Last week, I was chatting with my neighbor, a former jockey who spent years racing some of the best horses in the country.
He told me about a horse he once ran too hard. The animal had enormous heart and talent, and even when injured, it tried to push through. But one race changed everything. The horse finished (barely) and was never the same again.
“Once a thoroughbred breaks,” he said quietly, “he won’t ever run the same again.”
That line stayed with me. Because I see it play out in workplaces every day. We ask burned out leaders to do more and more.
The Thoroughbred Leader
High-performing employees, your thoroughbreds, are the ones who give extra, stay late, and care deeply. They don’t need constant motivation because excellence is already in their blood, in their DNA.
But when they start to falter, showing signs of exhaustion, cynicism, or self-doubt, leaders often respond with: “We need to get engagement up.” They double down on focus groups, action planning, motivation, goal setting, or pep talks, asking these same employees to “dig deeper” or “recommit.”
It’s the workplace equivalent of urging an injured racehorse to run faster.
Burnout Is an Injury, not a Motivation Problem
Gallup reports that nearly 30% of the workforce is burned out and burnout affects top performers more often.
Some quick math: In a 500-person company, 15 thoroughbreds (your top talent), working at 75% capacity, costs the company over $560,000 per year.
When someone is physically, mentally, or emotionally depleted, no amount of focus groups and action planning to improve engagement will restore their performance. Burnout erodes capacity from the inside out and, unless it’s addressed, those employees don’t just leave the company; they lose part of themselves in the process.
Companies Are Not Thinking About the Cost of Burned Out Leaders
Most organizations rely on engagement surveys to understand employee well-being. Engagement data tell you how committed people feel, not how depleted they are. Ironically, your team can be 100% committed yet burned out to their core.
That’s why I use the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS) in my work. These tools reveal why people are struggling, pinpointing root causes like workload, control, recognition, fairness, values alignment, and community.
When leaders have that data, they can finally fix what’s broken instead of pushing people harder.
A Better Question: Are my Leaders Healthy Enough to Win the Race?
Before asking for more engagement, productivity, or discretionary effort, pause and ask: “Are my top performers healthy enough to run?” Because if they’re burned out, they don’t need a pep talk, they need recovery and systemic changes in their work environment.
Protect your thoroughbreds, and you protect your performance. Ignore their injuries, and you risk losing both.
What do you think?
Have you ever seen a “thoroughbred” employee pushed too hard? How did it impact them and the team?
Interested in learning more about burnout assessment tools? Contact us.
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