Leaders in survival mode – when the negative spiral pulls everyone down

12/12/2025

In many organisations, deep and painful transformations are currently taking place. In many cases this means 10–30% layoffs, ongoing uncertainty and unanswered questions. In this situation, leaders - especially middle managers- are in a particularly difficult position.

⚡ They are the ones who have to implement decisions they often do not agree with and were not even involved in shaping. 

⚡They are expected to provide answers to their teams and to hold and support them, while they themselves have no answers and are already emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted.

In such situations, what happens inside the leader - crisis experience, anger, helplessness and hopelessness - can spill downward onto their teams: through constant complaining, cynicism, a sense of no future, and uncontrolled negative communication.

And this affects the team. Everyone gets hurt. Under continuous stress and emotional pressure, energy slowly drains away, psychological safety erodes, motivation drops. Exhaustion sets in and health issues start to appear.

🎁 Solution-focused question and suggestions for organisations

❓How can we prevent leaders from getting into this state, recognise in time when there is a problem, and provide solutions and support to the affected leaders?

💡 Suggestions for organisations

1.      Detection – raising awareness of warning signs

     👉 Pay attention to the following patterns:

  • the leader regularly complains to their team or peers about senior leadership or decisions
  • they use cynical, hopeless narratives about the future ("it doesn't matter anyway", "things will never get better here")
  • signs of burnout appear: persistent exhaustion, irritability, impatience, emotional withdrawal, performance decline,
  • extreme leadership behaviours: micromanagement or complete disengagement
  • decreasing empathy, dismissive messages: "I don't have the energy for this anymore", "I'm not dealing with this now"

2.       Creating safe space and supportive frameworks instead of stigmatization

    👉Create non-judgmental, non-punitive, solution-focused support opportunities for leaders to speak               openly, process difficult topics and look for solutions and ways forward. 👉Equip them with tools to               manage their own emotional load and to communicate with their teams in a non-destructive way,                 while preserving credibility and integrity. For example:

  • leadership circles, workshops,
  • facilitated group processing of difficult topics and conversations,
  • external or internal coaches or facilitators with whom they can say what they may not dare to say within the organisation.

3.        Clarification: what is their role their task and what is not. 

👉Help clarify what leaders are responsible    for solving and what is not theirs to carry.

4.         Make these solutions and tools part of everyday operations.

🎁 Solution-focused question and suggestions for affected leaders

❓ What feelings and thoughts are present in me right now? 

❓ What do I actually want instead of the current situation? 

❓ What inner resources, strengths or experiences do I already have that could help me shift this situation? 

❓ Where could I find a safe, supportive space to talk this through honestly? 

❓ What would help me most right now in this phase?

💡 Suggestions

1.       Pause for a moment and look at your own functioning factually.

  • What topics, sentences, moods do I repeat in front of my team?
  • What proportion of your communication is negative, what is positive, in what kind of situations and topics and what impact does this have on the team?
  • What helps the team?

2.       Draw clear boundaries in communication - What do I want instead of what is now?

  • What would responsible, supportive leadership communication look like toward your team in the current situation?
  • What is it that, as a leader, you need to represent toward the team?
  • What is not for the team to process, but should go upward, sideways or into a professional support space?
  • What is the next one step you can take to shift toward that healthier direction?

3.       Find a personal "release channel"

  • Look for resources in yourself, which are already there to help you through. "What is in me already, which can help me to change the situation?"
  • Find solution-focused support: a coach or other professional with whom you can talk through what is weighing on you, say out loud what is deep inside, and look at situations through solution-focused lens, building strategies together.

4.       Introduce a daily quick self-check 

  • Did my way of operating today stabilise the team, or did it add  to their load? 
  • If the latter, where and what should I change tomorrow?

5.       Ask for feedback from your team. 

  • What would be the biggest help from you right now?
  • What could you do differently, more or less, to reduce stress and uncertainty?

This is not self-questioning. It is not humiliation. It is leadership responsibility and self-protection.

A lot of leaders are standing in the impact zone in many organisations right now. If we do not support them, teams will not be able to stay on their feet either.