Learned Helplessness at Work: What Leaders Can Do

"Learned helplessness" is a psychological concept introduced by Martin E. Seligman and Steven F. Maier in 1967. It describes a condition in which individuals, after repeated failed attempts to change their circumstances, come to believe that they are powerless, leading them to stop trying altogether, even when change becomes possible.

A powerful illustration of this idea is drawn from old traveling circuses. As the story goes, a baby elephant would have a rope tied around its ankle, anchored to a stake in the ground to keep it from straying. Too weak to pull the stake free, the young elephant eventually learns that resistance is futile. As the elephant grows, it becomes strong enough to easily rip the stake from the ground—but it no longer tries. The belief that escape is impossible has been internalized. The elephant remains tethered not by the rope, but by a mindset formed through earlier experiences of failure.

In humans, this learned helplessness can manifest when someone repeatedly encounters obstacles despite their best efforts. Over time, they may begin to feel that no amount of effort will make a difference. Even when new opportunities arise or circumstances change, they may no longer attempt to improve their situation—believing instead that their fate is fixed and their efforts are pointless.

How Does Learned Helplessness Impact Individuals in the Workplace?

A loss of agency—feeling that someone lacks control over their environment or that they lack the ability to make decisions and act independently—hinders performance and hurts the overall workplace culture.

If you find yourself in a leadership role with a team that has a history of feeling disempowered and disengaged, here’s what you can do to build agency and restore balance:

Individual-Level Agency Builders

• Autonomy in Task Execution: Offer employees as much autonomy in completing their work as possible. This may mean allowing employees to choose how to approach their task or to create their own deadlines for completion. Importantly, if you’ve given someone autonomy over a deliverable, you must remain hands-off until it's due. For instance, if they say it will be ready by Friday, don’t start checking in on Wednesday—that undermines the autonomy you’ve granted.
• Clear Goals, Flexible Paths: If your team has clear monthly or quarterly goals in place, allow team members to determine the best way to achieve them. People may have different processes or paths they take to reach those goals. As long as they meet their target by the deadline, they can be in charge of how they get there.
• Career Development Plans: Not everyone has the same career ambitions. Some may be eager to climb that ladder and move higher in the company. Others are perfectly content with their current role. It’s important to recognize these intrinsic differences among us and to meet people where they are. If someone has big aspirations, provide mentorship and growth opportunities that can help them achieve their goals. If someone else is happy as-is, don’t pressure or push them to do more.
• Role Crafting: Everyone has different strengths. To the extent possible, align each individual’s responsibilities with their strengths. For instance, if someone excels at data analysis but struggles with public speaking, assign them projects where they can showcase their analytical skills while pairing them with a more extroverted teammate for presentations. Aligning tasks and responsibilities with personal strengths will optimize performance and increase job satisfaction. Allowing team members the freedom and flexibility to customize their roles and projects to fit their unique skills will also help individuals feel a greater level of autonomy, which in turn helps to benefit the team.

Team-Level Agency Builders

• Shared Decision-Making: Involve teams in setting goals, identifying strategic initiatives (aligned with broader company priorities), and choosing tools or processes for completing work. This kind of shared decision-making enhances buy-in and fosters ownership—key elements of a happy, productive team.
• Rotating Leadership: When only one or two people always lead, others may feel “stuck.” Offer rotating leadership opportunities, especially for those whose strengths or interests align with a particular project. This helps build skills, renew engagement, and create more equitable advancement pathways.

Organizational-Level Agency Builders

• Transparent Communication: Certainly there are times when, as a leader, decisions may be made based on confidential information that cannot be shared. However, whenever possible, it’s important to communicate transparently and frequently. Transparency builds trust. Even when people don’t agree with a decision, understanding the reasoning behind it promotes respect and alignment.
• Psychological Safety: Create an environment where employees feel safe voicing concerns or sharing ideas without fear of judgment or retribution. Encouraging diverse perspectives helps to ensure the best possible solution to a problem. What’s more, when employees feel valued, they report higher levels of satisfaction, motivation, and engagement. Importantly, employees who feel respected are more loyal to their company.
• Time for Innovation: Google popularized the “20% time” model, letting its employees spend part of their time on passion projects that could benefit the company. This gave rise to major innovations like Gmail and Google Maps. Both started out as side projects that eventually became core projects. In the case of Gmail, the once “side project” grew to become the company’s most-used service! Even if 20% time feels out of reach, the underlying principle is powerful. When employees are given time and space to pursue ideas they care about, creativity thrives. Encouraging passion projects, however small, signals trust and helps build a sense of ownership in the workplace.

Learned helplessness doesn’t develop overnight—it’s the result of repeated failed attempts at change. But if you walk into a team that has internalized this mindset, your leadership isn’t futile. Just as helplessness is learned, it can be unlearned. Leaders play a critical role in that process: by creating environments that foster autonomy, encouraging diverse ideas and perspectives, and empowering teams through shared decision-making and distributed leadership. The more that employees feel their contributions matter, the more engaged, innovative, and resilient they become.