Wellbeing as Capacity: Why Performance Erodes Long Before It Breaks

Session Speaker: Camilla Rogers, Fifty50 Coaching 
Theme: Business Processes
Date:  Winter Trimester  - January 2026

At the January Magma session, everyone in the room understood that pressure is part of running a business. Every SME leader knows what it feels like to carry responsibility, make decisions with imperfect information, and push through uncertainty. What challenged many in the room was not whether pressure exists, but how it can reshape behaviour among leaders and employees well before performance visibly declines.

It was from this viewpoint that Camilla Rogers framed wellbeing not as a personal issue or a set of initiatives, but as a business system. One that directly affects judgement, focus, trust and pace.

Her core message was simple - when well-being slips, performance doesn’t usually fail dramatically. It gradually erodes over time.

Wellbeing isn’t soft. Without it, capacity and, eventually, profits erode.

Camilla encouraged the group to move their thinking away from wellbeing as being about mood, resilience, or motivation. Instead, she framed it as capacity. The ability of people and teams to think clearly, respond proportionately, and make good decisions under pressure.

This is because capacity determines how a business behaves when resources are under pressure. Not values statement, incentives or even experience.

Using the performance–pressure curve, she showed how too little pressure flattens energy, while too much shifts focus to survival. Once that happens, rational thinking narrows, reactions shorten, and priorities blur. Fundamentally, the quality of all decisions drops, even while effort increases.

Many businesses mistake being busy for being productive and long hours for high performance. It isn’t.

What leaders tend to miss until it’s too late

One of the most revealing moments came when Camilla asked the Magma Group members to describe the operational changes that occur as pressure rises. Not how people feel, but what actually shifts in behaviour and output.

The answers were revealing. Basically, communication becomes less frequent, assumptions often go untested and issues surface later, if at all. Work gets done, but often twice, thereby increasing costs. Yes, people stay present, but in reality, they are mentally disengaged.

These are not signs of laziness or a lack of resilience. They’re early indicators that stress is causing capacity to leak. Which eventually leads to burnout.

Camilla was clear that burnout is not an individual weakness, although some people will be more prone to it than others. Burn-out is an organisational phenomenon, something the WHO now explicitly recognises. The risk is highest among “high performers”. These exist in all organisations, compensating for others, absorbing more than their share, and keeping going until they can’t.

But by the time output drops and management notices, the damage is already done.

Leadership behaviour, not wellness programmes

Camilla drew a distinction between leadership behaviours and wellness initiatives. Clear priorities, fewer assumptions, cleaner boundaries, and permission to pause are not “nice to haves”. They are capacity-protecting behaviours.

Poor culture, she argued, is most visible under pressure. Inconsistent leadership, unspoken expectations, and silence disguised as harmony undo trust, and one poorly handled moment can outweigh weeks of positive intent.

The Magma members agreed that it isn’t just poor culture that can lead to fracture; it can also be unmanaged systems, issues raised too late, pressure absorbed by a few rather than discussed, and performance conversations delayed for fear of “opening something”.

In summary, avoidance always costs more in the long run.

Psychological safety as a performance accelerator

The session moved beyond theory into practical leadership moments. How safe does it feel to say, “I don’t know”? How early do problems get raised? What happens when someone notices that something feels “off”, but nothing has formally gone wrong?

Camilla introduced a simple conversational structure. Notice. Name. Navigate. Not as a script, but as a way to lower defensiveness and invite thinking rather than judgement.

“I’ve noticed a shift in how things feel. I might be wrong, but I wanted to check in.”

It’s a small enquiry, but used early, it can prevent months of silent drift.

The group also explored where responsibility sits when well-being concerns surface. Mental health first aiders and wellbeing champions have an important role, but Camilla was unequivocal in that they complement leadership; they do not replace it. Leaders cannot just abdicate responsibility for the well-being of their teams, as it iss one of the key drivers of productivity and efficiency.

Reintegration is where trust is rebuilt, or broken

Coming back to work, in certain circumstances like after maternity leave, should be viewed more as a process of reintegrating. Pressure too early creates relapse, not resilience. Leaders who rush people back to pace before clarity unintentionally damage trust, even with the best intentions. Good reintegration starts with clarity before speed. Check-ins before targets and support before stretch. These are not concessions; they are investments in future capacity.

The phrase “let me know if you need anything” often signals a lack of leadership attention and feels more like abandonment to employees than a sign support is available.

The wider implication for SME leaders

What landed most strongly was that well-being, done properly, is not another responsibility to carry. It’s more about protecting the business's decision-making core.

SMEs don’t fail because leaders don’t care. They fail because capacity drains unnoticed while everyone is still coping.

Camilla’s session didn’t offer a toolkit to roll out. It offered something more useful. A lens. One that helps leaders spot erosion early, intervene sooner, and design businesses that can sustain both performance and people.

The closing reflection Camilla offered to the room was deliberately personal.

What is one signal you’ll now pay more attention to and one behaviour you’ll change as a leader?

Not because well-being is fashionable, but because capacity is finite. And in growing businesses, it’s one of the few things leaders can actively protect.