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Ep 21 - The Wellbeing Lie: Part 1 - Wellness Isn't Wellbeing
Episode 2123rd July 2026 • Beyond Leading • Beyond Leading
00:00:00 00:35:52

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with Alec Pearson and Dr Calvin Lightbody

Every organisation says it takes wellbeing seriously. The fruit bowl, the yoga session, the mindfulness app someone signed everyone up to. And yet the people carrying the most keep quietly running on empty. Not because the perks aren't pleasant, but because almost none of it touches the thing that's actually wearing them down.

What if most of what your organisation calls wellbeing isn't wellbeing at all? There's a difference between wellness and wellbeing that most leaders have never stopped to notice, and once you see it, you can't unsee how much of the well-meaning stuff misses the point.

Calvin has watched it play out on the front line of an emergency department, and what he's learned there lands in every high-stakes workplace. Including yours.

We explore:

  • What's the difference between wellness and wellbeing, and why does mixing them up cost you more than you think?
  • Could your wellbeing initiatives actually be making things worse rather than better?
  • Why do the strongest, most capable people so often drive straight past their own warning signs?
  • What's the one question Calvin believes every leader should ask themselves on Monday morning, that almost none of them do?

If you lead people, and you care whether they thrive or just survive, this one is worth your time.

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