What No One Tells Leaders About Burnout, Soul Care, and Emotional Survival

Jan 19, 2026

44:46

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Episode 258: What if the most important work of leadership isn't what you do for others, but what God is doing in you?

In this episode of Linch with a Leader, Mike Linch sits down with Chuck DeGroat—professor of pastoral care, licensed therapist, spiritual director, and author of When Narcissism Comes to Church—for a deeply honest conversation about soul care, burnout, trauma, and the slow work of spiritual leadership.

Chuck’s journey spans decades of ministry, counseling, and formation:

from early certainty and ambition in ministry…

to walking alongside leaders through moral failure, collapse, and burnout…

to confronting his own breaking point when his body finally forced him to slow down…

to devoting his life to helping leaders heal what’s beneath the surface.

What unfolds is a vulnerable, hope-filled conversation about what happens when leaders ignore their inner life—and what becomes possible when they finally tend to it.

Together, Mike and Chuck explore why burnout isn’t just about overwork, how trauma quietly shapes leadership styles, what it means to create safety in homes and churches, and why real spiritual formation can’t be rushed.

They talk about the lies leaders believe, the danger of performing health instead of living it, and how God often does His deepest work in seasons of darkness, disorientation, and slowing down.

Whether you’re a pastor running on empty, a leader carrying pain you’ve never named, or someone wondering why “doing all the right things” still feels hollow—this episode offers language, permission, and hope for the healing journey.

🎯 Leadership Lessons from Chuck:

You can’t lead others to wholeness if you ignore your own soul.

Burnout is often unprocessed pain, not just too many hours.

Spiritual leadership requires emotional maturity.

Healing is slow—but sacred.

Safety is the soil where transformation grows.

God doesn’t disappear in the dark—our false certainties do.

Leaders don’t need to perform health; they need to practice honesty.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/linch-with-a-leader/id1279929826

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