Why the future of leadership must be wellbeing-first

The days of leading through hustle and burnout are over. The next era of leadership won’t be defined by how many hours you work, but by how effectively you show up for the people who rely on you.

When leaders manage their energy and stress—not just their workload—everything changes. Teams become calmer, communication improves, and performance naturally follows. 

The future of leadership isn’t about working harder, but leading healthier.

Why are we focused on wellbeing?

Today’s workplaces are fast-changing, high-pressure environments where people are constantly asked to do more with less.

• Nearly 40% of employees have cried at work in the past month due to pressure and stress. (Forbes, 2025)
• 71% of employees say they are overwhelmed by the amount of change at work. (Capterra, 2022)
• 66% of employees report being affected by on-the-job burnout (Forbes, 2025)
• 77% of workers take on tasks outside of their job description weekly, and 93% report this is leading to burnout. (LiveCareer, 2025)

If you’re leading a team, the chances are that you’re feeling this too. Long hours. Pressure to change and adapt at pace. Expectations to cut costs and reduce turnover. 

That’s why wellbeing support isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Wellbeing is a performance booster

Teams with good wellbeing perform better. Collaboration, communication, problem solving—the list goes on. Everything improves when your team isn’t operating in fight-or-flight mode.

The research is clear: studies show that workplaces that support employee wellbeing see 23% higher productivity, 27% lower absenteeism, and 43% greater engagement (Randstad, 2024). Put simply, when your team feels good, they’ll be more engaged and more willing to go the extra mile.

Prioritising wellbeing isn’t a distraction from results. It’s how you achieve sustainable high-performance and reduced turnover. 

A Leader’s wellbeing is contagious

The wellbeing of a team is often a reflection of its leader.

A stressed, reactive, and overworked leader creates tension that ripples through their team. Team members walk on eggshells, late nights become the norm, and burnout becomes part of the culture.

Now take a leader who is more grounded. They take regular breaks, leave on time, and set healthy boundaries. They regulate their stress and communicate when they’re feeling pressured. Straight away, it gives everyone on their team permission to do the same.

This isn’t just “nice leadership.” It’s neuroscience. Teams will mirror the emotional tone of their leaders. 

 If you want a calm, resilient team, then you need to model it first. 

How can you be a wellbeing-first leader?

Wellbeing-first leadership recognises that to lead your team effectively, you have to start with yourself. 

It’s about modelling the behaviours you want to see in your team. You manage your stress, regulate your energy, set healthy boundaries, and show up with calm consistency even when things get tough. When you do this, your team will follow your lead and they’ll learn to prioritise wellbeing too. 

From there, it’s about investing in the wellbeing of your team.

That means creating space for honest conversations, showing genuine empathy, and training your team to manage their own stress and wellbeing. This doesn’t mean you ignore results or absorb all the stress to protect your team. It means you balance accountability with empathy, prioritise recovery and reflection, and model sustainable ways of working that others can follow. 

So where do you start?

Becoming a wellbeing-first leader starts with becoming more self-aware and recognising what habits or behaviours you’re non-verbally encouraging in your team. Training helps you pause, reflect, and build strategies for managing stress and energy. 

At RedSeed, we’ve seen leaders invest in training that helps them lead themselves first, such as personal resilience, emotional intelligence, and stress management. Rather than learning to manage others, they learn to be calm, resilient role models.

We also actively encourage leaders to start conversations about wellbeing, enrol their teams in stress and wellbeing training, and coach their teams through difficult times. 

These are great places to start.

Leading your team with wellbeing

Every leader sets the emotional tone for their team. The question is—what tone are you setting?

Do you model calm or chaos? Do you value wellbeing (including your own) as much as results? Do you focus on the hours you put in or the energy you project?

Building a wellbeing-first culture starts with one simple shift: recognising that caring for yourself is part of the job.

So make time every day to be present, human, and regulated. You’re not a machine—you’re a role model. Your team’s wellbeing starts with you.