Ask Alto: Mental health for business leaders: Is ‘wellth’ the new wealth?
“Executives are telling me that they are struggling mentally and emotionally to release accumulated stress, and that it often ends up affecting their physical health.” – Corinne Klajda, Managing Partner, Accord Polska / AltoPartners Poland.
Stress is rising among C-suite executives at large companies, with 82% reporting higher stress levels than in 2024.
Sentry Insurance’s 2025 C-Suite Stress Index for Large Businesses, which surveyed 100 executives from large enterprise companies, found that the heightened stress stemmed from a range of external pressures: supply chain and logistics challenges, economic uncertainty, inflation and labour shortages. Also on the risk radar were cyberattacks and severe weather events.
An April 2025 study by consulting firm Anthrome Insights found that almost three-quarters of C-suite and executive management feel overwhelmed. The 1,000-person study found high workloads were the issue: “66% of… self-reported reasons for feeling overwhelmed related purely to tasks and time.”
Then there’s pressure to perform. Klajda says executive stress can be exacerbated by people’s own ambitions or their need to achieve regardless of the environment in which they operate.
All of this impacts leadership effectiveness and churn in executive ranks. Dr Reena Patel, Global Managing Partner and Practice Leader, Consulting DSG Global / AltoPartners USA, says she is seeing high turnover in leadership-level positions across the board.
But when stress is effectively managed, stronger leadership emerges. Leaders who prioritise their well-being and openly address their struggles can become positive role models, fostering resilience and mental health within their teams.
One way to manage stress is to embrace the concept of ‘wellth’.
What is wellth?
A 2016 book entitled Wellth: How I Learned to Build a Life, Not a Resume by Jason Wachob suggested that people needed a new life currency and introduced the idea of making deposits into wellth accounts, creating a sustainable approach to living.
Cultivating physical and emotional health, finding richness in daily life, and ensuring work is purposeful are all ways to make deposits into one’s well-being account. The key is to focus on attainable goals: small, daily actions that contribute to long-term personal growth.
How wellth might work for C-suite executives
Here’s how thinking about wellth rather than wealth might help stressed and overwhelmed executives:
● Proactive well-being: Instead of leaders reacting to burnout by soldiering on regardless, a wellth approach suggests consciously being aware of the warning signs that burnout is a possibility: early signs of fatigue, dips in focus, and sleep erosion.
● Daily choices: Establishing disciplined morning and evening routines, incorporating micro-recovery breaks throughout the day, engaging in regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy diet are all effective ways to manage stress and build resilience.
● Connection: Leaders can work on building stronger team relationships and creating safe spaces for honest conversations. This includes being vulnerable about personal struggles, asking for help, and relating to team members’ challenges, which in turn fosters trust, authenticity, and a sense of belonging.
● Delegation and team empowerment: Leadership development could focus on training leaders to build teams they can rely on, thereby alleviating their own stress and empowering their team members. In this framework, well-being is “built in, not bolted on”.
● Purposeful work: In leadership development, this means guiding leaders to find deeper meaning in their work and helping their teams connect to that purpose. This means taking a clear view on what’s not worth doing and who doesn’t need to be involved to reduce the intensification of workloads.
In essence, wellth offers leaders a framework to survive the increasing pressures of the C-suite and to thrive by integrating health, happiness, and purpose into their leadership style and organisational culture.
The wellth cascade for employees
When leaders openly prioritise their own well-being and share their vulnerabilities, they act as role models for their teams, a Rutgers University Future of Work article says. Demonstrating that self-care is not a luxury but a necessity for sustained performance sets a precedent for organisational culture and encourages employees to set boundaries and manage their stress.
As part of this process, it’s essential for leaders to create a safe environment where employees can be candid about their struggles and feel supported. “The reality is that if your employees are struggling with work-life balance or issues with burnout and stress, it’s likely that you can provide guidance to help,” Rutgers says.
Practical tips
Klajda has some specific suggestions:
● The workday: Implement a consistent morning routine; walk, stretch, write thoughts down, keep a gratitude journal. This provides space to prepare for the day. During the day, stay hydrated and eat healthy snacks.
● Lifestyle: Take daily exercise (try walking for an hour). Prioritise quality sleep by maintaining a consistent wake-up and sleep schedule. Consider incorporating food supplements, saunas, ice baths, and massages into your healthy lifestyle. And create boundaries between work and home, starting with a ritual to transition from work to personal mode, which could be as simple as developing a strategy for when and how devices will be used after work hours.
● Long-term: Engage in longevity programmes to check and measure health, then implement healthy lifestyle improvements.
● Get help: Consider psychotherapy or working with a life coach as a form of self-care, rather than an admission of weakness. Create or join networks and support groups to combat isolation.
● Meetings: Practice centring, breathing and stretching before meetings; take regular stretching breaks. Consider walking or stand-up meetings.
● When things get bad, consider instituting a “rage room” to release stress.
● For staff: Allow pets at work to soothe anxiety. “Venting” sessions in a safe space could be a way for teams to share what’s bothering them. Or consider incorporating laughing yoga sessions at the office to help combat stress.
How can executive search / leadership advisory consultants help leaders?
Honest conversations within a safe, non-judgemental set up are key. Klajda believes a consultant’s role is “to uplift others and to enable others to see what they might not be seeing at the moment – hope.”
Case study: How one executive does it
Klajda: One CEO I know joined the 5 a.m. club, waking up every day at the same time and using the first two hours for himself. Walking, stretching, writing his thoughts down, and gratitude journaling – all this before breakfast.
By the time he arrived at the office, he had a clear vision of the day for himself and his business. Creating a mindset for the day set him up to be a cheerleader even when times got tough.
When I asked him how he overcame a failed merger, he said he stuck to his daily routine and sought help from a group of wise business friends, asking how they would approach different topics. Today, his business is doing well. It has remained small, but his team is healthy, thriving, and more engaged than ever. They all feel they have been through the wars together and have bonded through hard times. He and his team have learned to focus on what they can control and let go of what they can’t control.
FURTHER READING
Ask Alto: What is “stagility” and why do leaders need to know?
Ask Alto : Burnout - what causes it and how to deal with it
Ask Alto : How leadership can tackle burnout
Ask Alto : The eight habits of high performers that reduce the risk of burnout
Written by Renee Moodie
