Earlier this week, I had a call with the chief executive of a $5 billion company who has traveled four to five days a week for many years. She sounded utterly exhausted. “When times get tough,” she told me, “the only way I’ve ever known is to muscle through. I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve hit bottom. The problem is that I’ve been numb for so long, I’m honestly not sure if I can find my way back to a sane life.”

Last week, I led a session in Europe for a senior team at a large multinational company whose members were eager to find a solution to the sense of overload and overwhelm that they and their employees were feeling. The session began at 7:30 a.m., at their request.

Two weeks ago, I spent a day shadowing a senior leader at a Fortune 150 company. It began with a business review that he conducted with one of his subordinates and two other colleagues. The meeting ran for four hours without a single break, even to go the bathroom. It wasn’t unusual; it is the way this leader works.

Several weeks ago, I was on a call with a leader I admire, who has made an honest and admirable effort to make life better for thousands of employees in his organization. His own boss, he told me, had come to him recently and requested that he stop focusing so much on how his people were feeling and get back to business.