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The Real Energy Crisis Facing Companies in 2026
Related blog
(It’s Not the One You’re Thinking About)
If you’re leading a company right now, there’s a good chance something feels off.
Your team is smart. Your tools are better than ever. On paper, things look fine.
And yet work feels heavier than it used to. Decisions take longer. Momentum fades faster.
Most leaders I talk to don’t describe this as a motivation problem or a talent problem.
They describe it as drag.
The instinct is to assume technology will fix it - more automation, more AI, more efficiency. And while these tools absolutely matter, they’re not addressing the real constraint I see emerging as we head into 2026.
That constraint isn’t intelligence.
It’s energy.
The kind of energy companies don’t measure
When we talk about energy at work, we usually reduce it to engagement or morale. But that misses what’s actually happening inside organizations.
What I see - and what the research increasingly supports - is a workforce carrying a constant internal load:
- Physical strain from poor sleep, chronic stress, and worsening metabolic health
- Mental strain from nonstop context-switching and decision fatigue
- Emotional strain from trying to keep up without feeling truly in control
McKinsey’s Health Institute estimates that the largest productivity gains from better employee health come from reducing presenteeism, not absenteeism - by an order of magnitude. People are showing up, but far below their potential.¹
At the same time, 80% of employees report “productivity anxiety” - the feeling that they should be performing better, while quietly worrying they can’t sustain the pace.²
And then there’s the stat that’s hard to ignore:
**93% of American adults are metabolically unhealthy.**³
That’s not a personal failure. It’s a systemic issue. And it shows up at work whether we talk about it or not.
Energy isn’t just how motivated someone feels.
It’s whether their body and mind can actually support the demands we’re placing on them.
Why this feels different than previous burnout cycles
This isn’t the first time leaders have dealt with burnout.
What’s different now is the pace - which is faster than ever - and the fact that distraction never really turns off. Work bleeds into life. Decisions stack up. There’s no natural recovery built into the day.
But there’s another layer that’s become even more apparent - and more draining.
People are far more aware of their health than they used to be.
They hear about sleep, stress, inflammation, blood sugar, burnout. They track steps and wearables. They know something is off - but they don’t know what actually matters for them, or what to do about it.
That uncertainty creates a constant load on the brain.
Employees aren’t just tired. They’re carrying unresolved health questions in the background all day:
- Why don’t I feel like myself lately?
- Is this stress normal - or something I should address?
- Should I see a doctor? What would I even ask?
- Am I doing the right things for my health - or just guessing?
Harvard Business Review has written extensively about how the brain’s prefrontal cortex - responsible for focus, planning, and decision-making - fatigues quickly under sustained pressure.4
Most conversations focus on distractions like Slack, meetings, and notifications. But health has quietly become one of the largest unresolved decision spaces in people’s lives.
It doesn’t shut off when work starts. And for most people, it never fully resolves.
Most companies offer benefits. Some offer wellness programs.
Very few help employees reduce the mental burden of managing their own health.
So people cope. They avoid. They push through.
(Only about 5% of people complete all recommended preventive care - even when it’s covered.)5
And that avoidance quietly erodes performance.
This is showing up as a leadership problem
Energy is contagious.
Leaders set the tone not just through words, but through action. When leaders are depleted - even subtly - it impacts decision quality, communication, psychological safety, and the pace of execution.
Research from Yale shows that leaders who generate positive relational energy - the kind that leaves people feeling uplifted and renewed after interactions - drive higher engagement, lower turnover, and stronger performance. That energy shows up not just in behavior, but biologically: lower stress hormones and inflammation in the people around them.6
What’s striking is that this kind of leadership energy isn’t personality-based. The research points to something more foundational: leaders who invest in their own health and recovery are better able to energize others.
You can’t collaborate well if you’re anxious and exhausted.
You can’t think strategically if your body is constantly fighting you.
This is why performance is flattening in places that look “healthy” on the surface.
The question leaders should be asking now
As we look toward 2026, I don’t think the most important question is:
“How do we get more out of our people?”
A better one is simpler - and harder:
“What’s quietly draining our team’s energy - and are we actually helping them solve it?”
Not just motivation.
Not just access to benefits.
But real, sustainable energy - physical, mental, and emotional.
Because the companies that win won’t just have the best technology.
They’ll have teams that can show up fully, think clearly, and lead with confidence - even as the pace accelerates.
That’s the energy problem worth solving.
A question worth sharing
If this resonates, it’s worth asking:
Who on your team should be thinking about this with you?
Sources
- McKinsey Health Institute, Thriving Workplaces, 2025.
- Workhuman / Stress.org, Productivity Anxiety Study, 2025.
- Metabolic Syndrome Data, Tufts / American College of Cardiology, 2022.
- Harvard Business Review, Stop Overloading the Wrong Part of Your Brain at Work, 2025.
- Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Healthy People Data, 2024.
- Yale School of Management / Inc., Research on Positive Relational Energy, 2023.
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