Social institutions follow characteristics that clearly distinguish them from business enterprises. They typically operate on a non-profit basis, and the quality of their work is difficult to measure. The same applies to employee performance. This is one reason why burnout is particularly common in social professions. This presents unique challenges for leaders of social institutions. On one hand, they must maintain the innovative capacity of their organization, while on the other hand, they need to ensure the health of their employees. For these tasks, no leadership approach is better suited than the systemic one. Experienced social manager Günther Bauer outlines the fundamentals of systemic management here and its application to leading social organizations. The analyses, interventions, and success strategies presented encourage a reevaluation of previous leadership methods.