1. The Malnourished Leader

Welcome to the first post of The Nourished Leader. My name is Natalie Legrand and I’m the co founder of Galanthus International - where our mission is to advance wellbeing in the workplace through leadership development. 

Why the Nourished Leader? What does it mean to be “Nourished” in the work place? And why leadership? This newsletter and podcast will dive into all of it.

Let’s start with the problem: leaders are malnourished. A leader who is malnourished is one who lacks the necessary resources, and support, and developmental opportunities to effectively lead their team/organization. 

I’d take it one step further. A malnourished leader is a leader who does not have resources and support of : psychological safety, emotional intelligence -including empathy and compassion, and the capacity the engage, integrate and create a sense of belonging and support for the every growing number of culturally diverse - especially - neurodiverse individuals in the workforce. 

These are fundamental to creating well being. This goes beyond yoga, and protein shakes, and gym amenities. These ARE important - don’t get me wrong. But not the purpose of THIS newsletter. 

The ones mentioned are paramount when we talk about feeling ‘nourished’ at work. The feeling that when I leave work - I’m truly better for it. And not just financially. The feeling that when I’m at work - I can bring my authentic imperfect self. The feeling that when I’m at work - I can focus ON work.  

I find it really fascinating that in the 2024 Deloitte Well Being survey - that current trends in well-being state that 43% of workers say their organizations have left them better off from when they started. Further more, that the way things are trending - this number will increase. 

I personally believe that we’re supposed to be better because of our work. It should fuel us. We should be aspire to look back at our career and feel that it contributed to our total well being. That the companies focused on- and benefited from- prioritizing  - human sustainability. 

“Human sustainability: the degree to which an organization creates value for people as human beings, leaving them with greater health and well-being, stronger skills and greater employability, good jobs, opportunities for advancement, progress toward equity, increased belonging, and heightened connection to purpose.”

Not saying we should live to work, but if we want to work to live- then these numbers have got to change. 

Until next time, 

Natalie