EBOOK

The biology of burnout in female leaders

Posted: Fri 30th Jan 2026

There's a moment many high-achieving women recognise but rarely talk about.

When your mind is still running at full speed, but your body quietly refuses to follow. When your focus fractures, your patience thins and what once felt energising now feels heavy.

We often call it "stress". But what's really happening is biological.

Burnout isn't a weakness, a lack of balance or a leadership flaw.

It's a physiological state, a body and brain that have adapted to chronic, unrelenting demand. And for women in leadership, that adaptation looks and feels different.

In 2019, the World Health Organization formally recognised burnout as an occupational phenomenon in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), a signal that what so many women experience at work is not imagined; it's measurable.

Studies show that prolonged pressure changes how the body regulates hormones, inflammation and brain chemistry. The result: the energy systems that once fuelled performance begin to falter.

This eBook explores:

the biology of burnout through a female lens
how chronic stress reshapes the brain and body
why women leaders are particularly affected
how science is helping us understand the pathways to restore resilience

Because the conversation about burnout can't stop at self-care. It must start with self-understanding.

Download the free eBook now

Sonia OuartiAida Coaching ltd

Sonia is a neuroscience-informed leadership and performance coach with over 20 years of experience supporting individuals and organisations through growth, change and high-pressure environments. Before moving into coaching, Sonia spent 15+ years in senior leadership roles at Amazon Web Services (AWS), working across Marketing, Internal Communications, Developer Strategy, and Inclusion & Diversity. During that time, she designed and launched more than 10 global programmes focused on leadership development, organisational growth, and the building of inclusive, high-performing cultures. Today, Sonia works with founders, scale-ups and creative businesses to help them navigate the human side of growth, clarity, confidence, decision-making, resilience and sustainable performance. She combines deep corporate insight with evidence-based coaching to support ambitious, capable entrepreneurs who often carry more pressure than they realise. Sonia holds a Master’s degree in Psychology & Neuroscience from King’s College London. Her work is grounded in brain-based principles and focuses on helping founders understand how stress, uncertainty and pace impact the brain and how to work with their biology rather than against it. As an Enterprise Nation Advisor, Sonia supports entrepreneurs who want to grow without burning out, strengthen their leadership from the inside out, and build successful, sustainable businesses.