Does health and wellbeing matter in business; in life?

I grew up with my father saying “a healthy mind in a healthy body”, which lead me to pursue martial arts for over 25 years and competitive indoor rowing for nearly 20.

Ironically diabetes has loomed large in my family; with every member of my family, including my father suffering from this terrible, and to the most part avoidable, disease; with my older brother dying at the age of 51 from a variety of diabetes related complications.

Don’t worry, I am not going to get mawkish; but these things that have occurred in my life drive my passion for health and wellbeing. Now in my early 60’s, free of diabetes, I appreciate more and more, how your physical and mental state impact either positively or negatively on the life you want to lead.

I have been running my own businesses for over 30 years and during that time; through good years and bad I witnessed a decline in the physical and mental wellbeing of UK plc’s working adults – be that owner or employee. The statistics are shocking; with problems hiding in plain sight. From weight gain (often a precursor to diabetes) to stress and anxiety; it is almost impossible to perform at your very best with these daily pressures bearing down on you.

So, I had a big idea; which I shared with some trusted advisors – is it possible to influence the wellbeing of this great nations workforce whilst at the same time increasing productivity and performance? The resounding response was yes, with one caveat – whatever you do must influence the leaders/decision makers/managers/owners of the business; thus, Healthy Leaders was born.

If you influence the leadership you can influence the organisation; the organisation is the people and the people need greater care. A simple quid pro quo – develop the culture through improved engagement; reduce unnecessary stress and pressure, assist with physical environment and increase activity and support healthy eating and you end up with a healthier and happier workforce. We all know if you are healthy and happy you are more productive at work and at home.

Healthy Leaders will have workforces that require less medication; fewer trips to the doctors and less burden on the NHS. What’s not to like?

Health and wellbeing matters to me because it affects my quality of life; I would like to infect everyone else with my passion too. Be a Healthy Leader and lead the way.