The Ripple Effect of Leadership Wellbeing
Yesterday I facilitated a Leadership Wellbeing workshop and a handful of people in the group sheepishly shared with me that they're getting 6 hours or less of sleep a night. We know now how much poor sleep can impact decision-making, problem-solving, emotional regulation, and of course, physical health. And sleep is just one example. So many areas of our lives are affected when wellbeing is poor.
If we want to be proactive, we need to support people at all stages of their wellbeing journey, whether they’re suffering, or flourishing.
At Sunrise Well, I talk a lot about being proactive with wellbeing. Being proactive means not waiting until things get hard to manage, whether that’s for yourself or for your team. It doesn't matter if we're talking about health, mental health, or workplace wellbeing. However you want to call it, if you want to take a proactive approach, it means doing things early, before they escalate.
In October we recognise World Mental Health Day, QLD Mental Health Week, and October Mental Health Month in Australia. I've been working with clients who are being proactive in their support for their employees. They're providing tools, resources, education, and policies that help people to manage their wellbeing in this increasingly stressful world.
Awareness campaigns are a great start, but moving the needle often means you have to go further up the ladder: to help leaders to prioritise their own wellbeing. The habits of leaders who put their wellbeing first ripples out to teams, organisational culture, products, services, and profits.
Investing in leadership wellbeing programs supports CSR and ESG frameworks, demonstrating sustainable governance and care for employees. This is a key reason why leaders can, and should, get on board with wellbeing for themselves and for their people.
Leader Wellbeing → Team Wellbeing & Engagement → Organisational Culture & Productivity → Products, Services, and Profit
The Ripple‑Effect Framework: Leader → Team → Organisation → Profit
Key statistics and research:
Managers account for ~70% of variance in team engagement, showing the direct link between leader behaviour and employee outcomes (Gallup, 2023).
A HBS meta-analysis across 230 organisations found consistent positive correlations between employee wellbeing and organisational performance (productivity, loyalty, retention) (Harvard Business School, 2019).
Workplace wellbeing programs improve retention, reduce absenteeism, and increase engagement, according to Australian data (Gallagher, 2023).
Evidence-Based Leadership Wellbeing Practices
There are many practices and interventions that can immediately improve leadership wellbeing, both now and in the long-term. These practices can be analysed from multiple points of view with the wellbeing lens, including mindfulness, presence, coaching, and public health strategies.
Attentional Awareness (e.g. mindfulness):
Multiple meta-analyses show meditation reduces stress and improves wellbeing.
Mindfulness programs improve focus, resilience, and team interactions.
The stillness of a mindfulness practices encourages and allows introspection, curiosity and self awareness, all important skills in leadership development.
Embodied Presence:
Leaders trained in posture, voice, and presence build trust, credibility, and psychological safety. These factors are essential in building high trust, high performance cultures.
Coaching:
Executive coaching improves leadership effectiveness, engagement, and ROI. Coaching with a wellbeing perspective enables a leader to manage high expectations with high levels of performance and effectiveness.
Health Promotion:
Workplace wellbeing is a public health intervention, preventing burnout and reducing organisational “disease burden.” Leaders who prioritise health promotion create a culture where profits increase as a result of, not despite, this investment.
Case Study: Mark Bertolini, Aetna
Mark Bertolini, former CEO of Aetna, discovered the power of yoga and mindfulness, first through through the physical practice and then through the impact it had on his leadership and his ability to sit with physical pain by managing his sympathetic nervous system.
He introduced yoga, meditation, and mindfulness programs for employees. He also implemented structural wellbeing changes, such as health risk assessments, wage increases, and preventive health initiatives that have immediate and long-term benefit for employees.
He even went so far as to give his employees a sleep bonus, giving them up to $500 a year if they could demonstrate getting 7 or more hours of sleep a night. Within a year, Aetna’s productivity increased by 69 minutes a day, a total of USD $3000 per person, per year. The outcomes of these initiatives were clear. Investments in wellbeing have a significant impact on employee engagement and performance, as well as organisation savings and value.
“We really need to redefine health as keeping people healthy so they’re more productive, if their more productive they’re more economically viable, if they’re economically viable, they are happier,”
Outcomes:
Stress decreased ~28%, sleep improved ~20%, pain reduced ~19% for participants.
Productivity gain: ~62 extra minutes per week per employee.
Cost savings: Healthcare claims per employee fell ~7%, ~$9 million in savings.
Financial impact: Aetna share price grew significantly; acquisition valuation high.
Ripple Effects:
Team engagement improved, psychological safety increased.
Employer brand strengthened, attracting and retaining talent.
Better service delivery, indirectly supporting products/services quality.
Leadership Wellbeing AND ESG & CSR
Wellbeing investments aren’t just a “nice to have”, they align directly with the social and governance pillars of ESG reporting. When organisations support their leaders’ wellbeing, they demonstrate sustainable corporate governance, improve retention, reduce psychosocial risk, and strengthen brand reputation in a way stakeholders increasingly expect.
This positive ripple effect goes beyond the workplace. From a public health perspective, leader wellbeing has population-level benefits. Burnout, stress-related illness, and poor mental health cost Australian businesses an estimated $13 billion every year in absenteeism and lost productivity (Productivity Commission, 2020). Programs that prevent these outcomes don’t just protect individuals, they lower healthcare costs and build healthier, more engaged communities.
In this way, investing in leadership wellbeing is more than a workplace initiative. It’s a strategic choice that touches governance, culture, performance, and social responsibility.
Practical Leadership Wellbeing Strategies
Try implementing some or all of these strategies into your day and notice the ripple effect it has into your organisation.
Mindfulness / Micro-pauses
Benefit: Reduces stress, improves clarity
How to: 5-min mindfulness at start of meetings, 3 slow breaths before answering a difficult email, reset focus every 90 minutes with a 30 second pause.
Embodied Presence and Movement
Benefit: Increases energy, presence, trust
How to: Offer classes, posture & breath workshops, switch a zoom call for a walk & talk.
Human-Centred Leadership Behaviours
Benefit: Improves engagement, retention
How to: Walk-and-talk meetings, clear boundaries, empathetic communication and active listening practice, weekly check-in round asking ‘how’s your energy today?’.
Wellbeing Metrics Linked to KPIs
Benefit: Connects wellness to performance
How to: Track stress, absenteeism, retention, productivity, share one wellbeing tip weekly with your team.
Coaching / Peer Circles
Benefit: Enhances self-awareness and leadership impact
How to: External coaches, embodied presence workshops, peer coaching sessions, journalling with prompts during a break.
Questions for forward-thinking hr leaders
Are wellbeing practices embedded at all leadership levels?
Do leaders model rest, boundaries and presence?
Are wellness metrics tied to performance, productivity, and ESG goals?
Can leadership wellbeing be scaled across teams, not just executives?
Take Action This Mental Health Month
October is the ideal time to invest in leadership and team wellbeing.
Sunrise Well is booking training for October and November, combining mindfulness, presence/acting techniques, embodied leadership, and coaching. Transform awareness into tangible outcomes: better culture, stronger teams, improved products/services, and measurable financial benefits.
More like this:
References:
American Psychological Association. (2023). Mindfulness meditation: A research-based guide. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/meditation
Beyond Blue. (2025, July 17). 1 in 2 Australians facing workplace burnout. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about/media/media-releases/1-in-2-Australians-Facing-Workplace-Burnout
Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., & Mehta, S. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1809754
Harvard Business School. (2019). Employee well-being, productivity, and firm performance: Evidence and insights. https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/gh19_ch5_9e171d71-db54-4e08-a2eb-3cf1587daf4a.pdf
International Coaching Federation. (2024). Coaching statistics: The ROI of coaching in 2024. https://coachingfederation.org/blog/coaching-statistics-the-roi-of-coaching-in-2024/
Mark Bertolini: Aetna’s mindfulness initiative leads to unique employee engagement. (2022, March 15). TTEC. https://www.ttec.com/articles/aetnas-mindfulness-initiative-leads-unique-employee-engagement
Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being. (2019). JAMA Network. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2789279
State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report. (2023). Gallup. https://workweek.com/2023/09/27/gallups-workplace-2023-report-is-here/
Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance. (2023). Oxford University. https://wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/2304-WP-Workplace-Wellbeing-and-Firm-Performance-DOI.pdf
World Health Organization. (2005). Healthy workplaces: A model for action. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241599313