Sarah McGuinness is one of New Zealand’s leading specialists in burnout and sustainable performance. She is the Founder of Revolutionaries of Wellbeing (ROW), a movement dedicated to breaking burnout culture - for good. Through ROW, she is building an international community of leaders and changemakers committed to creating healthier, more sustainable workplaces.
Sarah helps leaders and organisations answer one of today’s most urgent workplace questions: how do people and teams sustain performance under pressure? Her work combines research, organisational practice and lived experience to turn complex workplace challenges into practical, relevant action.
Her areas of expertise include human capacity, burnout and recovery, sustainable performance and psychosocial risk. Rather than treating burnout as solely an individual wellbeing issue, Sarah examines the wider conditions in which people work - and what leaders and organisations can do differently to build workplaces where both people and performance can be sustained.
Sarah is completing a Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, where her research explored how senior doctors recover from burnout while continuing to work, providing new insights into the relationship between work, recovery and organisational conditions. She is also completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Human Performance Leadership at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Sarah holds an honours degree in psychology and a degree in communication, alongside specialist training in professional coaching, adult education and fitness.
Her perspective has been shaped by more than two decades of working with organisations across New Zealand, Australia and internationally, along with her own lived experience of burnout. It is also shaped by time spent supporting communities through major disruption - including the Christchurch earthquakes - and countless hours in the mountains, where she continues to explore what sustainable performance looks like in practice.
Sarah also volunteers with Coastguard New Zealand in search and rescue and serves on the Coastguard Queenstown Board. She has been featured by media including Stuff, NBR, RNZ, Newshub, Seven Sharp and Newstalk ZB.
Talking Points
Burnout - the issue we can't afford to ignore
In this talk, learn about the signs and symptoms of burnout and strategies for creating better, more supportive workplaces. Learn through Sarah's lived experience, and her professional experience working with wellbeing leads around the globe.
Burnout - the issue we can't afford to ignore
The Essentials of Wellbeing Leadership
Good leadership is no longer enough. To be truly successful, leaders need to integrate wellbeing leadership into day-to-day interactions. Learn about the essential components of wellbeing.
The Essentials of Wellbeing Leadership
Better Business - How to Gain a Competitive Edge Through Wellbeing
This interactive talk is designed to challenge leaders to think about wellbeing from an organisational perspective, linking wellbeing to organisational strategy, and factors such as brand reputation, customer retention and employee engagement. This talk brings leaders up-to-date on how to drive a wellbeing-led organisation and provides tools for inspiring change.
Better Business - How to Gain a Competitive Edge Through Wellbeing
Take Care With Self Care
Grounded in psychology, this talk takes a life by design' approach to promoting positive mental wellbeing. It covers the essential ingredients of a satisfying life, and how to increase motivation, and navigate barriers. It takes participants on a journey to discover the science of self care, how to take care when it feels like there isn't the time, and how to integrate self care into daily life to boost wellbeing now and in the long term.
Take Care With Self Care
