Spotting Charity CEO Burnout Before It Hits

Most charity leaders will privately admit they have come close to burning out. Very few say it as plainly as Dr Craig Dearden-Phillips did on the of Charity Champions, where he talked about charity CEO burnout as something he lived through himself. 

“I worked really, really hard all the time, to the point of self-harm, really, as a chief exec.” 

The Charity CEO Burnout Story Behind Stepping Out 

Dr Craig spent 16 years running a charity before recognising the founder was not the leader it later needed. He described being “a really good founder” but noticed his own skills stretching thin as the charity matured. That admission treats charity CEO burnout as something structural rather than a personal failing. 

After leaving the role, Dr Craig founded Stepping Out. It is a support network for departing charity leaders, built directly from what he had lived through himself. He talked about drinking most nights and running on adrenaline before realising the pace was not sustainable. Rather than a wellbeing pitch, he built a safe place where executives can be honest about the job’s hidden parts. 

Why Charity CEO Burnout Often Hides Behind Busyness 

Dr Craig drew a clear line between charity CEO burnout and isolation. He was blunt that running a charity is one of the loneliest roles going. Part of it is the pressure to bring in money, part is having nobody inside to share that weight. Dearden-Phillips was frank that the symptoms crept up gradually, which is why few people spot it in themselves. 

His advice centres on chief executives finding an external mentor, someone entirely outside the organisation. Internal relationships come with politics that make total honesty difficult. That single piece of guidance is arguably the most practical takeaway of the whole recording. 

A Trip to Ukraine That Put Everything into Perspective 

The episode opened with Dr Craig fresh off a flight from Ukraine, a contrast that gives the podcast weight. He described a civil society sector responding almost miraculously to the scale of need created by the war. New organisations formed quickly to fill gaps left by displacement and loss. Dearden-Phillips named groups such as Save Ukraine, which brings children back from behind Russian lines. He also named Come Back Alive, which supports injured service personnel. 

“It was heavily bombed when we were there as well. There was a very serious missile attack from Russia.” 

Dr Craig recalled the attack lighting up the sky at night while daily life carried on regardless. He was careful not to romanticise any of it. What came through instead was genuine respect for how fast Ukrainian civil society had organised itself. 

The Early Signs Every Charity Leader Should Know 

Burnout rarely arrives as one dramatic moment, building slowly instead and disguised as commitment. Dearden-Phillips talked through the patterns he now recognises in other leaders, having missed them in himself for years. 

• Never Switching Off 

Dr Craig described being permanently available, treating every message as urgent until it became a habit he could not shake. 

• Taking Everything Personally 

Setbacks over funding or systems began to feel like personal failures, once his identity and the organisation blurred together. 

• Losing Yourself Outside the Role 

Dr Craig’s sense of self had merged with the organisation, so stepping away even briefly felt like losing himself. 

• Coping Through Habits Nobody Questions 

Drinking most nights became normal enough that Dr Craig stopped noticing, until a friend outside the situation named it. 

None of these signs look alarming on their own, which is exactly why an external mentor matters so much. Someone outside the organisation often notices what the person living through it cannot see. 

Five Takeaways for Charity Leaders 

The conversation covers a lot of ground, so here are the points most worth carrying away from it. 

• Manage the chair, not the board: Trying to manage an entire board head on is exhausting and largely pointless. 

• Find support outside the organisation: An external mentor can spot burnout before it becomes a crisis. 

• Diverse boards make better decisions: Boards made up of similar people create blind spots. 

• Culture is built from small gestures: Simple recognition schemes often beat formal engagement strategies. 

• Trustee structures can slow charities down: The traditional board model can become a barrier when speed matters. 

Why Some Charity Boards Get in Their Own Way 

“You shouldn’t try to manage the board, you should manage your relationship with the chair and expect the chair to manage the board.” 

Dr Craig explained that within a charity, the board holds sovereign power. A chief executive has to win that group over again and again rather than simply direct it. He argued this is necessary for good governance but can become a handicap when fast decisions are needed. Things move very differently in Ukraine, where charitable structures are far less hierarchical out of necessity. 

Dr Craig connected this to diversity, arguing that homogeneous boards miss risks nobody in the room has lived through. He shared an example of introducing a young board apprentice with lived experience of the care system. The discussion quality shifted once someone in the room could speak from direct knowledge rather than assumption. 

In Summary 

Dr Craig Dearden-Phillips spoke with rare honesty about charity CEO burnout. He paired his own experience of stepping back from a chief executive role with fresh insights from Ukraine. Listeners left with practical steps for finding support, building diverse boards and spotting early signs of burnout.