#134: How Leaders Can Reduce Burnout and Boost Performance with Marcus Lagré

02/12/25 • 27 min

Is workplace stress just about long hours? Not quite. Brian and Marcus Lagré unpack the real equation behind stress—how pressure, complexity, and security interact—and why your team’s performance depends on getting the balance right.

Overview

In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner sits down with Marcus Lagré, product organization coach and author of The Stress Equation, to break down the science of workplace stress.

They explore the differences between mental and emotional stress, how pressure and complexity impact teams, and why security in the workplace is a game-changer for performance. Marcus shares research-backed insights on interruptions, stress contagion, and how leaders can create an environment where teams thrive without burning out.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Marcus Lagré
The Stress Equation by Marcus Lagré
Certified ScrumMaster® Training and Scrum Certification
Mountain Goat Software Certified Scrum and Agile Training Schedule
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This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He's passionate about making a difference in people's day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work.

Marcus Lagré is an author, speaker, and consultant with 20 years of experience in software development, from small-team Scrum to massive 50+ team LeSS transformations. Creator of The Stress Equation, he helps organizations tackle workplace stress systematically, ensuring teams thrive under pressure without burning out.

Auto-generated Transcript:

Brian Milner (00:00)
Welcome in Agile Mentors. We're back for another episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast. I'm here as I usually am, Brian Milner. And today we have with us a really special guest, Marcus LeGray is with us. Welcome in, Marcus.

Marcus Lagre (00:13)
Thanks, Brian, pleasure to be here.

Brian Milner (00:15)
We were saying before that I'm actually kind of butchering or Americanizing his last name.

Marcus Lagre (00:20)
Nah, Americanizing, yes, but butchering, no. I wouldn't say that.

Brian Milner (00:24)
So I'm gonna give you a chance to set the record straight. Why don't you tell us the actually the correct pronunciation? Because I probably can't do it.

Marcus Lagre (00:31)
Well, my... I would say La Gré, but that's with a Swedish southern accent and not even most Swedes do that, so...

Brian Milner (00:34)
Okay. OK. Do the Swedish people look on people in the South like we do here in America? Like they're kind of more laid back and slower and... That's funny. OK. Well, we have Marcus on because, first of all, Marcus is a product organization coach. He's an author. He's a speaker.

Marcus Lagre (00:48)
Yeah, yeah, I would I would say so I would I would say so yeah

Brian Milner (01:03)
And he has a really great book that we wanted to kind of dive into the topic of here. Because in this day and age, this is a really important topic, but his book is called The Stress Equation. So you can kind of see where we might be going there with that. Well, so let's dive in. Let's talk about that a little bit. And I think probably a good place to start would be, how would you define then stress, when you, if we're talking about stress and the stress equation, how do you define stress?

Marcus Lagre (01:30)
I usually use the definition of stress because I let's start like this. I think that most people have like a too narrow perspective of what stress is. Like most people probably see it as working long hours and you know, spending a lot of time at work, but it doesn't necessarily have to. And there's this definition of stress ...

Overview

In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner sits down with Marcus Lagré, product organization coach and author of The Stress Equation, to break down the science of workplace stress.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at [email protected]

This episode’s presenters are:

Auto-generated Transcript:

Marcus Lagre (00:13)
Thanks, Brian, pleasure to be here.

Brian Milner (00:15)
We were saying before that I'm actually kind of butchering or Americanizing his last name.

Marcus Lagre (00:20)
Nah, Americanizing, yes, but butchering, no. I wouldn't say that.

Brian Milner (00:24)
So I'm gonna give you a chance to set the record straight. Why don't you tell us the actually the correct pronunciation? Because I probably can't do it.

Marcus Lagre (00:31)
Well, my... I would say La Gré, but that's with a Swedish southern accent and not even most Swedes do that, so...

Marcus Lagre (00:48)
Yeah, yeah, I would I would say so I would I would say so yeah

Previous Episode

#133: Trending Agile: Scrum Masters, AI, and the Future of Agile

The Agile Alliance partners with PMI—what does it mean for Agile’s future? Plus, how AI is reshaping Scrum Master roles and why honesty (even when it stings) is the key to career growth. Brian Milner and Cort Sharp tackle these hot topics in a no-holds-barred discussion.

Overview

In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner and Cort Sharp dive into the recent Agile Alliance-PMI partnership and its potential impact on the Agile community.

They also explore AI’s growing influence on Scrum Master roles—will it replace them or elevate their value? Finally, they tackle a tricky but crucial topic: when to speak up in the workplace, balancing honesty with career preservation.

If you want to stay ahead in Agile’s evolving landscape, this is a must-listen!

References and resources mentioned in the show:

#32: Scrum in High School Sports with Cort Sharp
#82: The Intersection of AI and Agile with Emilia Breton
#129: 2025: The Year Agile Meets AI and Hyper-Personalization with Lance Dacy
#132: Can Nice Guys Finish First? with Scott Dunn
Mike Cohn’s Better User Stories Course
Join the Agile Mentors Community
Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at [email protected]

This episode’s presenters are:

Cort Sharp is the Scrum Master of the producing team and the Agile Mentors Community Manager. In addition to his love for Agile, Cort is also a serious swimmer and has been coaching swimmers for five years.

Auto-generated Transcript:

Brian Milner (00:00)
Welcome in. Welcome back, everybody. This is the Agile Mentors Podcast. I'm with you as always, Brian Milner. And today, we're going to do something a little different. We're in this mode right now. We've kind of been open to some suggestions recently about maybe we should try some experiments and try some different things. And so today's going to be one of those little experiments. We have someone that's going to be with us, Mr. Cort Sharp. So welcome in, Cort.

Cort (00:23)
Hey Brian, thanks for having me on.

Brian Milner (00:26)
Absolutely. Cort is our community manager for the Agile Mentors community. And Cort and I do classes together a lot. He is often the producer in the classes. So we see each other a lot. We talk a lot. Cort's also a certified Scrum professional. So he's been doing this and has encountered Scrum in some kind of unusual circumstances as well. He's a high school swim coach. There's an episode that we talked about that. way back so that anyone wants to dig that out, they can go back and find that and learn a little bit more about it. But we just thought it would be good to have maybe periodically a little check in about maybe some stories that have come up in the news about Agile or things that have been flashing through social media feeds or anything like that. know, Cort and I are a little bit different age groups, a little bit, more than a little bit. And I'm sure the of things that cross court's radar may be a little bit different than the things that cross mine. And we just thought maybe it would be an interesting kind of thing to have a little discussion, the two of us, about some of these major burning issues and things that people are talking about on LinkedIn and Twitter and, I'm sorry, X, anywhere else. I'm going to kind of... Give th...

Next Episode

#135: Leading Without Authority with Pete Behrens

In this episode, Brian Milner and Pete Behrens explore the difference between managing and leading, the critical role of middle management in transformation, and how anyone—at any level—can drive real change in their organization.

Overview

In this episode of the Agile Mentors Podcast, Brian Milner sits down with leadership expert Pete Behrens to unpack what it truly means to be an Agile leader.

They dive into the difference between leadership by authority and leadership by respect, the importance of competency in leadership roles, and why middle managers often hold the key to lasting organizational change.

Pete shares insights on how leaders can navigate cultural shifts, manage organizational tensions, and empower teams to operate effectively in today’s fast-moving world. Whether you're a Scrum Master, Product Owner, or executive leader, this episode is packed with actionable strategies for leveling up your leadership impact.

References and resources mentioned in the show:

Pete Behrens
Agile For Leaders
Join the Agile Mentors Community
Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast

Want to get involved?

This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input.

Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one.
Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at [email protected]

This episode’s presenters are:

Pete Behrens is a leadership coach and Agile pioneer, shaping organizational agility for over 20 years—long before scaling frameworks took center stage. As the creator of the Scrum Alliance® Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) and Certified Agile Leadership (CAL) programs, he continues to empower leaders worldwide through Agile Leadership JourneyTM, a global network dedicated to leadership growth and culture transformation.

Auto-generated Transcript:

Brian Milner (00:00)
Well, welcome back Agile Mentors. We're back for another episode of the Agile Mentors podcast. I'm with you as always, Brian Milner. And today I have the one and only Mr. Pete Barron's with us. Pete, welcome in.

Pete Behrens (00:15)
Thank you, Brian, for the invitation and happy to be here.

Brian Milner (00:17)
Very, very excited to have Pete with us. If you're not familiar with Pete's work, you're in for a treat. Pete has been doing this for a long time and he has been really a foundational person in some of the things that the Scrum Alliance has done over the years as far as being involved with the coaching program and the leadership program and helping to design and put that together. His main focus has been in leadership. for several years now. And that's why we wanted to have Pete on, is to have him talk a little bit about Agile leadership. Because in today's world, in the context of a lot of the things that are shifting and changing in our day and age, I know that there's just a lot to consider in the area of Agile leadership. why don't we start, and I know this is kind of a softball, you probably get this question a lot, how do you define that? How do you define, is Agile leadership different than leadership, or is it... Is it essentially the same thing?

Pete Behrens (01:12)
Yeah, good, good starting question. So think of leadership as, you know, the ability or capability of influencing others towards a common goal. Right. That's that's what we look at as a behavior, a capability. Some people confuse that with being a leader. And that's actually different. We think of that as being, you know, having a title of authority. Right. So if you think about influence, there's really two aspects. One is I actually have a title that gives me the authority or I have respect. that allows me to do that regardless of title. So we do that a lot with leaders to actually kind of reset some of that and think about, right, this is a capability anybody at any level, any title can do as somebody. Now, the agile, you know, part of that, obviously, you you and I live in an agile indu...