Managers Under Pressure: Future-Ready Leadership in the Age of AI

We keep hearing it from your strongest performers: 

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“I’d rather stay where I am.”

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It’s not fear. It’s experience. They’ve seen manager burnout up close, and it’s changing how they think about leadership. In Deloitte’s 2024 Human Capital Trends report, 53% of managers say they’re currently experiencing burnout - a clear signal that climbing the ladder may not be worth the cost.

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Glassdoor’s 2024 data shows middle manager burnout is real: confidence in senior leadership dropped from 54.6% to 48.3% in just one year, with more than half of middle managers actively looking for new roles.

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And now, there’s another layer: AI. Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index found that 75% of global knowledge workers are now using generative AI - almost double the rate from just six months earlier. While managers are excited about using AI to be more efficient, leaders admit the pace of change is creating future leadership challenges and putting even more pressure on managers.

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This combination - visible burnout, declining trust in leadership, and accelerating AI adoption - is reshaping how people view the future of business leadership. At PUSH, we believe the answer isn’t to make managers tougher. It’s to redesign leadership so it’s future-fit leadership: sustainable, human-first, and AI-ready - something people actually want to step into.

Why Burnout in Management Is a Business Risk

Burnout in management isn’t just a personal or employee wellbeing issue - it’s an issue that hits performance and retention. When leaders are running on empty, the effects ripple through teams, culture, and business outcomes.

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Common causes of burnout in the workplace:

• Constant firefighting instead of strategic thinking
• Unclear priorities in changing environments
• Emotional load from supporting others without supporting themselves
• The uncertainty and pace of AI change adding pressure
• Lack of emotional regulation at work, leading to reactive decisions

In 2024, six in ten managers reported feeling overwhelmed by workload, with many saying they spend most of their time in meetings rather than leading effectively.

The Future of Leadership Demands Emotional Regulation

Why is emotional regulation important in the workplace? Because leaders who can regulate emotions under pressure make better decisions, build trust, and prevent burnout and stress management from becoming a constant firefight.

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A 2024 peer-reviewed study by MDPI confirmed that leaders with higher emotional intelligence and regulation skills are linked to greater job satisfaction and engagement across teams. This shows why emotional regulation in the workplace is no longer optional - it’s a cornerstone of future-ready leadership.

How to Deal with Burnout as a Manager

Here are five practical burnout management strategies that form part of our leadership training courses:

1. Prioritise what matters - Focus on high-value work, not just urgent tasks.
2. Protect recovery time - Model boundaries to prevent managing burnout at work from becoming the norm.
3. Build awareness - Spot early signs of stress in yourself and others.
4. Regulate under pressure - Learn how to regulate emotions at work through simple, repeatable tools.
5. Seek and share support - Strong leadership isn’t solo - it’s collective.

Knowing how to manage burnout at work isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s what sustains performance in the long run. Leaders need practical tools for managing burnout in the workplace and training designed for the real world.

Preparing for the Future of Leadership

The Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model shows that burnout occurs when job demands outweigh resources - a reality many managers now face. That’s why burnout training for managers and leadership training programmes must focus on resilience and adaptability.

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Key future leadership skills in an AI-driven workplace include:

• Strategic agility - addressing future leadership challenges head-on
• Emotional regulation - preventing and managing burnout in the workplace
• Coaching mindset - a core of future-minded leadership
• Digital fluency - ensuring the future of business leadership adapts responsibly to AI
• Burnout prevention - learning how to reduce burnout in the workplace by embedding it into daily practices

This is the future of leadership development: equipping leaders with practical, human-first tools.

How PUSH Supports Managers Under Pressure

At PUSH, our leadership training for managers is designed to prevent new manager burnout, support middle management burnout, and equip leaders for the future of leadership.

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Every leadership training programme combines:

• Practical burnout and stress management tools
• Skills for managing under pressure
• Emotional regulation at work
• How to develop management and leadership skills through experiential practice

Our approach blends behavioural science, coaching, and psychotherapy so leaders learn how to deal with burnout as a manager and how to lead sustainably.

The ROI of Future-Ready Leadership

When leaders are equipped with the right tools, the results are measurable:

• Prioritising workforce health improves engagement and retention - McKinsey Health Institute’s 2024 analysis shows employers that invest in employee health see stronger engagement and retention outcomes.
• Teams are more engaged when managers are empowered and supported - Gallup (2024) highlights manager enablement as a primary lever for boosting engagement.
• Stress is a major driver of lost productivity - In Great Britain, 16.4 million working days were lost to stress, depression, or anxiety in 2023/24.

What’s Next?

This October, we’re running two thought-provoking webinars to support managers and people leaders in building human-first leadership that thrives in an AI-driven world. 

1. Leading Well Under Pressure: Human-First Management in the AI Era

Led by Cate Murden (PUSH Founder & Neuro-Leadership Coach) and Stephanie Queen (PUSH’s in-house Psychotherapist), this session is designed primarily for managers and team leads who want practical, repeatable tools to lead confidently in fast-paced, AI-shifting environments. It’s also relevant for HR and people leaders who want to see PUSH training in action.

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You’ll take away:

• Practical tools to lead confidently under pressure
• Strategies to build trust and performance in high-speed environments
• A chance to see PUSH’s Self → Impact → Culture model in action

→ Secure your spot

2. The New People Strategy: Confidence, Culture & AI Readiness

Hosted by Cate Murden (PUSH Founder & Neuro-Leadership Coach) in conversation with Erica Farmer (Co-Founder of Quantum Rise, TEDx Speaker, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor), this is a strategic, senior-facing session designed for senior HR leaders, Heads of L&D, People Directors, and agency leads.

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You’ll explore:

• How AI is reshaping people strategy
• Building cultures that balance pace and wellbeing
• Creating leadership capability that drives long-term performance

→ Secure your spot

The AI Paradox Handout

Alongside the webinars, we’ve created The AI Paradox handout - a concise, high-impact resource packed with practical questions, quick wins, and strategies designed to help you start meaningful conversations about AI, pressure, and performance in your business right now.

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Inside, you’ll find:

• The reality of how AI is transforming work at breakneck speed, and the human cost it’s creating.
• Five key questions every leader should be asking (with practical actions you can take straight away).
• Quick wins for managers, including “clarity before speed” and “AI as co-pilot, not pilot.”
• Practical strategies to protect resilience, strengthen relationships, and shift focus from speed alone to sustainable performance.

It’s designed to be shared with your team or leadership peers - a simple way to spark dialogue and drive action.

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→ Download the AI Paradox handout

Get Future-Ready with PUSH

Feeling the pressure? Now is the time to invest in leaders who can manage burnout, adapt to AI, and create environments people actually want to step into.

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Book a call with us today to explore how our leadership training programmes and courses help managers under pressure to build resilience, regulate emotions, and deliver future-fit leadership.

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Because the future of leadership isn’t just about being tech-ready, it’s about being human-ready.