This article is based on the Allwork.Space Future of Work Podcast episode “Why Hope Is a Business Strategy for Leadership, Wellbeing, and the Future of Work with Jen Fisher.” Click here to watch or listen to the full episode.
People are exhausted at work, but according to workplace wellbeing expert Jen Fisher, burnout is often only part of the story.
Underneath the overwhelm, constant change, and rising anxiety around work, many employees are experiencing something harder to measure: hopelessness.
That idea sat at the center of a recent episode of The Future of Work® Podcast, where we spoke with Fisher about why traditional approaches to wellbeing continue to fall short, what leaders misunderstand about resilience, and why hope may be one of the most overlooked workplace skills today.
Fisher is one of the most recognized voices in workplace wellbeing. She previously served as Deloitte U.S.’s first Chief Wellbeing Officer, hosts the WorkWell Podcast, and recently released her book Hope Is The Strategy. Her perspective is shaped not only by years of advising organizations, but also by personal experience with severe burnout and a leave of absence that forced her to rethink the role work played in her life.
That experience, she explained, happened during another major workplace transition period around 2015 and 2016, when digital technology became embedded into nearly every part of work. Companies layered new tools and expectations onto systems that had barely changed in decades, creating an environment where people became constantly reachable without fundamentally rethinking how work should function.
Now, she sees a similar moment unfolding again with AI.
Burnout often starts higher up the system
For years, workplace wellbeing programs largely focused on helping individuals manage stress better through meditation apps, gym memberships, resilience training, and wellness resources.
Fisher believes many organizations missed a larger issue.
Companies treated burnout as an individual failure instead of examining the systems creating unhealthy conditions in the first place. Employees were encouraged to take better care of themselves while workloads, communication norms, management behavior, and workplace expectations remained unchanged.
According to Fisher, burnout on a mass scale usually signals a deeper organizational problem.
If most of a workforce regularly reports exhaustion, overwhelm, or disengagement, the issue likely extends beyond personal coping skills. Relationship dynamics, unrealistic workloads, lack of trust, poor communication, and uncertainty inside organizations often play a larger role than leaders acknowledge.
She argues that workplaces should not intensify the stress people already carry from the outside world. Instead, organizations should actively reduce unnecessary friction and create environments where people feel supported navigating uncertainty.
Hope is more practical than many leaders think
One of Fisher’s central arguments is that hope should not be dismissed as vague optimism or motivational language. She describes hope as a cognitive process tied to action, adaptability, and forward momentum.
Drawing from hope theory research, Fisher explained that real hope requires three things: a clear goal, multiple pathways toward that goal, and the belief that a person can take meaningful action toward it.
That framework becomes especially important during periods of organizational transformation, where employees often feel changes are happening to them rather than with them.
She believes many companies struggle during large transitions because leaders fail to help employees understand where the organization is heading, how they fit into the process, and what role they play in shaping the outcome.
Without that clarity, uncertainty grows into disengagement. Employees begin questioning whether their work matters, whether leadership values them, or whether they have any control over what comes next. Fisher sees many of those reactions as expressions of hopelessness rather than simple burnout.
Leadership communication cultivates workplace trust
Much of the conversation focused on how leaders unintentionally undermine trust through everyday communication habits.
Fisher reflected on her own experience as a leader, admitting that she often shut down employee ideas too quickly in the name of realism or efficiency. Telling someone there is no time for an idea may sound practical in the moment, but employees often interpret it differently: that innovation is encouraged in theory but unwelcome in practice.
She argued that curiosity matters more than immediate dismissal.
Simple responses such as asking what interests someone about an idea, where it could fit, or why it matters to them can create entirely different workplace dynamics. Those interactions shape whether employees feel psychologically safe contributing openly.
That principle also extends into uncertainty.
According to Fisher, leaders do not always need to project certainty to build confidence. In many cases, openly acknowledging uncertainty while expressing confidence in a team’s ability to solve problems together creates stronger trust than pretending to have every answer.
She described this as a more useful form of vulnerability in the workplace; less about emotional oversharing and more about operational honesty.
Admitting “I don’t know,” asking for help, acknowledging mistakes, or discussing bandwidth openly are behaviors she believes make teams function better and build healthier cultures over time.
Boundaries are becoming a workplace skill
The discussion also challenged the idea that boundaries reduce productivity.
Fisher argued that many high performers avoid setting limits because they fear disappointing others or damaging career momentum. Yet constantly saying yes often leads to poor work quality, exhaustion, and strained collaboration.
She encouraged employees and leaders to approach boundaries more transparently by discussing priorities, workload capacity, and tradeoffs directly instead of automatically accepting every request.
According to Fisher, boundaries are less about refusal and more about protecting the ability to show up fully for the work that matters most.
That behavior also spreads culturally. Teams often adopt the habits modeled by leaders and colleagues around them. When one person openly communicates limits, prioritization challenges, or workload concerns, it becomes easier for others to do the same.
AI anxiety is affecting workplace culture
The conversation repeatedly returned to AI and the uncertainty many employees feel as organizations accelerate automation and transformation efforts.
Fisher believes companies are currently moving through an “AI arms race” phase that is driving reactive decision-making and fear across many workplaces.
At the same time, she remains optimistic that organizations will eventually recognize the continued importance of human judgment, emotional intelligence, collaboration, and trust.
She also pointed to younger generations entering the workforce as a source of optimism. In her view, many younger workers are openly rejecting workplace norms that previous generations accepted without question, particularly around overwork, constant availability, and unhealthy definitions of performance.
That pressure may ultimately force organizations to rethink how work is structured.
For Fisher, the current moment reflects a larger reality: many workplaces have been operating on unstable foundations for years. AI may simply be accelerating the need to rebuild them more intentionally.
And while she acknowledged that the transition may become more difficult before it improves, progress often begins by identifying the next actionable step forward rather than waiting for certainty.
