Leadership & Workplace Well-being

Leaders play a critical role in their team's mental health and well-being; they can either promote or impede the well-being of their teams, leading to a lack of trust and engagement and poor performance, to name a few.

To promote well-being, you don’t need to make massive changes; small changes can make a big difference for your and your team’s well-being.

Here are four quick strategies that can help you promote well-being on your team:

Foster psychological safety by demonstrating care and ensuring a physically, mentally, and emotionally safe work environment where people feel comfortable speaking freely.

Model work-life boundaries by disconnecting from work. As leaders, people are watching you and will follow your lead; if you respond to non-urgent emails after hours, people will feel compelled to do the same. If you never take time off, people will do the same. Similarly, small changes like disconnecting from work and taking breaks reinforce that it is not only okay to take breaks but also necessary for optimal performance.

Effectively manage change by acknowledging that change is hard, being transparent, informing employees about what to expect, and being realistic about what can and can’t be done. Provide space for employees to share concerns and solicit feedback.

Recognize and appreciate employees for their work by saying thank you and being sincere. This can be done verbally or by sending an email, text, or handwritten note expressing your appreciation and explicitly calling out the action or behavior.