We live in a world where ambition is valued, often at the expense of human well-being. I’ve seen it first-hand—the long hours, the relentless demands, the subtle and subtle pressures that can weigh on someone in a high-profile environment. A senior colleague once joked about my significant weight gain, dismissing it as a symptom of “too good” and “being overpaid”. What they don’t see-or choose not to see-is the lifestyle of stress-laden behind and how the actions that allowed that to develop. I also know several colleagues who have had to pursue therapy for years to deal with the trauma they experienced. With input from Vivek Pradeep Ranamanaging partner, Gnothi Seauton.
A recent tragedy involving young professionals at one of the world’s top companies forces us to face an even more troubling reality: unchecked workplace pressure is not just a byproduct of success—it can even destroy the strongest among us, with devastating consequences. . This is not a story about one company or person, but one that resonates around the world. Once synonymous with success and prestige, the high-profile corporate environment has now become a battlefield where human lives are at stake in the name of productivity and profit.
Everywhere, in Silicon Valley tech hub, and in the city of strong finance from London and TokyoThe non-stop drive takes its toll on young working professionals. According to the World Health Organization, work-related stress has reached unimaginable proportions. The question we must ask is: why do we continue to tolerate this culture? Why do we, as a society, allow our brightest minds to be eclipsed by a system that values ​​output over welfare?
In boardrooms around the world, leaders are measured by a single metric: profit. Over time, we have learned to celebrate the bottom line while ignoring the life that is trampled into. The truth is that business entities exist to grow and make money, but now we have to face a deeper question: what is the cost? How much of your life has been wasted in pursuit of your company’s success?
This is not the first tragedy. It is symptomatic of a wider crisis that we have seen spread across finance, technology, healthand even the education sector. The workplace has increasingly become a battlefield; Chronic fatigue, burnout, and mental health crises have emerged as products of a system designed to push humans to their limits.
Too much criticism of corporate culture occurs without a deep understanding of the underlying economic forces. Business rests on the ground of profit; if they can’t get some of these titles, they won’t live. How can you ensure that growth doesn’t come at the expense of people driving? How do you protect human life in an ecosystem that produces well-being?
Pressure from all sides: clients want less, investors demand results, and competition produces ever-growing efficiencies. Effect? Teams are asked to do more, go further and continue to undermine their health and sanity. There is no longer any question whether this is happening everywhere. The real question remains: why are we doing this?
The narrative we’ve been sold is that profit and empathy can’t coexist – to be successful, you have to push people harder, faster, further. This is a false dichotomy. The reality is that sustainable success requires both profit and empathy. We need leaders who understand that people are not just assets on the balance sheet but the foundation of a successful organization.
Empathy is not a weakness. It’s the key to unlocking long-term growth. Leaders who build a culture of empathy create an environment where people can thrive without sacrificing their mental or physical health. This is not about lowering standards or sacrificing performance. It is about acknowledging human limitations and ensuring that they are respected, not exploited.
When faced with a tragedy, the first instinct is to find someone to blame. Some pointed to the company, pointing out that it failed to protect its employees. Others, more quietly, wonder if the individual is not wanted because of the high demands of his role. However, the discussion is missing a more important point: Where is the empathy? Where are the leaders who should have seen the warning signs? And where do colleagues work together every day?
Empathy should not be a mysterious and rare commodity in the workplace. You need to be at the core of leadership, especially in a place where demand is always high. More often than not, it gets sidelined as one of those soft skills that doesn’t find a home in the boardroom or corner office.
Let’s turn the lens inside out for a second. Are we, in our way, contributing to the pressure around us? How many of us, in the name of performance, push others a little too far without considering the other person’s limits? We need to challenge ourselves because change requires self-awareness.
We are not only victims of this system—we are also, at times, its enforcers. Whether it’s through silence when we see co-workers struggle or through unrealistic expectations, we get involved. Corporate culture that leads people to the brink is not only perpetuated by policy; people perpetuate it, and that includes each of us.
What does it say about us that we have accepted stress, burnout, and mental health crises as a byproduct of success? When we accept these requirements, we participate. Every leader and every colleague who turns a blind eye to signs of fatigue or distress is part of the problem. And each one of us who remains silent will contribute to a culture that values ​​output over people.
We have normalized the extraordinary demands on our employees, which has also normalized breakdowns, crises, and, in some cases, tragedies that occur. If we continue to ignore these warning signs, we will see more lives lost, not to accidents and disease, but to the silent and invisible pressures of modern work culture.
We need a new kind of leadership. That is not only driven by profit margins or performance metrics but by the recognition of the value of human life. The best leaders understand that sustainable growth is more than just hitting targets—it’s about building an environment where they can excel without sacrificing their health. This means rethinking how we set goals, how we reward success, and how we care for the people who work for us.
We must also challenge our clients and shareholders to stop devaluing the services they rely on. If a business can’t deliver quality work without burning them out, then the pricing model is wrong, and the demand can’t be met. Real leadership means making tough decisions in the short term to protect the long-term health of the company and its employees.
We cannot continue to treat human welfare as an afterthought. Profits and people are not enemies. They depend on each other. If we cannot protect our people, we will lose productivity and revenue and the heart of our business. And if we continue to sacrifice a few more lives in the name of corporate ambition, then, frankly, what have we gained?
This is a future moment where empathy and humanity will be virtues and necessities; the only way forward is to create a workplace that nurtures human evolution toward the ability to succeed, thrive, and, most importantly, survive.
