Abstract: After a strong run, something shifts. Work that used to flow now grinds. Teams are moving faster than ever, AI is changing how we work, and organizations are constantly reinventing themselves. When motivation drops or progress stalls, the default diagnosis is burnout.
But what if the problem isn't energy? What if it's direction?
This session explores the difference between burnout (a depletion problem) and friction (an alignment problem). You'll learn the Reinvention Cycle, a six-stage framework for recognizing when the environment has changed around you, understanding why success has stopped working, and deciding what comes next.
Whether you're leading teams, coaching others, or navigating your own career, recognizing the difference between burnout and friction changes how you respond, not just for yourself but for the people around you.
You'll leave with:
- A simple framework for distinguishing burnout from friction
- Practical questions to locate where you are in the Reinvention Cycle
- Language for what you, or someone you lead, may have been experiencing for months
- A first diagnostic step you can apply the same night
If you've been wondering why the approaches that made you successful no longer seem to fit, this session will help you understand why, and what to do about it.
About our speaker:
Bill Reilly spent 25 years in technology leadership across AT&T, Cisco, and multiple startups before founding On Par Executive Coaching in the Raleigh-Durham area. He is writing a book on career reinvention.
