The Leadership Hangover

The latest episode of Clover went live today, and this one is just me, naming something I think a lot of us are feeling, especially in December, but rarely talk about out loud.

In this episode, I unpack what I’ve been calling the leadership hangover. It’s not burnout or a breakdown. It’s that quieter, harder-to-explain exhaustion that shows up after a long year of leading, deciding, carrying responsibility, and being “on” for everyone else, even when things look good from the outside.

I talk about:

• Why leadership hangover often goes unnoticed when you’re still functioning and capable
• How emotional fatigue, decision fatigue, and constant responsibility actually show up day to day
• Why December amplifies this feeling; reflection, pressure, goals, gratitude, and zero time to exhale
• The guilt we carry when we’re exhausted but also proud of what we’ve built
• The different ways leadership hangover can look: numbness, irritability, avoidance, or emotional flatness
• Why this isn’t a personal failure, but a nervous system that’s been carrying a lot for a long time

Most importantly, I share what not to do right now — no panic, no reinvention, no aggressive goal-setting — and offer a gentler reframe. A leadership hangover isn’t a sign that something is wrong with you. It’s a signal that you’ve been leading, often quietly and competently, without much space to set the weight down.

If you’re ending the year tired in a way you can’t quite explain, this episode is your permission slip: you don’t need clarity yet, you don’t need to fix yourself, and you don’t need to end the year energized. You’re not behind, you’re human and you’ve been leading.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Announcer,

Erin Geiger (00:10):
hello and welcome back to Clover. I want to start
today by naming something that Ithink a lot of us are feeling,
especially if you're listeningto this in December, but that we
don't really talk about. It'snot burnout or breakdown, it's
not failure. It's the quieterkind of exhaustion that shows up
after a long year of leading,deciding, showing up and being

(00:34):
on I've been calling it theleadership hangover. And if
you've had a year where from theoutside, things look good or
even really good, butinternally, you just feel tired
in a way that you can't explain.
I want you to know you're notalone. Here's what I mean when I
say leadership hangover. It'snot that dramatic version of
burnout where everything fallsapart. Most of the time. You're

(00:54):
still functioning, you're stilldoing the work, you're still
showing up to the meetings andmaking the decisions and
answering the questions. Butunderneath that, there's
emotional fatigue, there'sdecision fatigue, there's the
weight of being the personpeople rely on over and over
again. And because you're stillcapable, it's easy to tell
yourself you're fine or that youshouldn't complain, or that you

(01:16):
just need to push through alittle longer, but pushing
through is usually how we missthe signal entirely, and
December in particular has a wayof making this feel louder.
You're wrapping up the year,which means reflecting on
everything you did andeverything you didn't. You're
being asked about goals andplans and what's next, sometimes
before you even had a chance toexhale. At the same time,

(01:38):
there's family holidays,expectations and this underlying
pressure to feel grateful,grateful for the opportunities,
the success, for the life thatyou built. And that makes it
really hard to say out loud, I'mproud of what I did this year,
and I'm also completelyexhausted by it. So instead, a
lot of us carry guilt on top offatigue, like being tired means

(02:00):
we're ungrateful or weak orsomehow failing at the thing we
worked so hard to build. Butgratitude and exhaustion can
exist at the same time. Onedoesn't counsel out the other.
So it's tricky about aleadership hangover is that it
doesn't always look the way weexpect it to. Sometimes it looks
like numbness or things thatused to excite you just don't

(02:20):
land the same way anymore.
Sometimes it shows up asirritability. Your patience is
shorter, your tolerance islower, and things that normally
wouldn't bother you suddenly do.
Sometimes it's avoidancedecisions you normally make
quickly feel heavy, so you putthem off, not because you don't
know what to do, but becauseyou're tired of deciding, and
sometimes it just feels likethis flatness. You're not

(02:43):
unhappy, you're not happy,you're just done. It's not a
personal flaw. It's a nervoussystem that's been carrying a
lot for a long time. So let mesay this clearly, if this
resonates, here's what I don'twant you to do right now. I
don't want you to label yourselfas burned out and panic. I don't
want you to make a dramatic lifechange, and I definitely don't

(03:06):
want you setting aggressivegoals to try to get your spark
back. December is not the timefor reinvention, but it's the
time for honesty with yourself.
You don't need to figure outyour next big move. You don't
need a five year plan, and youdon't need to fix yourself, what
you probably need is a littlemore gentleness than you've been
allowing. Here's a reframethat's been helpful for me. A

(03:30):
leadership hangover isn't a signthat something is wrong with
you. It's a signal that you'vebeen carrying a lot, often
quietly, often competently andoften without much space to set
it down. So instead of askingyourself, what's wrong with me,
try asking this instead. Whatwould support look like right
now? Instead of success, supportmight look like fewer decisions.

(03:53):
It might look like rest thatdoesn't need to be earned. It
might look like boundaries thatdon't come with long
explanations. Sometimes, supportis simply letting things be good
enough for a while, and as theyear winds down, I want to offer
you this permission. You don'tneed to end the year energized.
You don't need clarity yet, andyou don't need to reinvent

(04:14):
yourself before January. You'renot behind, you're not failing,
you're human, and you've beenleading. So thanks for spending
this time with me today. If thisepisode resonated, I hope it
helped you feel a little lessalone in this season. I'll see
you next week. You.