Doing Well: The Wellbeing Science Insights Podcast · Life Management Science Labs

Zi Kit Toh: Balancing Performance and Well-being – The Role of Leaders | Doing Well #88

·1 hr·3 clips

Kit cites an HBR study saying a direct manager can affect wellbeing more than a therapist.

Doing Well looks at leadership as a wellbeing issue. Lumo opens with the show’s familiar warmth and then welcomes ZKID from Singapore. ZKID is the founder of Emote, a leadership development company focused on helping emerging leaders connect and engage their teams more effectively. The conversation starts from a simple point: the people guiding a workplace shape how that workplace feels. That affects performance, and it affects wellbeing too. The hosts use a plain example to make it land. A bad manager can throw a job off balance. No manager at all can do the same. In both cases, people can end up without enough direction to feel steady. That lack of direction can create confusion, and the episode treats that as a real problem for wellbeing and work performance. From there, the discussion widens to the role of organizations themselves. Better leaders do not appear by accident. They need support and nurturing. The episode keeps coming back to the idea that leadership is not just about individual talent. It is also about the structures around that person. That shared responsibility gives the conversation its practical edge. Employees need direction that is clear enough to use and human enough to support day-to-day work. The hosts stay focused on the link between how someone feels at work and how well they are able to do the work. That link is presented as mutual and circular. When people feel better, they are more likely to do better. When they can do their work well, stress can ease. The episode closes in the same steady, reflective tone, treating leadership as one of the everyday forces that shapes health at work.

As heard by us

Leadership affects both wellbeing and performance, and the episode keeps those two ideas tied together.

The episode treats workplace leadership as a wellbeing issue, not a side note. The host and guest keep coming back to how a boss, or no boss at all, can shape stress, direction, and day to day performance.

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Why you'd press play

You want to hear why leaders and managers can shape your wellbeing at work.

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