The Unmet Needs Driving Burnout

From Burnout to Breakthrough: A Human-Centered Blueprint to Support and Sustain Today’s Educators

In a profession built on purpose, how is it that the very people we trust to lead and teach—teachers, principals, superintendents—are burning out faster than any workforce in the nation?

According to Gallup, K–12 educators are the most burned-out professionals in America. Nearly half report feeling “always” or “very often” burned out. But burnout isn’t the root problem—it’s the byproduct of a deeper systemic failure: the persistent neglect of human needs.

Burnout is the smoke. Unmet needs are the fire.

At EdSolutions Group, we believe the solution isn’t just more training—it’s a full-system recalibration based on how educators actually function, thrive, and sustain purpose-driven work. To do that, we reimagined Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for today’s educators—infused with neuroscience, trauma-awareness, and system-level strategy.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Educators

1. Physiological Needs

What this means:
Educators need regulated nervous systems and sustainable conditions—this includes proper sleep, hydration, cognitive bandwidth, and manageable workloads. Educators often sacrifice personal wellness for professional responsibility, creating chronic stress cycles that inhibit executive function and decision-making.

When unmet:
Depletion sets in. Educators lose mental clarity, emotional control, and physical resilience—driving absenteeism, poor classroom management, and burnout.

Solution Alignment:

• Joyful Leadership Institute™ recalibrates time and energy around personal and professional priorities—reclaiming cognitive space and embedding daily practices that prevent fatigue.

• ACE Aware™ uses neuroscience to help educators assess their ACE score, reflect on stress responses, and build daily resilience routines.

• Parent Engagement Lab™ decreases stress by streamlining communication and reducing reactionary parent interactions that drain teacher time and energy.

2. Safety Needs

What this means:
Psychological and emotional safety are prerequisites for sustainable leadership. Educators need predictable systems, relational trust, and the ability to express themselves without fear of conflict or retaliation. Safety also includes understanding trauma triggers—both personal and systemic.

When unmet:
Educators operate in survival mode. They become reactive, defensive, or disengaged. Risk-taking, collaboration, and innovation disappear.

Solution Alignment:

• Joyful Leadership Institute™ builds emotionally intelligent leadership environments where communication, boundaries, and role clarity reduce overwhelm and cultivate safety.

• ACE Aware™ empowers staff to create trauma-informed classrooms rooted in emotional regulation, co-regulation, and relational safety—starting with the adult first.

• Parent Engagement Lab™ aligns family expectations with school systems, building trust and reducing external conflict that undermines educator psychological safety.

3. Belonging & Connection

What this means:
Relational trust is the currency of educator well-being. Teachers, principals, and superintendents need a sense of belonging among their teams and with their students. Connection isn’t optional—it’s a buffer against stress and a driver of engagement.

When unmet:
Educators isolate. Teams fragment. Students and families feel disconnected. Culture deteriorates.

Solution Alignment:

• Joyful Leadership Institute™ fosters connection through cohort-based development and peer mentorship—building aligned leadership communities across systems.

• ACE Aware™ enhances classroom culture by helping educators create empathetic relationships grounded in trauma-informed SEL strategies.

• Parent Engagement Lab™ rebuilds school-home connections that reinforce educator purpose, reduce absenteeism, and revive community engagement.

4. Esteem Needs

What this means:
Esteem is the belief that your work matters and your voice is respected. Educators need agency, recognition, growth opportunities, and autonomy to apply their expertise. Without esteem, performance becomes mechanical—and morale collapses.

When unmet:
Educators feel invisible, micromanaged, or ineffective. They detach from goals, resist feedback, and eventually leave.

Solution Alignment:

• Joyful Leadership Institute™ develops strategic leadership identity and clarity—equipping leaders to lead from vision, not reaction.

• ACE Aware™ reinforces educator competence by aligning trauma-informed practice with student outcomes—reclaiming confidence and clarity in their professional role.

• Parent Engagement Lab™ reframes family engagement as a leadership skill—elevating staff visibility, authority, and influence.

5. Self-Actualization

What this means:
At the top of the hierarchy is purpose-driven leadership—the ability to contribute meaningfully, innovate, and leave a legacy. Self-actualization reflects alignment between values and daily work, and it’s essential for educator longevity and joy.

When unmet:
Even high-performers burn out. Passion fades. Creativity is lost. The profession loses not just talent—but soul.

Solution Alignment:

• Joyful Leadership Institute™ moves leaders into long-term visioning, purpose alignment, and legacy-driven systems transformation.

• ACE Aware™ empowers educators to become wellness and resilience leaders—helping shift entire school cultures toward emotional safety and sustainable impact.

• Parent Engagement Lab™ builds structures for co-creation between families and educators—extending the educator’s influence and aligning mission with measurable community outcomes.

Burnout Isn’t a Personal Problem. It’s a Systemic Signal.

Burnout is not the result of weakness or lack of willpower. It is the predictable outcome of unmet needs—repeated, ignored, and compounded over time.

If your district is facing chronic absenteeism, low morale, or high turnover—it’s not a staffing issue. It’s a human needs issue.

We don’t fix burnout by giving people one more framework to implement.
We fix it by addressing the actual hierarchy that supports sustainable leadership.

The Solution Isn’t a Workshop. It’s a System.

At EdSolutions Group, we don’t just offer trainings. We deliver strategic, scalable systems designed to transform, accelerate, and sustain the well-being and capacity of educators at every level.

✔ Joyful Leadership Institute™ prevents burnout and builds strategic clarity across leadership pipelines.
✔ ACE Aware™ builds trauma-informed systems by prioritizing the educator experience first.
✔ Parent Engagement Lab™ drives district-wide alignment between families and schools—improving trust, attendance, and achievement.

Together, these solutions form a systemic reset button for education’s most urgent crisis.

This Is the Moment for Bold Leadership

The question isn’t whether your educators are burning out.
It’s whether your system is designed to prevent it.

If you’re ready to build a culture where educators are sustained, supported, and self-actualized…

📩 Let’s talk about what’s possible. Reply with a few times that work for you, orSchedule a Strategic Call with EdSolutions Group to get started.

Because education should be filled with purveyors of possibility—not professionals too depleted to see what’s possible. 

About the Author: Lisa Imel, M.Ed. is the Founder and CEO of EdSolutions Group and creator of the Joyful Leadership Institute™, ACE Aware™, and Parent Engagement Lab™—three high-impact professional development models helping school districts reverse burnout, restore purpose, and sustain leadership capacity across the country.

A Fulbright Scholar, licensed superintendent, and former school principal, Lisa blends neuroscience, systems thinking, and strategic planning into research-driven solutions that elevate educator well-being and district performance. Her work has been featured in Principal Navigator, spotlighted at national conferences, and implemented by school leaders committed to meaningful, lasting change.

Lisa’s mission is clear: to build a future where education is filled with purveyors of possibility—not professionals too depleted to lead.