Our CEO, Renee Moorefield, recently joined Ashish Kothari on The Happiness Squad podcast to discuss how leaders can shift from surviving to thriving using our revolutionary framework. With over 35 years of experience in the wellbeing and leadership space, Renee shared her insights on how thriving leadership can create ripple effects throughout organizations and communities.
Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast platform or watch the recording below.
A Framework of Thriving™
During the conversation, Renee introduced our comprehensive Framework of Thriving™, which consists of six dimensions that leaders can cultivate to move beyond survival mode:
- Thriving – Feeling internally well-resourced to handle complexity and demands with a high quality of life
- Fuel – Optimizing energy through wellness behaviors like sleep, nutrition, movement, and recovery
- Flow – Engaging in meaningful work that energizes rather than drains
- Wonder – Approaching challenges with curiosity, appreciation, and openness to diverse perspectives
- Wisdom – Leading with vision and purpose, integrating wholeness and emotional capacity
- Thriving Amplified – Creating conditions for others to thrive through energizing leadership
As Renee emphasized during the interview, “True leadership is about creating the conditions for all people—and the planet—to thrive.”
The Science Behind Thriving Leadership
Our research has shown that approximately 34% of a leader’s reported impact is linked to their psychological wellbeing. This significant finding underscores why thriving leadership matters—it’s not just about personal fulfillment but about creating sustainable success for organizations and communities.
The Be Well Lead Well Pulse® assessment, developed in partnership with the Positive Organization Center at the University of Colorado, provides leaders with insights into their thriving capacity across these six dimensions. This tool has been used with thousands of leaders worldwide to help them identify their strengths and growth areas.
Practical Steps Toward Thriving Leadership
Renee shared several practical approaches leaders can take immediately to shift from surviving to thriving:
- Cultivate awareness of your stress patterns and bodily signals
- Practice intentional state shifts through breathwork, movement, and mindfulness
- Define your personal vision of thriving with the question: “What does thriving mean to me?”
- Design your work and life around your definition of thriving
- Find your “Island of Thriving”—a community of growth-minded leaders
As Renee noted, “You are hardwired with the capacity to thrive. You also have the hardwired capacity to survive. And in every moment, you get to choose how you’re going to show up.”
A Vision for the Future
For 25 years, Wisdom Works has been pioneering a different model of leadership—one that holds the thriving of people and planet as central to leadership itself. Through our work with organizations worldwide and our global network of certified thriving leadership coaches, we’re building capacity for a more sustainable and flourishing future.
The podcast conversation reinforced our core belief: thriving is not just a personal journey but a collective one. When leaders thrive, they create conditions for others to thrive as well, generating positive ripple effects throughout organizations, communities, and the world.
