If you’re exhausted by work but can’t quite explain why, you’re not imagining it.

You’re probably not working less than you used to. You’re doing more: more hours, more projects, more mental load, more emotional labour, more responsibility… and now we’ve added “keep up with AI” to the list. 

And despite all that effort, you somehow feel less effective, less visible, and more stretched than ever.

According to Australia’s middle management expert Rebecca Houghton, the problem isn’t an absence of effort. It’s the absence of systems.

Her new book, More Impact, More Easily (Wiley, out now), offers a practical playbook for increasing influence, clarity and performance without longer hours, louder self-promotion, or burnout.

“We’ve taught people how to work hard,” Houghton says.

“But we haven’t taught them how to work with leverage - using systems more smartly.

“This is happening across the workforce,” Houghton says.

“But it’s hitting people in the middle of organisations hardest. They’re carrying the pressure from above, the needs from below, and the expectations from everywhere, often without the authority, clarity or support to make meaningful change.”

Drawing on proprietary research profiling more than 1,000 Australian middle managers — the only dataset of its kind — and two decades spent leading talent and transformation in large organisations, Houghton puts words to what many professionals are quietly feeling: stretched thin, overlooked, and overwhelmed in the middle of it all.

Her research reveals a growing disconnect between expectation and empowerment: people are asked to deliver results, manage complexity and absorb pressure, without the authority, clarity or operating systems required to do it well.

“It’s not that people don’t care, or that they need more motivation or resilience,” Houghton says.

“It’s that they’re being asked to hold everything together without the tools to do it well.  

“They need better ways to operate including systems that control the pace of work, sharpen their focus and increase influence.

“When people have clarity, influence and space to think, impact becomes easier. That’s when good work actually gets done.”

As workplaces change faster than ever — driven by AI, restructuring and constant “doing more with less” productivity pushes — Houghton argues that relying on hustle and goodwill is no longer sustainable.

“AI will replace admin-heavy roles,” she says.

“But it won’t replace leaders, managers and professionals who can think strategically, connect the dots, influence across silos and translate change into action.”

The book reframes leadership for the modern workplace, where authority isn’t assumed; resources are tight, and influence matters more than hierarchy.

More Impact, More Easily is available now in paperback and eBook.

Rebecca Houghton is Australia’s leading middle management expert and the founder of BoldHR. A former executive at Australia Post, she is best known for her work building B-Suite leaders with C-Suite impact. She is the creator of the B-Suite Benchmarks, Australia’s only dataset profiling over 1,000 middle managers, and a sought-after keynote speaker on leadership, management, influence and the future of work. Rebecca is a regular media commentator, with contributions to Fast Company, Mamamia, Mumbrella, SmartCompany, HR Leader, News.com.au and ABC Radio.