may feel like they don’t need to worry about their top-performing employees, who seem to have things under control. This is a mistake. High-performing employees need attention and support to continue performing and growing in their careers.

IMHO the question(s) “What do you need from me? What’s one thing I can do this week to best support you?” goes a long way with top performers to create the psychological safety and trust for them to ask for help rather than shouldering it all. Read on Fast Company

🎧 1 Episode Worth Listening To: Adam Grant and Brené Brown on What Vulnerability Isn’t – A must-hear conversation between Adam and Brené unpack the power of showing up vulnerable at work—and explore how much is too much. Learn when and where to set boundaries, find out how to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable, and hear Brené rethink a key assumption that she took for granted in her own work. → Listen on Spotify

✅ Try This: Use the phrase: “Here’s what I need right now.” in one conversation this week. Practice it—even if it’s just asking for 10 minutes of silence after a meeting.

💬 Coaching Tip: Over-responsibility is not a leadership trait. It’s a survival adaptation. The work is learning to trust your team without managing everything they touch.

😐 Low-Energy Pitfall: Thinking burnout makes you “less than” or incapable. The truth? Awareness is your greatest asset. Now you can change the pattern.

The Approval Matrix: A judgmental grid for high-functioning exhaustion. What’s nourishing, what’s draining—and what’s quietly sabotaging your week.

When you’re known for being reliable, competent, and the one who gets it done, it can feel impossible to delegate, rest, or say no. That’s the double bind: the more you deliver, the more people expect—and the more you risk burning out silently.

Want more support?

• Book your free 20-min burnout consult here

• Download your full Burnout Recovery Roadmap Guide

• Get future issues delivered to your inbox Sign up here.

See you next Tuesday.
– Michelle

---