It’s Not the Trigger, It’s the Load: Why Stress Lands Unevenly

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 is blunt: 44% of employees feel stressed every day, and only one in three describe themselves as thriving. Engagement has slipped to 21% worldwide, draining billions in productivity. People everywhere are carrying more — but not all in the same way.

I see it in myself. The other day, I snapped at something trivial — a book sliding off the table. Of course, it wasn’t about the book. It was the long day, the sore foot, the spiky conversations that had already drained me. The trigger was small. The load beneath it was heavy.

It’s the same for the people we lead. What shows up as irritability or withdrawal is rarely about the moment in front of us. It’s about the weight that came before. Leaders who see that — and buffer it — unlock real resilience.

A Spikier, More Stressful World

The macro picture is undeniable.

• 44% of global employees feel stressed every day.

• 41% experienced significant stress the day before the survey.

• Manager engagement has dropped to 27%, with younger and female managers hardest hit — a warning sign given managers influence up to 70% of team engagement.

The stressors behind these numbers are familiar: cost of living, housing shortages, immigration and demographic change, political polarisation, and technological disruption. None are inherently good or bad. They are stressors because they demand adaptation. And adaptation always consumes energy.

Same World, Different Weight

How those pressures land depends on personal context.

• If you own your home, a housing shortage is frustrating. If you rent, it can feel existential.

• If you see diversity as enrichment, demographic change energises you. If your security is rooted in tradition, the same shifts feel destabilising.

• If you’re established in your career, AI disruption feels like an amplifier. If you’re in transition, it feels like a threat.

Same world. Different weight.

Why Leaders Must Notice the Hidden Load

When behaviour shifts — irritability, disengagement, withdrawal — it is often macro stress meeting micro vulnerability, not lack of character or motivation.

Leaders cannot fix the macro. But they can buffer the micro by:

• Noticing when tone, energy, or focus changes.

• Asking differently: not “What’s wrong with you?” but “What else might you be carrying today?”

• Flexing support: for one person, financial reassurance; for another, flexibility or psychological safety.

That pivot — from judgement to curiosity — is the difference between erosion and resilience.

Building Real Resilience

Resilience is not just an individual virtue. It is built — or broken — by leadership, systems, and culture.

When leaders create psychological safety, when they design flexible structures, when they actively support their managers, they embed resilience into the organisation. Without this, stress fills the gap.

The CEO Lens

For boards and CEOs, the question isn’t if these stressors exist — it’s how you design strategy that accounts for them. Macro forces will not ease soon: inflation cycles, housing shortages, demographic shifts, and AI disruption are all structural.

That means leadership strategy cannot be built on the assumption of a “return to calm.” It must be built on the recognition that people are operating under heightened, uneven loads — and performance will rise or fall depending on how well leaders buffer them.

So what does that look like in practice? Three anchors stand out:

• Signal stability: keep communicating financial clarity and strategic direction, even in volatile times.

• Design flexibility: allow teams to adapt how they work, so they can absorb shocks without breaking.

• Embed care as strategy: psychological safety and manager support aren’t perks — they’re productivity levers.

The Leadership Imperative

The best leaders don’t just scan markets or watch competitors. They notice the hidden loads shaping how people show up.

Macro stress is universal. Micro resilience is personal. Hold both — and you don’t just manage performance. You lead people.

About Deabadh Group

Deabadh Group is a trusted partner for CEOs and senior executives navigating leadership, succession, and high-stakes transformation. With over two decades of experience across global markets, we help leaders model what matters, coach with courage, and care like it’s strategic. Our work integrates human capital insight, executive search expertise, and leadership psychology to shape resilient organisations ready for tomorrow.

Want help surfacing what’s actually shaping your team’s performance? Let’s talk.