FRIED. The Burnout Podcast podcast

FRIED. The Burnout Podcast

Your best people aren't lazy. They're burned out. And there's a difference — one that costs you performance, retention, and culture if you can't spot it. FRIED: The Burnout Podcast is a top 1% global show with over a million downloads, hosted by keynote speaker and burnout expert Cait Donovan. It's the show for leaders, executives, HR professionals, and high-responsibility humans who want to understand burnout at a systems level — not just survive it personally. The core question FRIED keeps asking: Where is the work no longer matching the humans doing it? Burnout isn't a motivation problem. It's a mismatch problem. When the fit between people, roles, expectations, and organizational systems breaks down — disengagement builds, resentment festers, and your best people start quietly planning their exit. FRIED helps you see those mismatches before they become crises. Each week you'll get expert conversations on workplace burnout, leadership, organizational culture, employee retention, and sustainable high performance — plus solo episodes where Cait breaks down the hidden dynamics driving disengagement in even the highest-performing teams. No blame. No fluff. No breathing exercises you didn't ask for. Topics covered: burnout prevention, chronic stress, leadership development, workplace culture, employee disengagement, resentment at work, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, boundaries, organizational design, psychological safety, and middle management burnout. FRIED. Because burnout isn't the price of ambition. It's a signal that something needs to change.

Your best people aren't lazy. They're burned out. And there's a difference — one that costs you performance, retention, and culture if you can't spot it. FRIED: The Burnout Podcast is a top 1% global show with over a million downloads, hosted by keynote speaker and burnout expert Cait Donovan. It's the show for leaders, executives, HR professionals, and high-responsibility humans who want to understand burnout at a systems level — not just survive it personally. The core question FRIED keeps asking: Where is the work no longer matching the humans doing it? Burnout isn't a motivation problem. It's a mismatch problem. When the fit between people, roles, expectations, and organizational systems breaks down — disengagement builds, resentment festers, and your best people start quietly planning their exit. FRIED helps you see those mismatches before they become crises. Each week you'll get expert conversations on workplace burnout, leadership, organizational culture, employee retention, and sustainable high performance — plus solo episodes where Cait breaks down the hidden dynamics driving disengagement in even the highest-performing teams. No blame. No fluff. No breathing exercises you didn't ask for. Topics covered: burnout prevention, chronic stress, leadership development, workplace culture, employee disengagement, resentment at work, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, boundaries, organizational design, psychological safety, and middle management burnout. FRIED. Because burnout isn't the price of ambition. It's a signal that something needs to change.

 

#348

The 4 Behaviors of A Toxic Workplace a #straightfromcait episode

Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/UffD0Ec0SX4 Cait Donovan, host of FRIED. T... more

31 May 2026

08 MINS

08:49

31 May 2026


#347

Toxic or Just a Bad Fit? How to Tell the Difference at Work with Leanne Elliott of Truth, Lies, & Wo...

Your workplace might not be toxic. It might just be missing the biology lesson that explai... more

24 May 2026

55 MINS

55:01

24 May 2026


#346

We’re Expecting the Wrong Things From Leaders And It’s Causing Leadership Burnout: A #straightfromca...

If you're a leader who's exhausted, this one's for you. Cait Donovan, host of ... more

17 May 2026

12 MINS

12:02

17 May 2026


#345

Burned Out and Managing Multiple Generations? What Leaders Get Wrong About Generational Conflict at ...

Workplace burnout makes a lot more sense when you stop blaming generations for the surviva... more

10 May 2026

58 MINS

58:38

10 May 2026


#344

Why Giving Your Best Employees More Autonomy Sometimes Backfires (And What to Do Instead) A #straigh...

Autonomy can be the silent mismatch that drains a team long before anyone names burnout. L... more

03 May 2026

11 MINS

11:47

03 May 2026


#343

The Career Structure That's Actually Burnout-Proof (And Why More Execs Are Moving to It) with Ilana ...

Portfolio careers may be one of the smartest paths to financial stability in the future of... more

26 Apr 2026

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:17

26 Apr 2026


#342

The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You (That Predicts Everything)

Your body has been warning you about burnout, bad hires, and misalignment long before your... more

19 Apr 2026

19 MINS

19:41

19 Apr 2026


#341

Psychological Safety First: The Foundation of Thriving Teams with Aoife O'Brien

Talent does not disappear on its own; it erodes when people feel unsafe, unseen and mismat... more

12 Apr 2026

1 HR 01 MINS

1:01:34

12 Apr 2026


#340

Why Your Culture Initiatives Keep Failing — And What Actually Works with Chris Pineda

When leadership turns into a transaction, culture starts to starve.  Workplace culture is ... more

05 Apr 2026

54 MINS

54:40

05 Apr 2026


#339

Nobody Is Neutral at Work: How Every Behavior Either Builds or Burns Your Culture a #straightfromcai...

Burnout rarely begins with the job alone because the habits that once kept you safe may be... more

29 Mar 2026

23 MINS

23:37

29 Mar 2026


#338

Burnout Doesn't Wait for a Good Time: Building Resilience Into Your Leadership with Dr. Rachel Goldm...

Burnout recovery begins with one honest moment of self-awareness and the willingness to ma... more

22 Mar 2026

49 MINS

49:37

22 Mar 2026


#337

Why Companies Are Afraid to Talk About Workplace Wellness (And What That Silence Is Costing Them) a ...

Why does workplace wellness still feel risky for leaders even when the data proves it work... more

15 Mar 2026

22 MINS

22:58

15 Mar 2026


#336

Suzy Welch: When Your Values and Your Job Stop Matching, Performance Tanks

Burnout might be the cost of living someone else’s values instead of your own. Cait sits d... more

08 Mar 2026

47 MINS

47:03

08 Mar 2026


#335

Why High Performers Are Quietly Quitting Your Best Teams — and the Fix Most Leaders Miss with Mike G...

Only 2 percent of leaders believe their performance reviews actually work, yet most compan... more

01 Mar 2026

58 MINS

58:33

01 Mar 2026


#334

Mattering at Work: The Missing Leadership Skill Driving Engagement, Retention, and Burnout Recovery ...

Belonging might get you on the team, but if burnout is a systems problem, then mattering i... more

22 Feb 2026

50 MINS

50:45

22 Feb 2026


#333

Does Mindfulness Work for Burnout, PTSD, and Trauma? What Research in War Zones Shows | A #straightf...

Burnout does not get fixed by waiting for the workplace to change and it does not get solv... more

15 Feb 2026

11 MINS

11:36

15 Feb 2026


#332

Burnout Recovery, Alignment, and a Thoughtful Transition

Part of burnout recovery is learning when to respond to what your body and life are tellin... more

01 Feb 2026

46 MINS

46:00

01 Feb 2026


#331

#straightfromcait: Burnout Isn’t About Resilience. It’s About Match.

Burnout recovery does not start with fixing yourself. It starts with understanding job fit... more

25 Jan 2026

05 MINS

05:57

25 Jan 2026


#330

Re-Release: 7 Stages of Burnout with Mandy Lehto

Burnout is less a breaking point than a slow unravelling of identity and the seven messy p... more

18 Jan 2026

1 HR 02 MINS

1:02:28

18 Jan 2026


#329

Tess Brigham: Why Millennials Might Be The Most Burned Out of Us All

What if you could step into a room filled with the people who hold the keys to the big sta... more

11 Jan 2026

49 MINS

49:11

11 Jan 2026


#328

Casey McGuire Davidson: Dry January Advice for Burnt Out High Achievers

What if you could step into a room filled with the people who hold the keys to the big sta... more

04 Jan 2026

41 MINS

41:24

04 Jan 2026


#327

#sarahshares: Winter Self-care for When You Fear You are Back-sliding

Winter fear can feel like burnout recovery slipping away but this episode reframes fear an... more

28 Dec 2025

18 MINS

18:45

28 Dec 2025


#326

Coaching with Sarah: How To Ask For Help From the Right People (And Then, How to Accept It)

Burnout recovery starts when you stop treating self-sufficiency as strength and learn how ... more

21 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:42

21 Dec 2025


#325

Hailey Paige Magee: Burned Out and Lonely: How Do You Rebuild Your Community?

AD: What if you could step into a room filled with the people who hold the keys to the big... more

14 Dec 2025

55 MINS

55:22

14 Dec 2025


#324

Burnout Recovery Exercise: How to Stop Feeling Like a Failure at Burnout Recovery

Many people mistake burnout for personal failure, but the real issue is the quiet mismatch... more

07 Dec 2025

16 MINS

16:13

07 Dec 2025


#323

Fall Self-care for When Grief and Guilt are Weighing You Down

Fall can hit like a quiet emotional landslide as grief, guilt, and old heaviness rise to t... more

30 Nov 2025

17 MINS

17:23

30 Nov 2025


#322

Cyndie Spiegel: Use This Technique to Find Hope When You're Burnt Out

Burnout doesn’t end with a mindset shift—it begins when you finally allow grief, emptiness... more

23 Nov 2025

41 MINS

41:42

23 Nov 2025


#321

#straightfromcait: Why Behavior Change Is So Hard (and What Your Brain Has to Do With It)

Most people think they’ve failed at change when they’ve actually just hit the part where b... more

16 Nov 2025

09 MINS

09:12

16 Nov 2025