Leader Energy Driving Personal and Firm-level Wellness: Lessons from 20 Years of the Leadership Pulse*

Abstract

In 2023, the Leadership Pulse project will have been running for two decades. Since the inception of the program, we have engaged thousands of leaders around the world to quickly learn from them via short pulse surveys conducted multiple times per year. This chapter is the first overall discussion of what we learned during the last 20 years about leader energy, energy flow, predictors of energy, and outcomes of energy, which have been focused on individual and firm-level performance. Over the years, we learned that leaders are not immune to personal energy challenges; in fact, we find that their energy is continually tested by extreme demands within and outside their organizations. Also, we learned that there are solutions for helping leaders manage their energy better, and these do not have to be expensive, outsourced programs. In this chapter, we review key findings from the data and hope to help leaders continue learning to help themselves, their employees, customers, and the organizations they work in overall. I also will review three different interventions that we found to help leaders and employees work and stay at their best and enhance overall organizational goals and outcomes.

Citation

Welbourne, T.M. (2023), "Leader Energy Driving Personal and Firm-level Wellness: Lessons from 20 Years of the Leadership Pulse*", Harms, P.D. and Chang, C.-H.(D). (Ed.) Stress and Well-being at the Strategic Level (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, Vol. 21), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-355520230000021007