Leadership Pathways & Outcomes
External empirical finding · Supporting · 2018
Higher CEO-reported burnout was associated with lower firm EBITA
Among 156 CEOs of large Swedish firms, higher self-reported burnout was associated with lower firm performance, measured using average EBITA from official records. The negative association was weaker when the CEO also chaired the board and when firms had greater resource availability, but stronger in larger firms.
Research basis
Cross-sectional observational study. 156 chief executives of Swedish firms.
What it supports
Direct leader-population evidence linking a psychological-capacity-related measure with firm performance and showing contextual moderation.
Boundary
The study was observational and cannot establish whether burnout affected performance, poorer performance contributed to burnout, or another factor influenced both. Burnout was self-reported, but the financial outcome was independently sourced.
BOL relevance
Addresses the evidence gap between a leader-level capacity-related measure and a distal company outcome, while retaining strong causal boundaries.
Source class
Peer-reviewed research
Role in BOL
Supporting
Population context
Leaders or executives
Evidence basis
Administrative or register outcomes with measured or self-reported exposures
Sample
156 CEOs
Endpoint
Average firm EBITA for 2007 and 2008 obtained from Statistics Sweden
Source record checked 26 July 2026.