Leadership
FindingSustainia at RESET Connect London 2025
By Santa Meyer-Nandi, LL.M International Environmental Law& Co-founder of FindingSustainia, together with Dr. Anna Katharina Meyer, sustainability strategist and member of the presidency of the German Chapter of the Club of Rome
In the world of climate innovation, sustainable leadership, and systemic change, a silent barrier keeps reappearing — not despite success, but alongside it. People are burning out.
Not because they are disorganized or lack passion. Quite the opposite.
We increasingly see what we call high-functioning burnout:
The founder who delivers but cannot sleep.
The policymaker whose initiatives are recognized yet lives in survival mode.
The sustainability lead who transforms institutions from within — while feeling invisible herself.
On the surface, everything seems fine.
Yet underneath, motivation, resilience, and creativity quietly erode.
The World Health Organization recognizes burnout as an occupational phenomenon. Research estimates it can reduce productivity by 30 percent — and among those driving systemic change, the true cost is often far greater.
Because changemakers are not just managing workloads.
They are managing resistance, complexity, emotional labor, moral pressure — and often, profound loneliness.
Loneliness is one of the hidden costs of leading change.
When you are ahead of your time, pioneering new models, and challenging old systems, it can feel isolating — even among peers. The emotional load of carrying a vision not yet widely shared is often borne quietly, and without sufficient relational support.
More about this in our Tedx Talk on Loneliness in Changemakers.
At FindingSustainia, our work has taken us into boardrooms, ministries, cross-sector partnerships, and innovation ecosystems around the world.
We have supported sustainability managers in Fortune 500 companies, start-up founders, public institutions, and grassroots initiatives.
And across class, age, and background, one pattern is unmistakable:
We changemakers burn out.
The pressure is even more acute for social justice activists, particularly for those from marginalized communities and people of color — but the underlying emotional toll runs across the entire field.
It’s not a matter of personal resilience.
It’s the structural and emotional cost of leading change inside systems that were not designed for it.
At FindingSustainia, we work on both levels: structural and human.
We don't just offer strategy labs, peer communities, and Case Clinics to transfer knowledge.
We design environments where ideas can mature, pressure can be named, and leaders can be seen — without performance theatre.
Because resilience is not about slowing down.
It’s about building the emotional architecture for long-term excellence.
Teams that are regulated, connected, and supported — and where leaders do not have to carry the burden alone — make better decisions, not only for themselves but for the systems they aim to change.
If you are funding, managing, or designing systems of transformation, here’s what matters:
Create safe environments within ambitious structures.
Performance and psychological safety are not opposites — they are prerequisites for excellence.
Fund communities, not just projects.
Alignment alone is not enough. People need relational ecosystems to stay in the work.
Value emotional sustainability as a strategic factor.
Leaders need spaces where they can step out of their roles and be real humans. It’s not indulgent. It’s smart risk management.
Treat self-management and emotional resilience as operational KPIs.
Build rhythms of pause, reflection, and renewal directly into your impact systems.
This year, we are honored to bring this essential conversation to the Reset Connect community.
At Reset Connect London 2025, we will explore why sustainability, regeneration, and well-being are inseparable — and why inner sustainability must be seen as the foundation of lasting external impact.
Because the future will be shaped by those who can navigate complexity, manage emotional load, and stay well doing it.
By changemakers who understand that mental well-being, peer connection, and emotional sustainability are not side topics — they are the foundation of systemic change.
We need structures that help people stay in the game — instead of solely thrown back on themselves — long enough to truly change it.
We are happy to set up an info call with you to learn your objectives and challenges, identify how our program can meet your needs best, and to think Sustainability further.