Imagine a state where you can get from big cities to big nature in less than half an hour, with some of the best quality of life in the nation.

Welcome to Minnesota, America's least stressed state.

Learn more at exploreminnesota.com slash live. I'm Muriel Wilkins, and this is Coaching Real Leaders, part of the HBR podcast network.

I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful leaders who've hit a bump in the road.

My job is to help them

get over that bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them so that hopefully

they can lead with a little more ease. I typically work with clients over the course of several months,

but on this show, we have a one-time coaching meeting focusing on a specific leadership challenge

they're facing.

Today's guest is someone will call Sarah to protect her confidentiality.

Early on, she chose a career path that would allow her to help people, and she's highly mission-driven.

So when I was managing my own teams, it was really supporting my direct reports into

achieving whatever was next for them professionally and supporting them to be able to be the best

that they could be for our organization. that was what brought me so much satisfaction.

And around that same time, I experienced kind of my first run-in with burnout,

and left a role that had just completely consumed me.

I had one little one at the time, and there were plenty of days where I would be gone for meetings hours before she was awake.

I'd be home hours after she went to bed.

That was a big moment career-wise for me, of this kind of reckoning of your job can take over your life if you let it.

After that experience, Sarah pivoted, finding a role in a new industry with some of the

same qualities around helping and guiding others. Once again, she ended up experiencing

burnout and decided to take some time off from work. Now, as she begins another position,

...