Leadership and Well-being
The topic was ‘What does a well-being approach to leadership look and feel like?’
Over the last two years well-being has come onto the agenda like never before. This seems be a big and welcome shift. But what does this mean for the practice of leadership?
The first speaker was Nick Sinclair, Director of the Local Area Co-ordination Network. Nick shared insights from the New Social Leader network which he founded, noting that New Economics Foundation and Mind have set out five ways to well-being (connect, be active, take notice, learn and give) and that these can all be leadership practices.
Jordan Smith, Health Equalities Lead and Quality Consultant at Dimensions, and also Chair of Council at Dimensions, spoke of his experiences as someone who lives with autism. His first job at Colchester Football club made him realise that while there is no set path for leadership, it is possible to lead more effectively by promoting the well-being of those you lead. He is ‘not a fan of deadlines’, or of telling people what they must do or not do, nor of telling people how well they have done and what they must do to improve. It is better, he said, to allow people to set their own agenda for what they want to accomplish, and allow them to lead the leader.
He offered some tips. Make time for a 10 minute check-in before a meeting. If you ask someone if they are OK, ask it twice. Find ways to make a personal connection, e.g. ‘what’s been the highlight of your day?’ Jordan concluded by saying, ‘You can do all the training in the world, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you care’.
Jen Wallace, Director of Policy and Evidence at Carnegie UK, shared learning from Carnegie’s work on this theme. The state of being well, she said, is not just about being healthy, it’s also about being able to flourish. This requires, for example, feeling in control over our lives, having personal connection with others, having love in our lives.
But it’s not just about individual experience, Jen said. The wellness industry is growing fast, turning wellbeing into consumer products, for individuals who are often already doing OK. We need to go beyond this. Carnegie UK has been exploring the concept of ‘community well-being’ – how can we live well in a place, in a community of interest. Carnegie UK has also promoted measures of economic well-being, to better assess what is required for us all to ‘live well together’. A well-being approach to leadership, Jen suggested, implies that leaders take a holistic view (not putting people in boxes), act radically (moving away from benchmarks and KPIs), and behave in a human way (understanding ourselves and others as human beings).
Here are some of the key points made by speakers and in discussion:
Workplace well-being feels under threat, not least in public services - people are burning out, financial and emotional pressures are becoming greater.
The best leaders pay attention to relationships, and while these take time to develop, they know that without well-being people cannot perform well at work, and organisations cannot thrive.
Those in leadership roles often neglect themselves – it is OK to be kind to yourself.
We should not just focus on individual well-being. This is a social justice issue. A well-being focus implies a major shift in our sense of what matters. Are we here to serve the economy - or is the economy here to serve us?
We are exploring a wholly different way of practicing leadership, in place of the command-and control management model. Those in leadership roles will need to unlearn a lot, and develop a new set of priorities. But this change is not just up to the senior managers, who themselves are likely to be under pressure from funders, investors, regulators, and so on. Re-inventing leadership needs to become a shared endeavour, ultimately beyond individual organisations, a collective shift in practice in favour of well-being goals.
We also raised some questions which could be explored further:
How can we create a better working environment for those in front-line roles who have, for example, caring responsibilities.
As leaders, where does our responsibility for the well-being of others stop?