The Leadership Joy Gap

We spend most of our lives working, yet so many of us have been taught that “ambition” has to come at the cost of our health and our weekends. On this episode of On Brand, I’m joined by Amy Leneker, a leadership consultant who has helped over 100,000 leaders move from soul-crushing burnout to what she calls “The Un-Stressing Method.” We’re diving into her upcoming book, Cheers to Monday, to discuss why finding joy is actually a high-performance business strategy and how leaders can finally break the cycle of exhaustion to connect more authentically with their teams and their brands. What You’ll Learn in This Episode Why modern culture gets the definition of resilience unequivocally wrong and how overusing work ethic can become a leadership weakness How to navigate the Un-Stressing Method by seeing stress through the lens of importance and control before sorting it into actionable categories The specific reason celebration is a non-negotiable step for high-achieving leaders and why it is a leading driver of joy at work The results of a national workforce study revealing the startling gap between the number of executives who need joy to perform and those who actually feel it How to apply the ABCs of Joy—Awareness, Breath, and Connection—to build a buffer against future stress and improve team performance Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (01:23) Surviving burnout twice (02:13) Why culture gets resilience wrong (04:33) The Un-Stressing Method framework (05:55) Celebrating small wins (08:55) Confetti cannons and authentic appreciation (11:26) Joy as a smart business strategy (13:52) The ABCs of Joy: Awareness, Breath, Connection (17:38) Communicating stress to your team (19:52) Managing the Sunday night dread (22:30) Why "loving your job" is a myth (23:51) A brand that made her smile (25:20) Where to find Amy About Amy Leneker Amy Leneker is a leadership consultant and the author of Cheers to Monday. Having helped over 100,000 leaders and teams—including those at Fortune 100 companies—she specializes in science-backed roadmaps to break free from burnout. With over 25 years of leadership experience and a decade in the C-suite, Amy’s work is deeply informed by her own personal journey of surviving burnout twice. She has studied at Yale, the NeuroLeadership Institute, and Harvard Medical School to help others succeed without sacrificing their health or their weekends. What Brand Has Made Amy Smile Recently? Amy shared her love for Costco, a brand she actually worked for during her college years before the era of scanners. She highlighted how the company’s core values show up in everything they do, making it one of her favorite places to shop today. Resources & Links Connect with Amy on LinkedIn. Check out her website and new book, Cheers to Monday. Listen & Support the Show Watch or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon/Audible, TuneIn, and iHeart. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help others find the show. Share this episode — email a friend or colleague this episode. Sign up for my free Story Strategies newsletter for branding and storytelling tips. On Brand is a part of the Marketing Podcast Network. Until next week, I’ll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Leadership Joy Gap is an episode from On Brand with Nick Westergaard by Nick Westergaard.

This episode is 28:40 long.

This episode was published on Mar 23, 2026.

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