Leading with Strength When Your Team Is Running on Empty
The last few months of the year can feel like running a marathon in heels; heavy, exhausting, and with no finish line in sight. Teams are tired. Not just physically tired, but mentally drained. After a year of constant shifts, economic pressure, and the never-ending “do more with less” mantra, people are tapped out.
For women leaders, this hits differently. We’re often balancing two worlds: showing up powerfully at work, while still carrying the invisible load of life outside of it. The latest Deloitte Women @ Work survey shows that half of women feel burned out, and nearly 40% say they’re exhausted most of the time. It’s not just us feeling it, our teams are carrying the same weight.
The result? You see it in slower responses, less creativity, and people simply going through the motions. The energy is gone, and with it, confidence and engagement.
Here’s the hard truth: you can’t push your team, or yourself, through exhaustion. The answer isn’t “powering through.” It’s leading differently, with clarity, purpose, and intention. And when we show up that way, we don’t just hit year-end goals, we help our people (and ourselves) walk into the new year with momentum.
Here are three strategies to keep your team engaged, confident, and focused—even when everyone is running on empty:
1. Cut the Clutter
When people are low on energy, complexity becomes the enemy. A recent Gallup report found that only 41% of employees know what their company stands for and what sets it apart. That lack of clarity leads to wasted time and wasted effort.
As women leaders, we sometimes fall into the trap of proving we can do it all. But leadership isn’t about juggling more balls—it’s about deciding which ones actually matter.
Ask yourself: what’s truly essential right now? Then, let go of the “nice-to-haves” and give your team the gift of focus. The clearer you are, the more confident and energized your people will feel.
2. Give Purpose, Not Pep Talks
Your people don’t need another “We’ve got this!” speech. They need to understand why their work matters. Purpose creates energy in a way motivation never can.
According to McKinsey, employees who say their work has purpose are 5 times more likely to be engaged and 3 times more likely to stay. That’s not just a feel-good stat, that’s bottom-line impact.
You do not need to be cheering from the sidelines, you need to start connecting the dots on the field. Remind your team how their work impacts the business, the customer, or the community. Call out their strengths and make their contributions visible. When people feel the meaning behind their work, they show up differently, more resilient, more creative, and yes, more confident.
3. Protect Recovery Like It’s Non-Negotiable
Productivity doesn’t survive without recovery. Read that line again. Yet in many organizations, rest is treated like a luxury instead of a strategy.
Research from the World Health Organization shows that long working hours lead to a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of heart disease. If that’s the impact on individuals, imagine the ripple effect on your team’s performance.
Protecting recovery doesn’t mean people stop working. It means building in time to recharge so performance is sustainable. Cancel the meeting that doesn’t matter. Block focus time. Model boundaries yourself. When leaders show that recovery is part of the job, it gives everyone permission to work smarter, not harder.
The Power of Women Leading Differently
As women, we bring something powerful to leadership: vision with compassion. We know what it means to navigate competing demands and still keep moving forward. But the bigger opportunity is this, we get to redefine how leadership looks.
It doesn’t have to be about hustle, burnout, or endless sacrifice. It can be about clarity, purpose, and sustainability. When we lead tired teams with those values, we don’t just get results, we change the culture.
The end of the year will always be busy. But it doesn’t have to break you or your team. Lead differently, and you will not only finish this year strong, you will step into the next one with energy, confidence, and momentum.
So, let me ask you: what’s one shift you can make this week to give your team, and yourself, some of the right energy?
More about Clara
Clara is an International Speak, Award winning Educator, Best Selling Author and Host of Women Wining Their Way and Be Productive. She is the Founder and CHO ( Chief Harmony Officer) of Capano Speaking and Training and the creator of the CLARATY Success Method. With over 20 years in sales and leadership, her passion is in providing leaders with key strategies to build healthy organizations and high-performing teams. Let Clara help you find CLARATY and help you create Success on YOUR Terms free from guilt, overwhelm and burnout.