Wellness industry leaders collectively report that they do not have the internal resources to handle the complexities and challenges they face, a new survey reveals.
The report, Leading in the Health and Wellness Industry 2023, was conducted by US social enterprise Wisdom Works Group (WWG) to explore the state of wellness leadership.
Responded to by 841 leaders in 71 countries, the 133-question survey asked respondents from three sectors - the global wellness economy, healthcare and human potential and development - about their experience in their organisation, day-to-day stressors and two areas: the impact of leadership and psychological wellbeing, which combine into something WWG calls wellness leadership.
"This study highlights the need to integrate wellness science and practices into leadership development as a strategy to improve leadership, work culture and industry impact," said Renee Moorefield, CEO of WWG, and Kate McIver, the study's director.
"Integrating wellbeing into leadership impact is not a sprint, nor is it an event, programme or fad. It is a marathon that requires a dedicated commitment to real transformation.
"Ask yourself, how could I improve the impact of my leadership by prioritising my wellbeing? How could I cultivate an environment of wellbeing for those I lead or within my spa?"
Greater leader wellbeing is linked to greater impact
In all three micro-industries, the higher the psychological well-being of leaders, the more positive their impact.
This meant that as leaders' individual well-being increased, so did their perceived ability to positively impact those around them through such things as their perceived ability to energise people, maximise their effectiveness and growth, and cultivate a positive work environment.
Growth potential
Most of the leaders surveyed agreed that there was room for improvement in their wellbeing leadership and concluded that they did not have the necessary internal resources to manage the complexities and challenges of their life and work.
For this study, WWG ranked health and wellness industry leaders as high, average and low in their reported wellness leadership. Of the leaders who scored high in wellness leadership across the industry, the largest group (38 percent) was from the global wellness economy sector.
Although wellbeing leadership for these industry leaders was not as strong as it could be, they indicated a high degree of job autonomy in decision making at work, a factor shown to be associated with higher wellbeing in organisational and management research.
Middle and frontline managers need support
First and middle managers reported lower wellbeing leadership compared to other levels of leadership. While representing 35 per cent of the study sample, these managers accounted for only 28 per cent of the leaders who reported high well-being leadership.
This suggests that while middle and frontline management generally perceived themselves as being able to cope with the stresses and demands of life and work, they were not thriving while doing so.
As this group of leaders is the future of the industry, WWG says this finding highlights a critical opportunity to retain and develop top talent by empowering frontline and middle management to prioritise wellbeing.
Work experience differs between leader levels
Compared to middle and frontline management, senior management and non-managerial leaders in the health and wellness industry perceived greater job autonomy. In addition, they perceived their Work Culture as more organic and participative.
Although senior managers reported greater job autonomy and a participative work culture, this study suggests that all sectors can enrich the work experience of middle and frontline managers by increasing their autonomy and meaningful participation and connection at work.
Variation by gender and age.
Across all sectors, a higher proportion of women consistently scored in the high stress category compared to their male counterparts. Women accounted for 65 per cent of leaders in the study sample, but a disproportionate 71 per cent of leaders in the high stress category.
In addition, the quality of well-being leadership appeared to increase with age, with those aged 55 and over representing the majority (40 %) of the high well-being leadership group.
Conclusion
"Leading in the health and wellness industry 2023 reveals that leaders in this industry collectively report that they do not have the internal resources needed to manage the complexities and challenges they face," the report concludes.
"With leaders at the heart of people's work experience, this study highlights the need to integrate wellness science and practices into leadership development as a strategy to improve leadership, work culture and industry impact.
McIver added: "This study is not just a wake-up call for leading health and wellness industry leaders to prioritise the wellbeing of themselves and the people and organisations they serve; it is a voice for making thriving a standard of success across the industry. We believe that the industry can increase its global impact by 'putting its own mask on first'".
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