WHY HIGH-PERFORMERS STAY STUCK

Don Gaconnet
2 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Recursive Reliability Effect in Executive Burnout and Leadership Due Diligence

Classification: LifePillar Institute — Scientific Publication

Don L. Gaconnet, CSE III

Founder, LifePillar Institute for Recursive Sciences

ORCID: 0009-0001-6174-8384 · SSRN Author ID: 7657314 (Top 3% Global)

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin · don@lifepillar.org

May 2026

Preprint — LifePillar Institute for Recursive Sciences

Abstract

Six out of ten PE-backed CEOs are replaced within the first year of acquisition (AlixPartners, 2024). The cost of unplanned executive turnover runs to 200% of the leader’s salary (Gallup). The due diligence pipeline that produced these outcomes relies on personality assessments, psychometric evaluation, behavioral interviews, 360-degree feedback, and reference checks—every one of which takes the leader’s self-report as primary input. The

This paper applies the Recursive Reliability Effect to two domains simultaneously. First, executive burnout: why high-performers stay stuck despite having access to every coaching, therapy, and leadership development resource available. Second, leadership due diligence: why the PE industry’s assessment pipeline systematically fails to predict which founders and CEOs will sustain performance under post-acquisition load. The structural answer to both is the same: every instrument in both domains operates on the self-report as primary input, and the self-report is recursively unreliable at the rates this paper documents.

Keywords: executive burnout, high-performer, leadership due diligence, private equity, CEO replacement, self-assessment, recursive reliability, founder risk, key person risk, personality assessment, structural capacity

References

AlixPartners. (2025). Tenth Annual Private Equity Leadership Survey. https://www.alixpartners.com/insights/private-equity-leadership-survey-2025/

Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422.

Bililies, T. (2023). Private equity needs a new talent strategy. Harvard Business Review, November–December 2023.

Davis, D. A., et al. (2006). Accuracy of physician self-assessment. JAMA, 296(9), 1094–1102.

Eva, K. W., & Regehr, G. (2005). Self-assessment in the health professions. Academic Medicine, 80(10), S46–S54.

Felitti, V. J., et al. (1998). The ACE Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258.

Gaconnet, D. L. (2026a). The Recursive Reliability Effect. LifePillar Institute. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/MVYZT. Zenodo: 10.5281/zenodo.20099853.

Gaconnet, D. L. (2026b). The Law of Obligated Systems. LifePillar Institute. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/MVYZT.

Gaconnet, D. L. (2026c). Performance-Embodiment Divergence simulation. LifePillar Institute.

Gaconnet, D. L. (2026d). The Pressure Perception Index. LifePillar Institute. Version 19.

Hogan Assessments. (2025). How to identify leadership potential in private equity acquisitions. https://www.hoganassessments.com/blog/

IQTalent. (2025). PE human capital due diligence. https://blog.iqtalent.com/pe-human-capital-due-diligence

Massoni, S. (2014). Self-knowledge dim-out: Stress impairs metacognitive accuracy. PLoS ONE, 9(8), e104156.

McEwen, B. S. (1998). Allostasis and allostatic load. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 840(1), 33–44.

Renovata. (2025). Pre-deal risk: Leadership due diligence. https://renovata.com/2025/03/14/leadership-due-diligence-private-equity/

Savant Care. (2025). High achiever burnout: The hidden mental health crisis. https://www.savantcare.com/blog/

Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness. W. H. Freeman.

Wei, M. (2025). Why high achievers miss the warning signs of burnout. Psychology Today.

Don L. Gaconnet, CSE III

Founder & Principal Investigator, LifePillar Institute for Recursive Sciences

ORCID: 0009-0001-6174-8384 · SSRN Author ID: 7657314 (Top 3% Global)