“How are you today?” It’s a simple question. Yet we rarely stop long enough to answer it honestly. How many of us feel… well, tired, stretched thin… anxious? For many leaders, it’s starting to feel like the new normal.

And if that resonates, you’re not alone. The numbers confirm what many experience privately.

Nearly 62% of cybersecurity leaders report having experienced burnout at least once, and almost half of them say that it’s cyclical. Furthermore, two-thirds describe their roles as more stressful than other IT positions.

And the impact goes beyond individual strain. 74% of cybersecurity professionals have taken time off due to mental health challenges, averaging 3.4 sick days per year, which translates into an estimated $626 million in lost annual productivity among U.S. enterprises.

This isn’t just a personal issue. It’s structural. It’s cultural… and it’s leadership relevant.

A journey in more ways than one

Across the many roles I’ve held, I’d always processed our sector through numbers. So, discovering that data existed that mirrored my own questions on well-being—and that of the wider security sector—I was able to find better footing on my leadership journey. The more certainty I felt that I wasn’t alone, and that I could share these pressures with colleagues, allowed space for vulnerability and brought relief. 

Maybe, those numbers correlated to that weight I’d often felt, helped make sense of it, and allowed me to see its effects on my peers. Perhaps they also put into perspective the energy costs of worrying. Worrying over my projects, my leadership approach, or when I struggled feeling as both an outsider “just crunching numbers” and later as an “insider that’s just got find the fix” to overcome challenges and to progress. 

Looking back, my evolution from a business intelligence analyst grappling with agile product management, and toward Consumer Segment leadership as VP, signals to me that I can navigate these pressures and the risks they bring. This acceptance has allowed me to feel more “locked in” and ready to continue my journey as an IT leader and Security insider.

It’s a balancing act

Perhaps balancing vulnerability and resilience is the core code that leaders need in order to manage success and avoid burning out, but that is not a one and done thing.

You carry all that strain, the demands and the pressure. All of it weighs down on your shoulders… your back. Fall out of balance, and all that weight you managed to balance can quickly pin you to the ground. 

Those internal battles… well, they may be invisible to others. Some days are better than others, you try to be the leader everyone expects you to be. The leader you want to be. 

And off days? What do you tell or share with your colleagues? Do you pretend to be okay, composed, smiling, strong… and dare I say, positive? Do you have the necessary emotional energy to keep up the facade and do you have to? Moreover, if we’re all just playing fictional versions of ourselves in the real world, what does that mean for the quality of our work? 

Taking our masks off might be a healthier, more responsible direction. It’s a bit of honest PR, one we owe not just to ourselves, but also to the people we collaborate with. Honesty breeds trust, and trust breeds good business outcomes, after all.

However, breaking the stigma and speaking openly about this takes courage, not unlike when you’re presenting a new product idea for the next launch. But there’s no awareness without courage, for which you’ll likely need to apply managerial techniques to your own persona.

A leader’s recognition

Recognizing what’s happening is the first step. Changes in mood and sleep patterns, challenges with memory and decision-making, these are the signals you begin to notice in yourself. Impatience, defensiveness to feedback, a growing need for control, all of these can begin forcing their way into your leadership practices and slowly begin affecting the integrity of your leadership compass.

When you think about it, these are the exact things you’d pick out during a one on one with a managed employee. So why not hold yourself to the same standards?

That leaves identifying what you can do to mitigate these stumbling blocks and restore balance. Well, start by building a deliberate resilience framework. You never know which data, analysis tools or strings of code you will need at any given moment. That’s why having a diversified set of practices really matters.

Commitment

These five leadership commitments can strengthen resilience without compromising performance. They also create psychological safety in high-pressure teams, which rely on you to act as a stable and reliable anchor.

  • Choose the right circle. Identify the people who challenge, support, and complement your leadership strengths. 
  • Normalize asking for help, even at the top. Break the myth that leaders must always have the answers; model vulnerability to strengthen team problem-solving.
  • Lead with purpose. Anchor your actions and decisions in a clear mission that inspires both you and your team.
  • Build resilience rituals. Develop consistent practices that help you recover from high stakes demands.
  • Communicate to build trust. Share information openly, listen actively, and foster transparency.

Mature leadership is not a toolkit you pull out when convenient; it’s part of who you become. This shouldn’t be a checklist, something that you use once and put in a drawer; rather, it’s something you grow into. Perhaps we can say you are iterating your own leadership code, and that you are the product?

The human aspect of cyber resilience

Cybersecurity protects systems. Mature leadership protects people—including yourself.

This commitment certainly isn’t about becoming softer leaders. It’s about becoming stronger, without losing ourselves. Strong enough to deliver results. Strong enough to protect what matters. And, strong enough to remain aligned with who we are. Perhaps most importantly, strong enough to remember that we don’t have to carry these burdens alone. There are a lot of passionate people around. Let’s build a community that protects leaders as fiercely as we protect IT infrastructure.

Hear more from Viktória Ivanová and other ESET experts at RSAC 2026, taking place in San Francisco, USA, at the Moscone Center from March 23-26, 2026. Visit us at booth N-5253 for hands-on demos and ask us more about what makes ESET's solutions stand out.