Achievement and Exhaustion Can Coexist

When I stepped into the department chair role in 2011, it felt like a career milestone.

During the following years, our department climbed to #1 national rankings, transitioned into a new $74 million facility, and engaged in significant institutional initiatives.

From the outside, it looked like momentum.

Internally, it required constant judgment calls, emotional energy, and sustained responsibility.

Here’s what isn’t often acknowledged:

Burnout doesn’t always follow failure. Sometimes it follows prolonged success under pressure.

The turning point for me wasn’t pushing harder. It was stepping back and asking better questions about sustainability, limits, and long-term alignment.

Accomplishment matters.

But so do resilience, clarity, and health.

How do you assess your own capacity before it’s depleted?