The Cost of Hustle: Your Team’s Burnout Is Killing Growth with Paul Austin-Menear
What happens when the hardest workers on your team start burning out?
In this episode, Bill is joined by Paul Austin-Menear for a conversation about the unseen toll of hustle culture on your team, your operations, and your long-term performance. Together, they explore the red flags leaders often miss, from rising sick days to unchecked overachievement, and offer practical ways to build smarter, more resilient companies. You’ll hear stories about simplifying systems, protecting downtime, acting on feedback fast, and creating environments where people thrive instead of burn out.
Topics explored in this episode:
(02:45) Having Hustle Isn’t Enough
*When is too much ‘Hustle’ in your company a problem?
*More sick days, more absences; leaders shouldn’t ignore these signs!
*Things break down and you lose business when your hustlers start to burn out.
(9:50) Reframing Your Off Time
*When you rest, you perform better.
*On the weekends, everything should be OFF! Emails, messages, everything.
*For those overachievers who couldn’t help themselves, Paul would shut their emails off over the weekend. Work performance improved.
(27:30) Are You Overcomplicating Your Process?
*Bill shares a client story on how you can find ways to simplify.
*Reduce the redundancies. It might not be as hard as you think!
*Everything is trackable. You can find ways to reduce workload.
(37:50) Act on Feedback Quickly
*Engage your whole team, even from different departments, to spark innovation.
*How to structure bonuses and incentives in a smart way.
*So many times feedback sits in a folder and no one acts on it.
Thanks to Paul Austin-Menear for being on the show!
Learn more about Paul here: https://6catalysts.ca/
Connect with Paul: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pwamenear/
Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.
Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop
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Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth.
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