Balancing high performance with wellbeing

✨ Spaciousness, Compassion and Conflict Resolution – my key takeaways from Health & Wellbeing at Work 2025

Quote from Dalai Lama and photo of Karena Starkie-Gomez, speaker at Health & Wellbeing at Work 2025 conference

Since attending the conference last week, I have been reflecting on my learning, themes around Compassionate leadership—how much it’s needed and how rare it still is; Spaciousness—how do we create more time to think when we’re constantly focused on getting things done? And, thirdly, Conflict resolution: the power of dialogue, openness, curiosity, and, also, compassion in resolving disagreements, workplace conflicts, and even misbehaviour. Central in all of these are the impact of leadership in the workplace – a theme that came through in all the talks at the conference.

Most importantly for me, it spoke directly to a theme I have been working on throughout all of my career: How can we balance (high) performance with wellbeing? So here’s what I learnt.

🟢 Compassionate Leadership is a strategic necessity."

When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves or some immediate convenience." – Dalai Lama

📈 74% of UK adults feel stressed at least once a week. (Source: MHF)

📈 One in six UK adults experience common mental health problems like anxiety and depression. (Source: MHF)

📈 The UK has the highest rate of work-related stress, anxiety, and depression in Europe. (Source: Health and Safety Executive)

Karena Starkie-Gomez, Director, Leadership and Workforce, KPMG, offered us a model to work with and some important questions to reflect on. I feel passionate about growing empathy and compassion in the workplace in my role too, so this really resonated with me. Thanks, Karena for your inspiration!

💡 Are we having the right conversations? In her talk, Professor Megan Reitz shared research which shows that we over-prioritize task- and target-driven conversations, while neglecting discussions around meaning, creativity, learning, and relationships—the very elements that drive engagement and innovation.

In a world of pathological busyness, where, according to her research, 58%  of meetings are rushed and 37% of people feel distracted, how do we create space for the conversations that really matter, that move something in us and the organisation, and that hold the power to really make a difference?

Megan shared with us that too many workplaces operate in Doing Mode: control, targets, pressure, leaving little room for reflection, connection and inquiry. Yet Spacious Mode, where we embrace openness, curiosity, and systemic thinking—is where real transformation happens. Reminiscent of Nancy Kline’s work on Time to Think launched more than 20 years ago, this is a reminder that there still so much more work to be done for workplaces to catch up with the research.

⚖️ The Cost of Unresolved Conflict 💰Finally, David Liddle shared with us that in the UK £28 billion is lost annually to workplace conflict, yet less than 1% is spent on informal resolution, linking that to employee engagement being among the lowest in the G7 (and employee sick leave the highest in Europe…) Conflict is inevitable, but how we handle it is a leadership choice. David shared with us his – free – resolution framework, which he has implemented in organisations for many years, seeing the positive impact of dialogue, positive enquiry, active listening. In his words, “coaching and mentoring are some of the key activities that makes a real difference in organisations”.

👉 If these themes—compassionate leadership, spacious thinking, and conflict resolution—resonate with you, let’s talk. Whether you're navigating workplace challenges, looking to foster a culture of empathy, or seeking a fresh perspective on leadership and wellbeing, I’d love to explore how we can work together. Get in touch, and let’s start a conversation that creates real impact.