High Performers Hide it Well Until They Can't with Robin O'Grady:
In this episode, I’m joined by Robin O’Grady, to discuss high performers burnout warning signs.
Listen to this Episode:
Here are some key takeaways from our conversation Robin O’Grady’s high performance burnout warning signs.
““Your body is screaming at you, please help me.” — Robin O’Grady”
High performers are rarely the ones anyone worries about. They keep delivering. They stay present. They absorb pressure without visible disruption — and that’s exactly what makes what’s happening beneath the surface so easy to miss.
Robin O’Grady joins me for this conversation — international speaker, corporate culture specialist, athletic trainer, aerial arts performer, and member of the CAPS National Board. Her perspective is one most leadership conversations skip entirely: she reads the body. What she notices in high performers is often invisible to everyone else, including the person living it.
The insight that stays with me:
Robin’s athletic training background means she watches bodies, not just behaviour. The body never stops communicating — and high performers become experts at overriding the signal. The eye twitch. The stomach that’s been off for six months. The shoulder that won’t heal. None of it is random. It’s data.
The gap isn’t performance. Awareness is what’s missing.
This maps directly to the Pacing pillar of the SIT-UPP™ framework — sustainable performance isn’t about doing more, it’s about noticing sooner.
🎧 Episode Timestamps
[00:00] Introduction — Robin O’Grady: speaker, corporate culture specialist, athletic trainer, aerial arts performer, CAPS National Board member
[01:35] What high performers look like under pressure — functioning well on the surface while quietly breaking down
[02:20] The physical signals — eye twitch, sleep disruption, weight changes, grinding teeth, recurring injuries
[06:40] The sleepwalking client story — what happens when the body gets what it needs regardless
[07:40] The whirling dervish — pulling yourself out of the tornado and standing in the eye of the storm
[09:00] The dopamine spike problem — why achievement culture keeps high performers hooked and cortisol rising
[14:20] Recovery when it’s already too late — what it actually requires and why people go back too soon
[19:30] What leaders can do — gentle awareness conversations and the drip drop approach
[22:10] The three buckets — mind, body, soul — and filling all three outside of work
[26:50] Robin’s closing message — your work needs you, and this vessel is the only one you get