How to Get the Recognition You Deserve
While a back slap isn’t the reason you went into wellness in the first place, it sure is nice to be recognized for your hard work and accomplishments from time to time. Ironically, often the more you seek praise the more elusive it seems to be. So rather than jump up and down and say […]
Unkindness May Be Killing Us
I’m a life-long politics junkie. But I’m giving it up for my health. The constant vitriol coming out of Washington DC, its amplification on cable news, and the late night comics piling it on are leaving me exhausted. Not only can those on the left and on the right not agree on anything, the expression […]
Strengthen Your Program Brand
It’s tempting to think of a wellness program’s brand as exclusively name and logo. These are important, but to fulfill the potential of a meaningful, effective brand, it must go far beyond those elements… even beyond words and images. A strategically executed brand reflects goals and values — permeating the program so that people recognize […]
7 Traits of Well-Being Legends
I attended the September 2017 HERO (Health Enhancement Research Organization) Forum. Participants, presenters, and conference organizers included many long-time, successful professionals — almost a who’s who of wellness leadership. On the trip home I considered why these folks have been so successful over the years. They share these traits: Making others feel important. Their goals […]
The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons for Well-Being Leaders
How happy is your workforce? And… how happy are you? If your answer to either is not very, Blue Zones® founder and author Dan Buettner offers good news. In The Blue Zones of Happiness, Buettner takes a deep dive into cultural, economic, and behavioral factors behind the happiest countries in the world (Denmark, Costa Rica, […]
The Motley Fool: Not Your Cookie Cutter Wellness Program
It’s no surprise a company called The Motley Fool values lightheartedness and fun, including in their wellness program. Samantha (Sam) Whiteside, MPH (Chief Wellness Officer) points to an all-encompassing, holistic design as the key to the program’s overwhelming popularity — 9 out of 10 employees… or Fools… participate. Their success is reflected in numerous awards […]
Social Media in Well-Being Programs — What’s Not to Like?
If you use a social media platform in your work, you may underestimate — and underuse — its power. This is true for public websites like Facebook®, Instagram®, or Twitter; in-house collaboration platforms like Yammer® (a Microsoft® product) or Chatter® (a Salesforce service); or the social features of well-being products — including HES challenges and […]
10 Must-Reads for Well-Being Practitioners: 2018 Edition
Looking for a new book to feast on? Dig into our hand-picked selections for well-being pros: Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body (2017) — Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson cut through popular myths about meditation and share the latest scientific evidence on what it can and can’t accomplish. […]
The Boldest Thing I Ever Did…
…to enhance health, promote a program, reinforce a successful challenge, attract new people to a service. Every wellness manager has a fun story to tell about a zany act that was out there. Here’s one from my days at The Dow Chemical Company. Each January through April in the late 1980s we ran a fitness […]
Kindness Is So Refreshing… and Healthy
I can’t write at the office — too many interruptions. So every couple of weeks I spend $4 and 6 hours at Starbucks, where I dig into ideas I’ve been mulling for some time. Recently, I’ve been thinking about outrage and its negative health consequences. As I started to write this article a young man […]