Episode Summary
Middle managers are expected to support their teams, deliver leadership's goals and keep the day-to-day operation running. But who's supporting them?
In this episode of A Seat at The Table, Jane Singer speaks with Dr. Lisa Campbell, a healthcare executive, entrepreneur, educator and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in healthcare. Lisa explains why so many accomplished managers are carrying an unsustainable load—and how learning what to release can be just as important as learning what to do next.
They discuss middle manager burnout, workplace stress, hustle culture, the pressure to constantly achieve, and Lisa's seven types of “weight” that can affect both our professional and personal lives.
Why Are Middle Managers Burning Out?
Middle managers occupy a particularly difficult position.
Senior leadership sets the mission, vision and goals. Frontline employees look to their managers for direction and support. The middle manager is responsible for connecting the two—often without adequate support themselves.
Lisa experienced this firsthand.
Early in her healthcare career, she arrived for her first day in a management role and was immediately told the department's annual budget was due. She had no organizational experience, little guidance and a decision in front of her that would affect the department for the next 12 months.
Her experience led her to an important observation: People get promoted into management, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're supported once they get there.
The result can be long hours, skipped breaks, chronic stress and eventually burnout.
Can You Prevent Burnout Before It Happens?
Lisa believes we need to address burnout before someone reaches the breaking point.
She describes becoming so busy that she couldn't recognize the warning signs in herself. Instead of focusing only on recovering from burnout, she began asking a different question:
What can I take off my plate before I get there?
That shift became central to her approach to leadership and personal growth.
Why Personal Growth Sometimes Requires Doing Less
We're often taught that growth requires adding something: another qualification, another skill, another responsibility or another goal.
Lisa discovered the opposite.
In 2023, she was simultaneously working as a university professor and running a healthcare consulting business. On paper, she was successful. But eventually the pressure caught up with her.
Her response was to start subtracting.
She left the university, closed the consulting business and began reconsidering the identity and expectations she had carried for years.
The result surprised her. With fewer resources and fewer commitments, she found herself feeling more creative, productive and peaceful.
Sometimes moving forward requires deciding what you're no longer willing to carry.
What Are the Seven Types of Weight?
Lisa identifies seven different forms of “weight” that can accumulate in our lives:
Emotional weight – Feelings and emotional responses that we continue carrying from one situation to another.
Mental weight – Overthinking, constant mental chatter and the belief that slowing down or letting something go means failure.
Historical weight – Expectations inherited from our families, professions or organizations, including the belief that something must be done a certain way simply because “we've always done it this way.”
Comparative weight – Constantly measuring our lives and careers against other people, particularly through the distorted lens of social media.
Procrastination weight – Goals and desires we continue postponing because fear prevents us from taking action.
Commitment weight – Saying yes to too many responsibilities and struggling to say no when something no longer fits.
Physical weight – The impact the other forms of stress can eventually have on our bodies and physical wellbeing.
Lisa's starting point is simple: You can't release something until you can name what you're carrying.
How Does Hustle Culture Affect Successful Professionals?
Many high achievers have been taught that success means constantly doing more.
More hours. More responsibilities. More money. More accomplishments.
Lisa describes being afraid to let go because success had given her financial security and the freedom to do things she enjoyed. But she also began questioning the idea that we should spend our lives working now so that we can finally enjoy them after retirement.
Her alternative is to create a life where achievement and enjoyment don't have to be separated by decades.
Why Saying No Can Be an Important Leadership Skill
One of the weights Lisa identifies is commitment.
For people accustomed to being dependable, ambitious and helpful, saying yes can become automatic. Eventually those commitments accumulate.
Lisa suggests a useful alternative for people who struggle with saying no:
“No, not right now.”
It creates space without requiring you to permanently close the door.
Are You Surviving or Thriving?
One of Lisa's biggest realizations was that being constantly busy didn't necessarily mean she was moving forward.
Sometimes we are simply running around the same circle.
Stepping back allowed her to reconsider which expectations were genuinely hers and which had been inherited from family, workplace culture or previous definitions of success.
Her message to managers and other high-achieving professionals is clear: growth isn't always about adding more.
Sometimes growth requires release.
In This Episode
Middle manager burnout • Leadership burnout • Workplace stress • Preventing burnout • Healthcare leadership • Professional development • Work-life balance • Hustle culture • Mental load • Leadership development • Workplace wellbeing • Saying no at work • Managing stress • Personal growth • High achiever burnout • Management support
About the Guest
Dr. Lisa L. Campbell, PhD, MHA, RHIA, FAHIMA is a healthcare executive, entrepreneur, educator and speaker with more than 30 years of experience in healthcare. She is the founder and CEO of Dr. Lisa L. Campbell, Inc. and is known as the Growth Motivator. Her work bridges healthcare leadership, professional development and personal growth.
Website: https://drlisalcampbell.org/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drlisalcampbell1922
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlisalcampbell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrLisaLCampbell/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlisalcampbell/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thegrowthmotivator
THE CONSISTENT MARKETING SYSTEM
Stop starting over again each month. We'll work together one-on-one to build a tailor-made system you can repeat each quarter. Marketing gets done - on easy mode. Get the details about the Consistent Marketing System.
More resources for B2B marketers at our website at seat.fm
Visit A Seat at The Table's website at https://seat.fm
