The Soul Work of Thriving Leaders

From exhaustion and burnout to health and wholeness

In leadership, we often measure thriving by metrics – growth, performance, and financial stability. But beneath every number is a human soul. And when the soul of a leader is depleted, no metric can sustain the mission. 

When the soul of a leader is depleted, no metric can sustain the mission. 

I’ve led teams in both ministry and marketplace settings, and I’ve seen how soul neglect erodes a leader’s capacity. I paid a high price for that during one season of my own life and learned that exhaustion at the soul level is like a bank account that’s been overdrawn. You can keep writing checks, but they won’t clear.

No amount of competence, goodwill, or pressure can replenish what isn’t there.

This isn’t about skill – it’s about emptiness.

How does this happen?

Well, for one thing, we often just assume everything’s fine.

No More Assuming

Doug Miller, lead pastor of a megachurch in our area, told me: “For years, I assumed my team was doing okay, and they assumed I was, too. But it’s time to stop assuming. We need to be intentional and developmental.” 

That insight reshaped his leadership. His executive team was the last group I hosted at our beloved Whisper Ranch before the 2021 Marshall Fire swept through the ranch and our entire community.

During that retreat, his team created Soul Care Plans by taking time to reflect, connect with each other, and consider God’s invitation for the season ahead. Ten days later, the Dream Shed where we met was reduced to ashes. But the work they did in that space endures. Soul work always does.

Thriving leaders don’t start by fixing problems or casting a bigger vision. They start by attending to the soul. They start by paying attention, taking notice, acting with intention, and helping others do the same. As a first-order priority, not an afterthought.

Turning Burnout into a New Beginning

Burnout, for all its pain, can be clarifying. It forces reevaluation. It strips away illusion. It opens a path toward transformation.

If you’re ready to begin that path – for yourself or your team – here are a few Soul Care resources to consider:

• Soul Health Assessment: a simple free tool that helps you identify your current season, whether Healing, Strengthening, or Flourishing. Each season calls for different rhythms and expectations. Knowing where you are is the first step to knowing what you need.

• Confronting Burnout Video Course: a free online journey designed to open space for honest reflection, shared language, and practical next steps.

Organizations can’t force soul care, but they can create space for it.

Organizations can’t force soul care, but they can create space for it. As Doug told his team, “I can’t make you care for your soul. But I can require you to have a plan. And I can give you time during working hours to create it.”

Soul-Rooted Leadership

From what I’ve observed, soul work doesn’t stay personal for long. A leader’s interior life shapes everything: how they lead, how they relate, how they navigate conflict, and how they carry vision. When leaders are attentive to their own soul health, their organizations flourish.

It’s no surprise that ECFA, long known for ensuring trust in ministries and nonprofit organizations, has introduced a new Standard for Excellence in Leader Care, focused on a leader’s holistic wellbeing. It’s a bold recognition that thriving organizations require thriving leaders, and the ordinary pressures of leadership are heavy indeed. As an ecosystem, let’s become proactive in providing care given the unique challenges of non-profit organizational leadership.

So what assumptions are you making about your own soul?

About the souls of those you lead?

Flourishing doesn’t happen by accident. It grows in the soil of attention, grace, and honest reflection. This is the soul work of thriving leaders.

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Mindy Caliguire is founder and president of Soul Care, a spiritual formation ministry working to increase soul health in the body of Christ. She is a speaker, consultant, and author of several books and resources on spiritual formation, including Ignite Your Soul (NavPress, Sept. 10, 2024). Many organizations are giving this book to boards and staff to develop shared language and hope about burnout. Additional resources for you: Soul Health Assessment, Free Course: Confronting Burnout. Learn more at www.soulcare.com.

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