Not every case of overload can be solved with resilience

And I say this as someone who works a great deal with resilience.

People can learn to deal with pressure more effectively. They can recognise their limits earlier, manage their energy more consciously and remain able to act even during difficult periods.

But resilience should not be used to help people tolerate unhealthy working conditions over a long period of time.

Every team can manage an exceptional situation: a project that requires more effort, several colleagues being absent due to illness, or a period in which everyone supports each other and gives a little more.

Teams can do this remarkably well – if they understand why it is necessary and how long it will last.

It becomes difficult when nobody can say when this exceptional situation actually began.

In my training sessions, I sometimes ask:

“How long have you been working like this?”

The room often becomes quiet.

The answers can differ by months, sometimes even years. For some, it began with a restructuring. For others, it started when two positions remained unfilled. At some point, the overload became such a normal part of everyday work that nobody questioned it anymore.

Then the exception is no longer an exception. It has become the basis for planning.

I know this from more than 20 years in leadership. I also know how quickly committed people begin to make the impossible possible – out of responsibility, loyalty and the wish not to let their team down.

But this commitment should not become a permanent solution for missing resources or unclear priorities.

The first step may seem simple, but it still requires courage:

We need to say clearly that we are no longer dealing with a temporary phase, but with an ongoing situation.

Only then can leaders make honest decisions again:

What will we stop doing?
What is truly a priority?
What can we no longer promise under these conditions?

A healthy performance culture does not mean that work should never be demanding. It means making sure that a demanding period does not quietly become the permanent normal.

How do you recognise that an exceptional situation has become the normal way of working in your organisation – and how openly is this discussed?