June 2026: ‘The Antidote to Burnout May Actually Not Be Balance!’

Your Monthly All Personal Leadership News is here, now with audio, too!

The All Personal Podcast is back with a AI Audio Brief, based on the monthly All Personal News.

All episodes are short, punchy and leadership-resource packed.

All in under 3 minutes!

I used Google’s Notebook AI tool to create a  short audio brief of this newsletter.

If you’re busy, on the move or an auditory communicator – this is for you!
Click here to listen to the brief.

This month’s topic: 
‘Burnout & Balance!’ – a different angle.

Not from the books, but from behind the scenes of coaching conversations with real people!

1. Backstage at All Personal – the Antidote to Burnout may not actually be Balance, but something more powerful!
2. Motivation Moment – Game On: Coaching Question Friday Raffle #63 and Coaching Forest Awards!
3. Just One Learning Bite: this week, a book to help you Re-Think!

What’s a struggle or a topic you want me to talk about next month?
Email me and I’ll address that in the next issue.

Game On: Lead Different!

Roxana

All Personal Backstage:
The Antidote to ‘Burnout’ May Actually Not Be Balance!
Here’s Something More Powerful!

Earlier last week, I had the privilege of facilitating a workshop & group coaching session focused on workplace burnout prevention and recovery.

The engagement was incredible, and I know that because, by the end of the session, people said ‘we should have this every week, it feels so good!’

Here are some key issues that came up repeatedly (and which I also see coming up often in 1:1 coaching sessions):

1. Managing competing urgent deadlines with limited resources
2. Difficulty saying “no” without feeling like you’re letting the team down
3. Blurred work-life boundaries, especially in hybrid environments
4. Feeling overwhelmed and not knowing how to ask for help effectively

Solutions we explored together:
1. Time blocking & energy management – finding your optimal “stretch zone” vs. strain zone
2. Boundary communication scripts – practical language for negotiating deadlines and workload
3. The shared responsibility model – both individual strategies AND organizational support
4. Early warning systems – recognizing burnout signs before hitting the wall

And yet, the most powerful moment was not when we discussed solutions!
It was when we felt CONNECTION.

This happened when one participant courageously shared that she met all the criteria for burnout, including isolation, and didn’t know what to do!

No solutions seemed available or applicable to her (how relatable is this?).

What happened next was magic – the entire room immediately started brainstorming ideas, solutions, and offering genuine support.

Community & Connection were not just an antidote for a quick fix, but a beginning of a healthier and more sustainable path!

I pointed this out to the group:
‘Notice what just happened.
The moment you shared your struggle, you weren’t alone anymore.
People jumped in to help’.

Yes, people do want to help.
It’s just that… they can’t support what they can’t see.

And we can’t ask for help before we even recognize the issue!

So, yes, sometimes, the very act of naming our experience is what creates that Connection & Community, which breaks the isolation that burnout thrives on!

What’s one sign of burnout you’ve been ignoring?
You don’t have to figure it out alone. 💬

If this story resonates and you feel like talking to a professional coach might help, I’m here.
Book a “Talk to the Face” 30-minute coffee call with me and let’s Connect.
Sometimes having that outside perspective can be the first step toward finding your way out of isolation and back to balance.

Game On: Lead Different. Take the Lead!

Just One LEARNING Bite

Adam Grant’s book, ‘Think Again’, made me rethink so many things I thought I was sure of!

It also underscored for me the theory that, yes, I’m the one accountable for taking the lead of my own life – both the personal and the professional one.
No one else has to, needs to or ought to do that for me.

Who I am, how I show up, the experiences I choose to live, who I’m becoming every day is serious business; and it’s my own business first.

So, when I saw the cartoon from Saturday Night Live in the book, it first made me giggle.
And then, when I read Hemingway’s quote (poorly highlighted in this image), it made me think again.

‘You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.’

Because while it’s true that I’m taking myself pretty much everywhere I go, I actually also have an additional perspective to this quote.

I have the privilege of being, among many other things, an immigrant.
An even bigger privilege of calling myself a citizen of two beautiful countries: Romania (where I was born) and Canada (where I live).

I say privilege because being an immigrant means the chance to experience first hand what drastically changing the (physical) environment does to the individual.

And from that perspective, my addition to Hemingway’s quote would be:

‘You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.’

But the right environment can help you acknowledge, amplify and accelerate who you always wished you were.

So, whatever environment you’re changing right now (mentally, emotionally or physically), what does that do for you?

Lead Different – this week, too:).

Game On: what’s a learning bite you’d like to share?

Roxana