From Burnout to Balance: How One Leader Reclaimed Confidence in a Crisis

“This coaching experience was life changing for me. I came into it at my lowest, fully burnt out… Now I am happy, healthy, and most importantly content in my personal and professional life.”
— Senior Leader, Nestlé Health Science US

At The Leadership Development Group (TLD Group), our coaching engagements often begin at a crossroads—a moment when a leader faces overwhelming challenges and seeks to rediscover their confidence. In a recent engagement, TLD Group coach, Miriam Nigl, partnered with a supply chain leader at Nestlé Health Science US during a period of significant organizational transition.

The leader was navigating the fallout from a major SAP integration failure, an abrupt shift in leadership style under new management, and the responsibility of turning around an underperforming team while keeping critical retailers, like Costco, supplied. Already in crisis mode, she was working excessive hours, experiencing burnout, and described feeling like she was “failing for the first time in my career.”

Building Self-Awareness and Structure

To break the cycle, Miriam and her client created a coaching plan centered on three core competencies: Emotional Intelligence, Collaboration, and Self-Awareness.

The coaching process began with 360 stakeholder interviews and the Enneagram assessment, which revealed a pattern of directness being perceived as “aggressive” and “difficult to work with.” With this foundation, Miriam guided the leader through a structured development journey that included:

• Emotional Intelligence: Mindfulness practices, body awareness techniques, and boundary-setting to replace reactivity with regulation.
• Collaboration: Stakeholder mapping, listening and validation skills, and delegation strategies to build influence across functions.
• Self-Awareness: Values clarification, structured reflection, and self-advocacy work to deepen her understanding of triggers and strengths.

Key tools included HeadSpace, MoodMeter, journaling, and guided reflection—all selected to align with her learning style and immediate crisis-management needs.

Transformation in Action

The results were both visible and measurable. Colleagues across the organization observed striking change:

• “She’s not the same person anymore. She physically looks different. Her tone is gone.”
  — Cross-Functional Stakeholder, Nestlé Health Science US
• “She’s softened her approach… We’re getting better feedback from her team.”
  — Direct Manager, Nestlé Health Science US
• “Whatever you’re doing now is working.”
  — Peer Leader, Nestlé Health Science US

Through the coaching plan, she moved from “0-100” emotional reactivity to consistent self-regulation, shifted from being seen as aggressive to being recognized for intentional listening, and developed sustainable boundaries that improved her energy and decision-making.

The leader herself reflected on the journey:

• “I was able to process what happened, get grounded, and get through a difficult situation with my next assignment. I am now more confident, grounded, and hopeful for the future.”
  
• “This coaching experience was life changing… We worked through the process together, and now I am happy, healthy, and content in my life.”

Insights Beyond the Engagement

For Miriam, this work underscored the power of meeting leaders exactly where they are.

“Working with a high-performing leader experiencing her first major confidence crisis reminded me of the importance of creating space for vulnerability alongside practical skill development. Some of the most profound insights emerged when I provided structure and then stepped back to let her do her own meaning-making.”

This case also highlighted how systemic challenges—like leadership transitions and technology failures—amplify individual stress, requiring both skill development and organizational awareness.

Looking ahead, Miriam is passionate about helping leaders build capacity for uncertainty and complexity, often reframing adversity as an opportunity for growth. Drawing from her work on posttraumatic growth and her personal experience as a parent of neurodiverse children, she helps leaders approach communication and inclusion with fresh perspective.

At TLD Group, we partner with leaders to navigate complexity, reclaim confidence, and create sustainable success.

Ready to help your leaders transform challenge into growth? Reach out to work with TLD Group today!