Wisdom Works Group released a pioneering report of leadership across the health and wellbeing industries. “Leading in the Health and Wellbeing Industry 2023: Are we walking our talk?” reveals a unique opportunity for these leaders to enhance wellbeing for themselves and the people and organizations they serve. The report findings are a clarion call for the health and wellbeing industry to make thriving a standard of success for leadership and industry impact.
The first study of its kind, Wisdom Works sought to determine: As leaders of health and wellbeing industries, are we thriving personally? Are we advancing wellbeing through how we lead? Wellbeing has become a driver of brand performance, workforce engagement, and social and environmental change—and is one of the central challenges and opportunities of leadership today. The wellbeing leadership agenda is even more crucial for organizations in the health and wellbeing industry because it is an industry that the rest of the world looks to for health and wellbeing solutions and advice.
“Leading in the Health & Wellbeing Industry 2023” represents a survey of 841 leaders spanning 71 countries across every region of the world and impacting a reported 19 million people. Leaders completed a survey examining their experience of their organization, their everyday stressors, and 19 psychometrics of wellbeing leadership addressing their psychological wellbeing and leadership impact. The health and wellbeing industry was defined by three sectors: the Global Wellness Economy, Healthcare, and Human Potential & Development.
Overall, the nine key findings which emerged from this study uncover that leaders across the health and wellbeing industry are collectively reporting that they are not as internally well-resourced as they could be to handle the complexities and challenges they face. With leaders as a linchpin for people’s experience at work, this timely study brings to light the need for integrating the science and practices of wellbeing into leader development as a strategy for improving leadership, work culture, and industry impact.
The study found that middle- and first-line managers are reporting lower wellbeing leadership scores than other leadership levels. This highlights a critical opportunity to empower wellbeing leadership in middle and first-line managers as an investment in the industry’s future.
“We are in the middle of a wellbeing revolution,” says Wisdom Works’ CEO Renee Moorefield. “The interest in wellbeing has never been higher and therefore the opportunity for health and wellbeing companies to positively impact the world has never been greater. Prioritizing wellbeing leadership is key to effectively and sustainably meeting this increased global interest. It is only by putting our own mask on first that we can authentically support another’s ability to thrive.”
