5 Work+Wellbeing| Breaking the Burnout Cycle: A Female Veteran's Journey from Army Officer to Self-Leadership featuring Caroline Boutelant

E5
35:29
June 16th 2025

What happens when you go from leading soldiers 24/7 to learning how to lead yourself again? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with fellow veteran Caroline Boutelant to explore the unique challenges female veterans face during military transition.

Caroline shares her journey from French-born military spouse to Army intelligence officer, revealing the hidden emotional toll of empathetic leadership and the unexpected difficulties of civilian transition. Together, they unpack why compartmentalization—while necessary for military survival—can create long-term challenges when processing years of suppressed experiences.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why military leadership requires different emotional skills than corporate leadership
How empathy can become both a superpower and a burden for female leaders
The surprising ways military transition affects your mental and emotional wellbeing
Why losing your military community feels like losing essential lifelines
Practical strategies for learning to listen to your body again after years of "pushing through"
How vulnerability actually strengthens relationships rather than burdening others
Warning signs that you're riding the burnout rollercoaster (and how to get off)

Caroline's honest insights about building trust with her team, handling the overwhelming responsibility of caring for soldiers' entire lives, and navigating the grief of leaving military service offer invaluable lessons for any woman learning to prioritize her wellbeing while carrying the leadership mantle..

Whether you're a veteran struggling with transition, a leader dealing with empathy overwhelm, or someone who's forgotten how to put yourself first, this conversation provides both validation and practical solutions.

Remember, prioritizing your wellbeing isn't selfish—it's essential for sustainable leadership.

Connect with Caroline: www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-boutelant

Schedule Your Coaching Call: https://link.lsaglobal.net/widget/booking/yYwzEA4R6YwDtHS4DA2x

Prioritize Wellbeing for Female Leaders

Do you push through exhaustion because your team needs you?

Do you wonder how to take care of yourself while taking care of everyone else?

Are you tired of feeling like you have to choose between being a good leader and protecting your wellbeing?

As a leader forged in military culture, I was taught that a leader's wellbeing was second to that of their people. After almost 10 years of leading teams around the globe in the world's greatest Air Force, I realized how untrue that teaching really is. Six months into my corporate transition from active duty service, I found myself in uncontrollable tears on the dingy carpet of my apartment floor. I thought I would finally be a part of an organization that would give me the time to take care of me because they cared about my wellbeing beyond what I could produce for them. I realized other than the title and the company, nothing had really changed. I was still working 12+ hour days, still fighting a system that put its goals before its people, and still expected to answer my boss at all hours of the night.

Then it hit me – I didn't understand how to tend to my own wellbeing. I never made the time. I didn’t know how. I didn't understand something I was expecting others to do for me. The crying stopped. I sat up, wiped the tears from my face, took a deep breath and let out a sigh of determination. I knew what I needed to do next. That's when I embarked on the toughest journey during the darkest time of my life. I had to figure out how to lead a team and heal myself at the same time – truly heal, not just the quick recovery that gets you through the next week.

It was in these two plus years of stepping back to understand myself again that I recognized how much better I became as a leader. I had a different perspective in understanding others, connecting with others, and leading more effectively. When we understand ourselves – intentionally and completely – we become the impactful leaders our world needs.

That experience gave me the skills to create an environment of trust and empowerment that I'd never been able to create before – not only for my team, but my co-workers and managers as well. I'm grateful to still experience the power of that impact almost a year after leaving the corporate arena. It was during those two years of healing and leading that I discovered two truths:

Balance is overrated. Harmony is how we were meant to live.
Simple is more effective than doing 'all the things,' but that doesn't mean it will be easy.

On this podcast, I share real stories and solutions from my 20+ years of leadership experience, taking care of my wellbeing the wrong way, and learning how to heal while leading an amazing team. If you're a driven female leader who struggles with perfectionism, burnout, and self-sabotage more than you'd like to admit, join me to learn simple solutions that help you prioritize your wellbeing so you can truly lead by example.

Learn more: lsaglobal.net

Let’s connect: [email protected]

Schedule your coaching call: https://link.lsaglobal.net/widget/booking/yYwzEA4R6YwDtHS4DA2x

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