The Leadership Well-Being Ladder: What Type of Leader Are You?

As a leader, your approach to well-being has a ripple effect—shaping team performance, morale, and long-term success. However, not all leaders approach well-being the same way.

Through my work with leadership teams, I’ve identified three common archetypes when it comes to managing well-being. These archetypes highlight different leadership habits, beliefs, and their impacts. Understanding where you fit can help you evolve into a more empowered and effective leader.

Let’s explore the Leadership Well-Being Ladder

The Leadership Well-Being Ladder

Note: This framework is a guide for reflection and also honours that as humans, we change, flow and dance between archetypes as well as outside of them. This ladder and visual is an invitation for compassionate reflection and helps us find context in somewhat a complex and heavily systemic topic.

The Well-Being Reactive Leader

You might recognize this archetype in yourself as a leader or in others if:

→ There’s a forgetfulness or lack of proactivity in checking in on the team’s emotional or mental state.

→ There are moments of being caught off guard by issues like burnout or resignations.

→ There isn’t a coherence to understanding how well-being and performance are related.

What Happens: This leader’s focus is primarily on performance, often overlooking the early signs of stress. Ignorer Leaders may feel like their teams should “just figure things out” and come to them only if necessary. While this approach might work short-term, it often leads to low trust, disengagement, and burnout.

The Opportunity: Becoming more attuned to your team’s needs doesn’t mean you have to fix everything. Simple actions—like having regular, open-ended conversations—can uncover hidden stressors and build psychological safety.

Try This: Ask questions like:

• “What’s been going well, and what’s felt challenging?”

• “How can I support you in managing your workload?”

Or Partner With Me To:

• Understand what is serving you and limiting you with your current views on wellbeing & performance

• Build awareness around red flags within your team and understand what proactive leadership looks like and works for you and your team

The Wellbeing Saviour Leader

You might recognize this archetype in yourself as a leader or in others if there is:

→ A strong tendency to step in and take responsibility for solving team challenges.

→ A common thread of team members seeking support rather than finding solutions independently.

→ A sense of exhaustion or depletion may arise from carrying the weight of the team’s emotional and mental well-being.

What Happens: While Well-Being Saviour Leaders have great intentions, their actions can inadvertently create dependency. By swooping in to solve problems, they limit their team’s growth and reinforce the belief that only the leader can handle challenges. Over time, this approach burns out both the leader and the team.

The Opportunity: Shifting from problem-solver to coach empowers your team to think critically and take ownership of their responsibilities. This reduces your workload while fostering team independence.

Try This Yourself: Instead of immediately offering a solution, ask:

“What steps do you think we should take here?”

“How do you think this challenge could be addressed?”

Or Partner With Me To:

• Understand what keeps you stuck in cycles of ‘fixing’ as a leader

• The map of responsibility - what is your responsibility as a leader, what is your team’s responsibility as individuals

• Elevate a sense of responsibility and ownership within your team

The Well-Being at Scale™ Leader

You might identify with this archetype yourself or notice it within others when there is:

→ A consistent practice and environment to empower and support team members to take responsibility for their well-being and performance.

→ Proactive reflection to assess and address systemic challenges, team dynamics, and potential stressors, with the knowledge that as a leader, you too, have a strong degree of influence over team wellbeing.

→ A balance of high performance with sustainable practices, ensuring well-being is integrated into processes and culture.

This archetype embodies a whole-person approach to leadership, focusing on integrity, sustainability, and shared responsibility. These leaders take a holistic and sustainable approach to leadership. They understand the importance of boundaries, personal accountability, and fostering resilience at both individual and organizational levels.

The Opportunity: At Scale Leaders continually refine their processes and actively listen to their teams. They know that well-being isn’t a one-time initiative but an ongoing practice.

Try This Yourself or Partner With Me To:

• Conduct team well-being audits to identify strengths and gaps.

• Encourage collaboration in creating solutions that promote both productivity and well-being.

• Create a team wellbeing charter.

Reflection and Action

Where do you see yourself in the Leadership Well-Being Ladder? Are you a Reactive, Saviour, or At Scale Leader—or maybe a blend?

Here’s how you can take the next step:

• Reactive Leaders: Focus on building trust and open communication with your team.

• Saviour Leaders: Practice empowering your team through coaching and delegation.

• At Scale Leaders: Double down on refining your systems and modeling best practices.

Of course, these are all areas I support leaders, leadership teams, and organizations with. My Wellbeing at Scale™ Model embeds well-being into the leadership, systems, processes, and culture of your whole organization.

Ready to elevate your leadership and create a thriving workplace? Let’s connect to explore how we can build a high-performance culture that attracts and retains top talent—without burnout.

About the Author

Shauna Moran is an internationally recognized expert in workplace well-being, burnout prevention, and leadership development. She specializes in two key areas: empowering women leaders and fostering sustainable, high-performance workplace cultures.

With a proven track record, Shauna has helped over 1,000 leaders shift from stressed managers to resilient, high-impact executives. Her clients report:

✅ 60% reduction in workplace stress while enhancing organizational effectiveness.
✅ 40% more time for strategic work—without increasing their workload.
✅ 85% retention rate for high-potential leaders within 18 months.

Most recently, she helped an organization double its retention rate, proving that well-being and performance go hand in hand.

Shauna has also guided over 200 women leaders in transforming from overwhelmed managers into confident, influential executives, with an 85% success rate in securing promotions within 18 months.

Ready to build a thriving, resilient workforce?