Susan DrummCEO Advisor & Executive Coach | Leadership Change Agent

When Commitment is Really Just Survival in Disguised

13 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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Susan Drumm says high performers often mistake survival for commitment, tying their worth to usefulness and pushing through stress as a badge of honor. She argues this over-functioning pattern leads to burnout and asks whether you're actually leading powerfully or just performing who you think you need to be.

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Let's be honest. You get praised for being the one who always shows up, the one who fixes everything, the one who never drops the ball. But that applause? That might be for the pattern that's burning you out. High performers learn early. Be useful. Be reliable, Be irreplaceable. And it works until your worth gets tied to over functioning. You push past the signs of stress or burnout, you ignore the costs, and you call it commitment. But here's the truth. That pattern might be meeting expectations while draining you dry. So check the story behind the hustle. Is this who I am? Or who I thought I had to be? You can lead powerfully without self sacrificing. You don't have to burn out to belong. That's not strength, that's survival. And it's time to lead from something deeper.