Professional Development: My interest in psychology and situational determinants of behavior began at an early age. I then pursued a B.A. in psychology from UC Berkeley, a M.A. in clinical psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies and a M.H.S.A from Georgetown University.  I hold a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and an Integrative Medicine Certification from Sutter Health.  I am a topic expert for GoodTherapy.org and vice-president for Washington Society of Psychoanalytic Psychology.  I am grateful for all these varying exposures to individual and group dynamics, organizational functioning and clinical operations which enable me to view/deconstruct issues from many vantage points, enabling precision in determining well-being opportunities and roadblocks. 

Demonstrated Success: I have been fortunate to work with numerous organizations seeking to create cultures of true well-being.  Some of the work I am the most proud of is helping health systems improve the well-being for their caregivers.  These folks on the front lines and in administration/operations work tirelessly providing care to patients, and often suffer severe issues related to low well-being, burnout and fatigue.  WELCOA’s 7 benchmarks are demonstrable and activated throughout all clients I work with, as evidenced below. 

One system in particular has made well-being their workforce ‘north star’.  Through our partnership they have built well-being into their board approved fiscal year workforce aims. For instance, there is an aim to increase employee financial well-being by increasing participation in the 401k plan. Also, there is one to increase physical well-being through smoking cessation targets and another to increase physical activity. Purpose well-being has aims to increase the number of Bachelor in Science of Nursing prepared nurses and to increase staff skills in lean concepts (*Benchmark: Choosing Appropriate Interventions). This system also created a grass roots movement of well-being champions across the entire system from all departments, and changed hospital policies to facilitate lifestyle improvements and resilience (*Benchmark: Creating Cohesive Wellness Teams).  They developed these initiatives through a thorough qualitative assessment I lead, analyzing the key drivers of well-being at the root-cause level in the organization (*Benchmark: Collecting Data to Drive Health Efforts).  Upon understanding the current state, I partnered with the system to create their 5 year system-wide well-being objectives, as well as the short-term wins along the way (*Benchmark: Carefully Crafting an Operating Plan).  From the outset, leadership was determined to take perceptible action to improve employee well-being, just like it takes demonstrable action to improve the health status of the community (*Benchmark: Capturing CEO Support). A significant outcome was recognition of the importance of executive role modeling.  Each executive committed to a personal action plan.  Additionally, an online portal is used to have employees develop personal well-being goals. By doing so, leaders have the opportunity to learn more about their staff and determine if there are ways they can support them with their goals. Employees determine how much they want to share, which is critical to maintaining comfort and credibility. Finally, I annually train all 200 of their managers in taking care of their own well-being, and attending to the well-being of their direct reports (*Benchmark: Creating a Supportive Environment). While in many ways there is more work to do and changing health care delivery operations is a marathon, not a sprint, outcomes of increased employee well-being scores, reduced turnover and increased engagement as measured by annual quantitative assessment are seen throughout the system (*Benchmark: Carefully Evaluating Outcomes). 

Leadership: I demonstrate leadership by serving as a subject matter expert and working to evolve thinking about workplace wellness, through keynotes, serving on panels, facilitating executive training, writing and consulting.  To do this my house needs to be in order.  I must attend to my well-being continually. This does not mean I have perfect well-being – but that I am committed to working on all aspects of my wellness, even when it is difficult or I have resistance.  This means using my own process as fuel to work directly with individuals and organizations, understanding we are not robots or algorithms, but real-life people who struggle and need systems that support the many layers in each of us.  This willingness to use my experience as research enables me to gain trust with my clients. I would advise upcoming leaders to educate themselves through research/theories, to experience on the ground work, to be willing to challenge themselves and others, and to look closely at their own well-being.

Innovation:

1) Lead organizations to move from wellness to well-being

- Adults thriving in just Physical well-being compared with those thriving in all five elements (Purpose, Social, Financial, Community, Physical), those in the latter group:

i.report 41% fewer unhealthy days

ii.are 65% less likely to be involved in a workplace accident

iii.are 81% less likely to look for a new job when the job market improves

2) Advocate for health care worker well-being as part of total population health

- In a study of 1300 healthcare workers from a nationally representative sample, results show more than half of all healthcare workers are thriving in none or only one element of well-being, rather than thriving in multiple elements. Also workers with high well-being have lower turnover, absenteeism, lower safety events and greater resilience.

3) Developed “Well-Being University Certification” to give well-being validation in higher education

- Largest study of its kind on well-being in higher education
- Discovered only 11% of college graduates are thriving in all five elements of well-being
- Student well-being correlated to measures of lifelong well-being and engagement

4) Bring awareness to often ignored mental health issues at work as part of well-being

- Launching daily study of 500 adults in the U.S to understand presence/impact of mental health issues at the workplace (anxiety, depression, anger, incivility, shame, etc)

Compelling Vision: The future of health promotion must recognize that the work we are doing and the potential within workplace wellness is part of a larger movement taking place in workforce development, particularly around human optimization, employee welfare, resilience and the way we work and live within the organization.  My future vision within organizations is not only about creating opportunities to thrive in well-being elements, but about curating a culture around an experience that allows people to be resilient, healthy and energized.  For better or for worse, we still have a lot of work to do.  Companies need to re-engineer their human capital strategy. Regardless of what business they are in, they are in the people business.  Unless they broaden their thinking to understand well-being as a critical driver of their workforce, they will continue to see marginal results and an employee base that is not fully optimized.