The Dark Side of Purpose-Driven Work. Part 1: What It Means for You

Most people working in the charity sector are here because the work means something to them, and because they want to make a difference in the world. This sense of purpose is powerful, not just professionally in terms of what they achieve through their work, but for their wellbeing too.  

In psychological terms, we can define this type of work as a calling. This is work which “derives a sense of purpose or meaningfulness, and that holds other-oriented values and goals as primary sources of motivation” (Dik & Duffy). In other words, work that not only matters to us, but because of what it does for others, and this experience of work has been linked to a greater satisfaction in our careers and lives; we tend to be happier, more committed, and more engaged. 

And we know this sense of work is common for those who work in charities or other non-profit organisations, and yet the sector is heading towards a crisis that sits in uncomfortable tension with all of that. Because the same sense of purpose that draws people in and sustains them is also, under the wrong conditions, one of the things most likely to burn them out. 

The evidence is hard to ignore 

Since the pandemic, the picture emerging from sector research has become increasingly stark. A 2023 report from Pro Bono Economics & Nottingham Trent University found that nearly a quarter of charities identify stress, burnout, and large workloads as the primary driver of their retention challenges; the People's Health Trust found that 80% of leaders are concerned about staff burnout & a survey by Merrifield Consultants found that 76% of people in the sector had either personally experienced burnout or witnessed it in a colleague in the preceding two months, with burnout now the leading reason people look for a new role and that the majority of organisations would benefit from improving their burnout prevention strategies.  

And more recently, Breaking Point, a 2025 report by Nikki Wilson and Vic Hancock Fell, found that 85% of charity leaders said work had negatively impacted their mental health, and this had affected their ability to do their job, and had an impact on their team or organisation.  

Together these paint a picture of leaders at breaking point, worried their teams are too, seeing this play out in terms of their effectiveness at work, and through the loss of staff who can’t keep on keeping on. 

So why, when the work should protect us, does it so often harm us? 

This is the question that I pondered for years, as I saw brilliant colleagues push themselves to burnout, determined to do work which had once lit them up, and now exhausted them. The answer, perhaps counterintuitively, is connected to the very thing that makes the work meaningful in the first place. When the work is important to us, when it is part of who we are, we become vulnerable to three occupational hazards, workaholism, organisational exploitation and burnout.  

Workaholism. 

We know many individuals in the sector invest significant time, and effort beyond that which they are required or contracted to. They stay late, they work through their weekends and leave, and they make themselves available just in case someone needs them. This tendency to prioritise the work before themselves is rationalised because the work is important, making a difference is important, and the fear we will let others down if we don’t. The busyness we see in the sector has become a badge of honour in some organisations, and it is expected that leaders especially, will sacrifice themselves, their needs, and wellbeing for the work. 

Organisational exploitation. 

Because people in the sector are internally motivated, they are more likely to go above and beyond without additional incentive, to take on additional tasks, absorb unreasonable demands, and keep going long after they should have stopped. Not because organisations set out to exploit them, but because the combination of high commitment and limited capacity creates the conditions for it, instead of having honest conversations, at all levels, about what is realistic and achievable, we learn early in our careers to say yes. 

Burnout. 

The levels of burnout we are seeing are not simply the result of long hours, the unmatched demand and associated resource, they are also the product of the emotional and interpersonal demands of the work itself. The feeling of always needing to be on, the weight of responsibility that staff at all levels feel, and the gap between the difference people want to make and what the resources allow. 

However, not everyone who experiences work as a calling experience these negative outcomes, and so it’s important to consider what else might be at play, so we can understand what we can do about it. Research suggests that certain characteristics may increase the risk, perfectionism, unrealistic personal standards, a strong need to achieve, and how we feel about ourselves. These can make us more likely to experience the workplace as demanding beyond what it actually requires, and less likely to recognise that the problem is the conditions, not our capability. This suggests addressing the dark side of meaningful work, we need both organisational and individual approaches to mitigate the risk. 

The usual advice, and why it often falls short 

When people are struggling with stress, overwork, or burnout, the advice is usually some version of the same list, identify what is contributing to the problem, say no and set better boundaries, move your body, prioritise sleep, eat well, be kind to yourself, build mindfulness into your routine. 

And all of this is correct, these are the things which will help build our resilience and will manage the stress, all of it is worth doing. 

But herein lies the problem, when work is meaningful to us, when it is tied to our identity, to who we believe we are and what we are here to do, prioritising ourselves feels fundamentally at odds with this. The work will always be more important.  

You know you need to stop, and to rest, you know you can’t keep working at this pace. You know you need to stop. But stopping feels like letting people down, it feels like a sign that you’re not cut out for the work, and that comes with guilt, and anxiety, which may be too uncomfortable to bear, and so we keep on. 

And so, knowing what to do, isn’t as simple as this, and it means we need to do some deeper work to enable us to deal with this discomfort, help us see the bigger picture and make choices which enable us to have the impact we want, without sacrificing our wellbeing. 

The answer is building our psychological flexibility, for ourselves, and across our workforce. 

Building psychological flexibility 

Psychological flexibility is the ability to be present in the moment, to understand how we are feeling, and to choose our behaviour in a way that reflects who we want to be, rather than reacting on autopilot. 

In practice, this means being able to pause before automatically saying yes when someone asks for five minutes; to notice the panic, anger or frustration when a difficult email arrives, without immediately responding; or to recognise the pull towards staying late to get through the to-do list, even when you’re exhausted, and to choose differently. 

Working to develop our psychological flexibility has been shown to support innovation, skill development, increase our sense of control over work, as well as increasing wellbeing and reducing absence rates at work. In other words, it not only helps individual wellbeing, but also helps us be creative, solve problems, be more intentional in our work, be more effective and have a greater impact; exactly what we want our charities to be doing. 

Psychological flexibility has six central processes or skills, that, developed together, help us achieve this. 

Knowing what actually matters to you. 

When we know what we value, not just at work (and what the organisation is trying to achieve), but across your whole life it becomes much easier to make intentional choices rather than being driven by guilt, habit, or the expectations of others. 

Developing awareness of the present moment. 

Learning to notice how you are feeling right now, and how that connects to your thoughts and behaviour, is what enables us to break that cycle of reactive working. It creates the gap between what has happened and how we respond, which makes a different choice possible. 

Making room for difficult feelings. 

When we accept that difficult or uncomfortable feelings are a normal part and parcel of life, we can free up the energy we have been using on fighting them or trying to ignore them. Once we do this, we are free to respond in a way which helps us move forward in a way which is helpful to us.  

Creating distance from your thoughts. 

The things we say to ourselves are not facts, but when we are caught up in them, they can feel like they are and drive our behaviour. Creating some distance from those thoughts, being able to notice them, helps us choose our actions more intentionally, instead of responding automatically. 

Understanding the stories we tell about ourselves. 

Many of the patterns that keep us stuck are maintained by the stories we carry about who we are. If we believe, for example, that we only got where we are through luck, we are less able to see our achievements clearly, less confident in our role, and more likely to behave in ways that hold us back, perhaps by not speaking up in meetings. Noticing these stories and how we behave as a result helps us determine if this behaviour reflects who we want to be. 

Knowing which actions reflect who you want to be. 

This is where the other five processes come together to help us. It is the ability to have the difficult conversation, to say no, to leave on time, even when it feels uncomfortable, and even when the guilt shows up, because you have chosen to act in line with what you value rather than what the discomfort is demanding. 

A word of honesty 

I know some of you will read this, and think this is all well and good, but it doesn’t stop you having to wear all the different hats, and be responsible for fundraising, the strategic thinking, HR and operations, especially those of you in small charities and without the resources you need.  

And you’re right, developing your psychological flexibility won’t deal with the systemic pressures of the sector, but it might help you deal with them differently. It might help you stop responding on autopilot, help you feel more in control and intentional in how you work, help you work more efficiently and get to the strategic work.  

Developing your psychological flexibility isn’t a magic wand, but it might make enough of a difference to help your charity to build the foundation of cultural change so you and your staff can have an impact without burning out.   

The bigger picture 

If we want a sector with genuine, long-term impact, staffed by motivated, happy people who can bring their best, we cannot keep accepting burnout as an occupational hazard. We have to be honest about what we can and cannot achieve, and we have to start building cultures that support the people doing the work. 

Psychological flexibility is part of that picture. But only part. Because what individuals can do to protect themselves will only go so far if the organisational culture around them remains unchanged. 

In part two, I will explore what this looks like at an organisational level, and what leaders can do to build the kind of culture that makes sustainable, impactful work possible.