Category: leadership

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the workforce is increasingly looking for a healthy and fulfilling work-life balance. Employees are now considering factors beyond just their annual salary package when deciding on a job. Well-being in life and the workplace is an essential component of a fulfilling lifestyle.

Covid-19 has catapulted us into a strange new world of work. Many of your people are working from home. The initial novelty is wearing off. Business and team leaders wrestle with how to lead and motivate. People leaders wonder how to support people, manage risk and continue learning and development.

Positivity at work is more than a personal mindset or attitude. It is part of a bigger movement that influences the individual worker, how the workforce interacts with one another, and how workers align with the organisational goals and culture at large. 

We search for ways to recover, renew, bounce, reset or even pivot into 2022. The past two years have been quite a ride. We in a prolonged pandemic. We have endured unprecedented lockdowns, prolonged isolation, and a raft of unpredicted business pressures.

Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) is how strategists describe the modern workplace. Everything is also moving faster. Many work processes that used to take weeks – letters, reporting, travel – are now instantaneous.

Imagine your team in a meeting with a consultant is pitching a wellbeing solution. The consultant may be a doctor, nurse, psychologist, neuroscientist or lay person. They will present what they think is “wellbeing”, “resilience”, “psychological safety”, “mental health” or many other labels. Seldom do they define what they mean.

From the perspective of ecosystems, biodiversity, and resilience, Covid-19 is a gift that no one expected. We have once in a century opportunity for creative leadership.

We are more aware of mental health. Yet, when one of your team is affected, what exactly do you do? How do you talk to someone diagnosed with mental illness? How do you engage with them whilst away or in distress? How do you help them recover? How do you reintegrate them with productive and fulfilling work?

In times of threat and confusion, leadership is urgent. Yet, those leaders who could step up to the challenge are anxious, frustrated, and exhausted. What we need is courage, love, and enthusiasm for a hopeful and realistic vision.