# Mattering at Work: The Missing Leadership Skill Driving Engagement, Retention, and Burnout Recovery | Zach Mercurio

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fried-the-burnout-podcast-88086/mattering-at-work-the-missing-leadership-skill-driving-engagement-retention-and-burnout-recovery-zach-mercurio
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/fried-the-burnout-podcast-88086/mattering-at-work-the-missing-leadership-skill-driving-engagement-retention-and-burnout-recovery-zach-mercurio.md
Podcast: [FRIED. The Burnout Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/fried-the-burnout-podcast-88086)
Published: 2026-02-22T05:00:32+00:00
Episode link: https://redcircle.com/shows/e4c0db0a-98a4-47e6-a2b0-6a291469e1d6/episodes/732dd931-b516-49a4-9547-3d388199a98a
Audio file: https://audio4.redcircle.com/episodes/732dd931-b516-49a4-9547-3d388199a98a/stream.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fried-the-burnout-podcast-88086/episodes/mattering-at-work-the-missing-leadership-skill-driving-engagement-retention-and-burnout-recovery-zach-mercurio
Duration seconds: 3045

## Resource

Belonging might get you on the team, but if burnout is a systems problem, then mattering is a systems solution. Cait sits down with Zach Mercurio, PhD, author of The Power of Mattering, to examine why engagement continues to decline even in organizations investing heavily in culture initiatives. If burnout is a systems problem, then addressing workplace burnout requires more than resilience training. It requires redesigning how leaders show up in everyday interactions. Zach breaks down the difference between belonging, inclusion, and mattering. Belonging is being welcomed. Inclusion is being invited to participate. Mattering is knowing you are significant and needed. That experience is built moment by moment when leaders notice, affirm, and show people how their contributions make a measurable difference. These small interactions directly influence organizational health and shape the employee experience. Cait brings a biological lens to the conversation, exploring how chronic workplace stress and cortisol are connected to feeling unseen or replaceable. Research shows that when people feel they matter, stress markers decrease and exhaustion drops. That insight reframes the structural causes of burnout. This is not just about mindset alone but systems, expectations, and leadership behavior. The conversation also addresses leadership burnout. Managers are overloaded with KPIs, administrative demands, and hybrid communication that erodes psychological safety at work. When leaders rush, care disappears and hurry replaces presence, burnout culture takes root. If burnout is a systems problem, then culture is built or broken in the accumulation of daily interactions. You will get a useful framework based on three main actions which are noticing, affirming, and needing. You can…

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## Transcript

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