Leaders Are You Leading With Resilience?

A Stark Reality: CEO Departures and Deaths

In 2023, 1,914 chief executive officers left their jobs, 19 of whom died while still in post (Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 2024).

The Silence on Self-Care

When I speak with senior leaders about employee wellness, they often highlight the various initiatives in place to support their staff, from encouraging the use of paid time off to offering wellness programs. However, when I ask these leaders what they do to support their own wellness and resilience, I’m often met with silence.

Rising Investments in Employee Well-Being

Mental health, resilience, and well-being are among the fastest-growing concerns in the workplace. According to HRD, the corporate wellness market size stood at US$63.68 billion in 2024 and will more than double by the year 2032 (Wilson, 2024). This is a positive shift towards supporting employee well-being and resilience. But if leaders aren’t modelling these behaviours themselves, what message are we really sending?

The Power of Leading by Example

Recently, while speaking to a group of employees about improving well-being in the workplace, they mentioned a company policy allowing extra time off after intense work periods. Despite this policy, they felt they couldn’t take advantage of it because they never saw their leaders doing so.

Leaders, your team looks to you to model a healthy work-life mix and resilience. If you don’t give yourself permission to do it, your team will likely feel they don’t have permission either.

Key Areas for Leaders to Foster Resilience

Work-life mix and well-being can vary for everyone, but here are four key areas where you can set an example for your team and foster a more resilient workplace:

1. Take Regular Breaks and Vacations: Show your team it’s okay to take time off by taking your own vacations and breaks. This not only helps you recharge but also sets a precedent for your employees.
2. Break Up the Day: Avoid chronic back-to-back meetings. Intentionally schedule a few minutes between meetings to decompress and refresh before moving on to the next one.
3. Keep It Moving: Prioritise physical activities, whether it’s a morning run, a yoga session, or a walk during lunch breaks. Physical health significantly impacts mental well-being, and by prioritising it, you set an example for your team to follow.
4. Embrace and Share Vulnerability: Show your team that it’s okay to be human by openly sharing your own struggles and challenges. This helps to create a culture of openness and trust, encouraging employees to seek help and support when needed.

Last year, 1 in 5 U.K. employees took time off work due to stress or work pressures (Mental Health UK, 2024). Are you paying attention to the early signs of burnout in your employees before it starts affecting absenteeism and turnover rates? Want to know the early signs of employee burnout? Send me a message on LinkedIn to request a free copy of “5 Early Signs of Employee Burnout.”

Featured image by kate_sept2004 from Getty Images Signature