Imperfect Wellness And Leading By Example

Laura Putnam 0:00

It is not about being perfect. And in fact, it's better when we're not perfect. To be a well-being multiplier, you don't need to be vegan, you don't need to be a marathon runner, but you need to just make the effort. I call this I want to see my boss in Spandex. We provide a pathway and we provide permission for the people that we lead to imperfectly engage with their well-being.

Wendy Roop 0:26

Welcome back to Culture as an inside job. We have an amazing guest with us here today. Her name is Laura Putnam. And welcome, Laura. Thanks.

Laura Putnam 0:38

I love being here.

Wendy Roop 0:40

Yeah, and I'm going to turn it over to Scott because Scott made the connection between you and all of us. And so Scott, if you could just give a maybe proper introduction and then we'll we'll step in.

Scott McGohan 0:53

Well, hey, Laura, it's great to see your smiling face. Uh and you've just been uh a real joy in my life, and and thanks for being here. I think you know the older I get, the more time just kind of I I I lose the thread of years. So I'm trying to think. I but we might have met maybe 10 years ago, maybe longer.

Laura Putnam 1:14

It was, I believe, in 2017, Scott. So almost 10 years.

Scott McGohan 1:20

Okay. Well, you have a better memory than than than I. But you were actually uh you were invited to come and speak to our workforce. And it was uh it was a terrific uh experience. And what I love, if you wouldn't mind kind of starting out, is I love um so you're from San Francisco, which is a beautiful city. Uh and I always tell people, you know, I'm from Dayton, so wherever I go, I get to look out and say, wow, look at this city. It's incredible. Uh and when you look at San Francisco, you get to uh go to other cities and say, wow, this is an incredible. So you land in Dayton, Ohio, and you have this maybe idea of what it's like to go to an insurance broker's office and talk about the workplace. So maybe just start out from there, Laura. That'll

Walking Into A Workplace Full Of Love

Scott McGohan 2:14

maybe kickstart us.

Laura Putnam 2:16

So my husband was actually with me, and he drove me to your office, and it was freezing cold. And I felt like I was being taken to school, like the first day of school, and I didn't want to get out of the car. And I finally just pulled myself out of it, and and before I got out, Chris and I were like, oh, you know, just dreading it, dreading it. And I kind of gingerly made my my way across an icy parking lot, and I approached this kind of you know, generic looking building, and then I opened the door, and it was just like the moment I opened the door, there was just this outpouring of love. I literally felt surrounded by love, and I'll never forget Scott. You came bounding down the hallway, greeting me, bypassing the receptionist, embracing me, and you were so excited to show me the office and introduce me to people there. And and what I really saw and experienced was the power of culture and a culture of true caring and a culture of true love.

Karen Benoy Preston 3:43

I don't think we use that word enough in organizations. I think it's kind of a scary word, love, but so powerful.

Laura Putnam 3:53

I mean, you know, the the one of the longest standing studies to date is one that's been conducted by Harvard University. It's still going, and it's a study on longevity. It's been running for over 85 years. And they looked at, you know, what are the key factors around longevity? And the number one factor matters more than cholesterol, matters more than diet, matters more than exercise, is love, specifically. Am I loved and am I loving well? And that's what I really saw when I was there. I I, you know, we spend, if you think about it, we spend 90,000 hours of our lives on average at work. And so just imagine, I mean, what a gift, Scott, that you gave to everyone working there, that you created a culture of love so that people not only received love, but learned how to give love.

Wendy Roop 4:58

Yeah.

Scott McGohan 4:58

Well, I see a different, you see a lot of different companies too. So you've probably seen this myriad of just powerful cultures, and then you've probably walked into some really clunky ones.

Laura Putnam 5:12

Yep. Yep.

Scott McGohan 5:14

So is there is there a big gap or are they more tilted or that like help us maybe under because you've certainly been, I think, in more organizations than you know, over my career, I would say I've been in a lot of companies, but they're all regionally based, right? So they're all in this this region or in this tri-state, stri-state area. And I think I can imagine you've been around a lot of different companies that are around this country. So what is what what what is that what does that look like? And especially when you say love, like like what does that look like?

Laura Putnam 5:51

Well, so I've now worked with over 500 different organizations and I've trained about 50,000 managers and leaders. So I have seen a lot, and I can assure you that um they are not created equally. And you're coming, I I mean, I made a video about about that experience of walking into your office and um and really that is I have never experienced that to that degree. And um what I see, especially coming from the angle that I'm coming from, which is from the angle of well-being, and well-being as it connects to culture and leadership, is that frankly, a lot of the the organizations that have the most bells and whistles around wellness are actually the ones that are suffering the most. They are suffering the most and they are masking over a lot of um just a lack of love. I don't know how else to say it, but a lack of love. I mean, it really does come down to love. Are you treated with love day in and day out? And unfortunately, in a lot of organizations that I see, I don't, I don't see that. And and I should also add the the other thing that I've really observed, and this is backed by research, uh, a 19-country study conducted by ADP Research Institute found that there's actually more difference between team to team than there is from organization to organization. And so I've certainly seen that as well. So, for example, I worked with uh a medical department, and I could not believe that the difference from team to team, where like the team of physicians, oh my gosh, there was just so much drama and um just a lot of really negative energy. And um, and I think on top of that, um, you know, they they thought they were the smartest ones in the room. So there was no room for vulnerability there. And but the the one team that really stood out was the team of the physical therapists, and that really came down to their team leader. But there was there was so much uh, you know, community within that team, they really supported one another. So, in this kind of larger pool, uh cesspool of toxicity, here was this oasis of love and well-being.

Wendy Roop 8:38

I found that that's why, you know, when when even all around them, like people are working in a culture where there might be that toxicity, when you get to be a part of a team that has that love, that has that community, that has that sport support, of course that that helps to keep going, right? And I've also seen how when it doesn't change on the outside, it starts to, you know, seep in and the the team starts to make that decision, like, you know, is this really is this really the place for us? Right.

Laura Putnam 9:18

It's it's a little bit like walking into uh you know a room full of smoke. You know, you can uh I mean the second you step in, that smoke just permeates everywhere. And I think that a you know, that is in the the air is clear or it's filled with smoke. And the team can shield you from that to a certain extent, um, but you're still feeling that larger uh smoky air. Yeah, if it's across the organization. But at the same time, I mean, I think you know, what does give me hope is it really does go to show how much influence every team leader, every manager, every supervisor has within their team. And um, there's a lot of research to to back that up. I mean, Gallup has shown that the manager alone likely accounts for up to 70% of the variance of their team members' engagement, both with their work as well as their well-being. And we have our own original data around the impact of our program called Managers on the Move, showing that when managers prioritize their own well-being, when they prioritize it for the team, when they bring a culture of care and love within the team, it can be transform transformational not only for themselves, but for their team members. And then it can even create a ripple out effect across the whole organization where we start to see change happen team by team by team.

Wendy Roop 10:56

Love that.

Karen Benoy Preston 11:00

Smoke and your smoke analogy is really powerful in that because not only that is the minute that you walk out of that room that you still smell like smoke, right?

Laura Putnam 11:09

Yes, so true. You come home and your like clothes are covered with that smoke, and your family's like, oh, what happened? Right? Yeah. So true.

Defining Well-Being As Me At My Best

Laura Putnam 11:24

It stays with you.

Wendy Roop 11:25

Laura, uh tell us more about your work, right? Um, and uh, you know, your definition of of wellness and then how that intersects with culture.

Laura Putnam 11:40

Well, is so I'm um the author of Workplace Wellness That Works. And Scott, going back to 2017, one of the reasons why I remember that year so well is that um, or that the timing um is that was just after my book was released in 2015. I'm also the CEO and founder of Motion Infusion, a well-being provider based in San Francisco that has worked with organizations around the world, including a lot of insurance providers, actually, as well as healthcare organizations, insurance brokers, um, but um, and then I'm also the co-founder of a new company called Uply that focuses specifically on managers and really around um kind of the intersection between wellness, culture, and leadership. And so to your question around how does what how would you define wellness or how would you define well-being? I like to just define things simply. Uh I define it as each of us being enabled to be our version of me at my best, whatever that looks like. And we all have our different take on what me at my best looks like. So me at my best looks like when I'm doing a handstand on the beach, or me at my best is when I'm with friends, or me at my bre best is when I'm skiing fast down a mountain. Me at my best is when I'm with our dog honey. Um, me at my best is when I feel like I'm doing great work. So wellness or well-being is really each of us manifesting our version of me at my best. And while that looks different for each of us, there are also themes, universal themes that apply to all of us. And that is we all need physical well-being, we all need emotional well-being, we all need social well-being, we need financial well-being, we need career well-being, and we need community well-being. These are the kinds of universal themes that we all need to really transition from a state of suffering, which many of us are in a state of, and and I know that's the work that you all are really focused on, is really moving people from a state of suffering to surviving to fully thriving. That's really our goal. And so then finally, tying all of this to the theme of culture is we have problematically shaped up the pursuit of better health and well-being as an individual pursuit. So the overriding narrative in the world of wellness, and by the way, wellness is one of the fastest growing industries, it's over a six trillion dollar industry, according to the Global Wellness Institute. You would think that with this exploding industry, that all of us would be really healthy and really happy. And yet the research shows just the opposite that our physical well-being has gotten worse, not better. For example, we have an explosion in the diabetes in rates of diabetes and prediabetes. On a mental level, as you all well know, so many people are struggling with things like burnout, with things like anxiety, depression, feeling alone day in and day out. We have an epidemic of loneliness. And we also see that rates of suicide have continued to rise. And it's really hitting some industries like construction. Construction now has the second highest rate of suicide of any industry. So if you are running a construction site today, you are now five times more likely to have a death by suicide than a death by an accident on the job. So, all of this is to say we live in a society that is not well. And the modern way of life has made it really, really hard for us to be well. So, whether we're talking about it on a physical level or an emotional level, it's really hard to be well. You know, with in a world of smartphones, we are alone even when we are together, for example. So the real question becomes how do we help people to actually become their version of me at my best? And it is not through apps and perks and programs that are focused on the individual. It has to happen by changing the culture. Because the truth of the matter is, is that each and every one of us, as much as we would like to characterize ourselves as creatures of habit, we are in fact creatures of culture. That is, we adapt to the the water that we are swimming in, for better or for worse. So you put a healthy fish in unhealthy water, and I can promise you that fish will become less healthy. And vice versa, you put an unhealthy fish in healthy water, and that fish will become healthier. So the only way forward is if we begin focusing less on the fish, less on the individual, and more on the water or more on the culture that surrounds the individual.

Why Managers Make Or Break Well-Being

Scott McGohan 17:19

Yeah, that's a really beautiful way to look at that, too. You know, it's interesting too, because we used to I used to tell people, like McGill and Braybenner is a leader, like your job is to sell donuts. And if people aren't buying your donuts, then you're not leading. Like you're like your donuts don't taste good. Your donuts are too expensive. Or your donuts are rotten. And it's and it's so interesting. I love, I love the fact of you know, 70, did you say 70% of the impact of the culture is the individual leader?

Laura Putnam 17:55

Correct. That the the team leader. I mean, the team leader, whether or not well-being, whether or not mental health is part of their job description, they are the one who is uniquely positioned in the workplace to make or break the well-being of the people that they directly lead. And then, you know, and then meanwhile, you know, and it's not just the manager's fault. I I don't want to blame the manager because the truth of the matter is that the most recent report out of Gallup on the engagement, global rates of engagement, shows that the group that is struggling the most right now are actually managers. Their rates of engagement have gone down more than any other group. And one of the reasons is over half of managers are reporting that they receive zero training. Zero. And it takes training. It I mean, these are all skills that can be learned. And um, and it also starts from the top. I mean, Scott, having your kind of leadership at the top really sets the tone for all of these middle managers, for these team leaders. And you're showing them day in and day out that you support them in support in them supporting their people.

Scott McGohan 19:19

Yeah, I miss that work because I think one of the things that you know that uh I'll I'll talk to some leaders. I'm on like several boards. Um I'm probably on too many. Um I'm probably on too many boards. But I do think one of the things that I really encourage a lot of leaders, and I see them in their office and I see them behind their desk, it's like, get out of here.

Laura Putnam 19:42

That's right.

Scott McGohan 19:42

Like, look, your job is to go love people, the work will get done. Like the work will always get done if you go love the people. Always. I don't know what you're doing in here. I have no idea what you're doing in here. But I guarantee you're not going to be able to do it. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, whatever you're doing in here, somebody else probably could do it. Just go be with your people, just go be with them. Um, and it doesn't even have to be with them about their work. Just go be with your people. Um, and because they they're starving for it, whatever it may be.

Laura Putnam 20:19

Well, people crave um connection, um, especially when they're at work. And and you know, it's really interesting in in my work with all of these managers and leaders, and and and again, really particularly focusing on managers and and empowering them to become what I call well-being multipliers for their team. And what it's really interesting, um, the statistic that I share that elicits more pushback than any other statistic is the one out of the Q12 from Gallup, which is do you have a best friend at work? Do you have a best friend at work? If you do, you are seven times more likely to be highly engaged in your work. So I tell these managers that your job is to facilitate not just good friendships within the team, but best friendships within the team. If you want to have a highly engaged, high-performing team, then you need to be fostering not just good friendships, but best friendships in the workplace, in the team. And it's incredible how much pushback there is around that. But the irony is that when when people feel like that they have that kind of you know, best friend at work, they will go the extra mile. They'll do the work will get done in a way that just kind of magically happens because they're with their best friends.

Wendy Roop 21:57

And isn't that so true about? You know, it is a shift in perspective for so many people. Um, because, you know, especially those of us that have been around a little bit longer, right? It's like you uh grew up hearing almost the opposite, right? You don't go to work to be friend. That wasn't my attitude, but like um, that was the overall um attitude, I think, of most people, you know, you don't go to work to be friends. Um, but I have found that too. When when you get to have a relationship with someone, you know, and someone that you really trust. And um, whether you're talking about work or home or what have you, right? Like it just makes a difference in how engaged you are.

Laura Putnam 22:43

Sense of belonging. And the other uh dodge that we all heard was uh check your emotions at the door. Yes. Yeah.

Wendy Roop 22:53

Hello, what are we, robots?

Laura Putnam 22:56

I mean, how can you have love if people are checking their emotions at the door? And how can you have any kind of team camaraderie if everybody's checking their emotions at the door?

Wendy Roop 23:06

Yeah. That reminds me, you know, when I had the opportunity, Laura, to to work with Scott for around seven years at McGone Brightbender. And, you know, it's it is so true what you're saying. Um, you know, we get used to hear a lot, like, what's in the Kool-Aid? What's in the Kool-Aid at McGone Brightbender? And what's in the Kool-Aid is exactly what you were saying. It is love. It is what Karen said around a sense of belonging, right? And knowing that, um, gosh, organizationally, they've got your back. Um, and you're right. It's it's that's not easy to find.

Laura Putnam 23:48

You know, I um the kind of the part two of the story of when I first came to Magoan Braybender that that morning.

When Policies Prove Real Care

Laura Putnam 23:59

And I stayed there all day. I mean, we had a full day. I mean, first a tour with Scott, and and then we had a podcast interview, and and then you all had that event, and Scott spoke, I spoke, a couple others spoke, and then it was, you know, the the toward the end of the day was the late afternoon, the the light was getting low, and um, and I Scott was trying to help me to to find a ride home, and um he asked one of the your co-workers, and she said, sure, I'll I'll give her a ride back to her hotel. And so um, I got to, you know, I tucked into her car and we were driving back, and and as we were driving, she started telling me this whole story about how she really wanted to have a family, and so she decided to adopt a child from from Russia, and she just described this long process being a single mom wanting to have a child, adopt a child from Russia, and she but she described how through this Byzantine process, how McGoen Braybender and how Scott had her back every step of the way. And she said, I never would have gotten to have a family if I had not been at McGowan Braybender. That's where I really experienced what it what it meant to have a culture of care and love. I mean, that is a culture of care and love. Yeah, beautiful.

Scott McGohan 25:45

Yeah, I remember my dad said that. He was, you know, we were talking about, you know, we were self-funded. Well, we're self-funded now, we were self-funded back then, but it was just like an adoption benefit, you know, and a normal delivery back then was 12,000, and a C-section was like 17. And he's like, Well, we should just give people that want to adopt $10,000. And people was like, Well, why would why would we do that? I was like, Well, why wouldn't we do that? Family family. That's right. I was like, well, that's about as simple as you can put it. You can't make it any easier than any easier than that.

Laura Putnam 26:21

That's right.

Scott McGohan 26:21

And then we started winning like these national awards, like from the Dave Thomas Foundation and all these things. And he was just like, well, that well, why are we winning that? I mean, we just did the right thing. Does that does that make sense? So it was nothing about being in a you know a company that supported adoption so we could win or get a sticker, as you said earlier. Um I do love a sticker.

Laura Putnam 26:47

So thank you for the biggest.

Scott McGohan 26:47

I do too. Yeah, not a big fan of a sticker.

Laura Putnam 26:52

Love it. No, exactly. I mean, you know, it's it's it's incredible how self-evident these things are. I mean, it really comes down to the the books that we all wrote when we were seven years old. Like we we know, and and and it's you know, the first thing I wrote is happiness is having a nice dog, and then and then the second thing I wrote is happiness is having a nice mom and dad. Like we all crave love, we all crave having a family. And so the fact that you, as leaders and as an organization, were able to uh create policy around what is just decent and good, kind, self-evident behavior, is what makes the best companies. It's about doing what we already know.

Naming Toxic Water And Changing Culture

Scott McGohan 27:49

Yeah, I know Karen and and Wendy, but uh I think one of the things that I never really recognized until you said it, kind of like just black and white, is I think as leaders, they see the value of culture and the importance of it and they try to bring light to it. But I'm not sure they understand the I I would say that the toxicity of the leaders in the organization that are not embracing it that are the naysayers, the bystanders, and the victims that will go behind their back, they will bobblehead in a meeting, they will agree with it in front of people, and then and then they will absolutely undermine it every single day. And I think as a leader, if you're listening, what's probably most important this is just my opinion would be you need to share this to the entire organization. So every single belly button in that company knows how everybody's supposed to behave. So a bystander, a victim, and a naysayer can't misbehave or shouldn't misbehave because people understand that's not what we're called to be. And I love your water analogy. This is what the water should look like, this is what the water should feel like. Um and I'm not really sure I saw that. That I'm not sure I saw that that clear. I understand the liability of it. I'm not sure I really I saw it that that crystal clear.

Laura Putnam 29:18

Well, I think what leaders, especially top leaders, need to do is they need to call out what the water is. Yeah. And you know, this this analogy of the fish in the water is one that I actually got from uh David Foster Wallace gave this incredible commencement speech, I think it was about 15 years ago. Um, he's no longer with us. He was a philosophy professor, and it it was dubbed This Is Water, and he opens it with this story of these two young fish who are swimming, and as they're swimming, they encounter an older fish. The older fish greets the two younger fish and asks, Morning Boys, how's the water? And then the two young fish keep swimming and don't say anything. And then a couple minutes later, one of the younger fish turns to the other and asks, What the heck is water? So this is kind of also how we might describe culture, which is it's it's like this water that we're swimming in. And a lot of times we don't even see it, but we feel it. And so unless we have our leaders giving us space to first and foremost to be able to call out what the water actually is, and we can't change it for to create healthier water unless we call out what it is right now. And that's what those top leaders need to do. And you know, it's really interesting. One of my favorite exercises that I do over and over and over again, whether it's in a keynote or in a workshop, is I show an array of images. So it's everything from, you know, positive image like holding hands, light through the trees, to more negative images like, you know, overloaded sherpas with these heavy backpacks or broken chain link or one of them that always kind of elicits nervous laughs, but also in a one-on-one setting, um, elicits tears. And that is a horse that is getting kicked in the face by another horse. And there are so many people who feel like when they come to work, they literally feel like that they are that horse getting kicked in the face day in and day out. And there is something that is so powerful about seeing these images where you ask someone, what is it like for you? What's the culture like? And they can't name it, but you show them a picture and they can pick the picture that captures what their culture is like. And then you ask them to consider, okay, which of these captures where you are right now, where the average employee is here, and everybody knows, everybody knows. You give them the tools, and then they know, and then you ask them to identify which is the one that you would like for it to be for you and for the average employee. And that's the job of these top leaders to really engage everyone in a conversation around where are we and where do we want to be as a culture?

Karen Benoy Preston 32:29

Yeah, that's so good. Karen, what comes up for you? Uh, I want that visual with all your images.

Laura Putnam 32:40

I've got it.

Karen Benoy Preston 32:41

Yeah, I love it.

Laura Putnam 32:43

Yeah.

Wendy Roop 32:45

Because so many times, right, Laura, um we have a hard time, even you know, because of course emotions come with all of that. And we have a hard time, a lot of people have a hard time naming their emotions. But I love when you show the pictures, it's much easier to say what you relate to by looking at it.

Karen Benoy Preston 33:04

Yeah, the visual. Emotions don't have an actual language, right? Being able to understand how to articulate the evocation of that feeling by using a picture is so powerful.

Laura Putnam 33:20

And that's why I love metaphors so much. You use a metaphor and people get it. They get it.

Karen Benoy Preston 33:29

Yeah, they do. Well, thank you for your work.

Laura Putnam 33:34

Yeah, thank you for your work, all of you. Yeah. And thank you for your love. Most importantly, because gosh knows we need it.

Wendy Roop 33:47

What is the um tell me more about the proven multiplier method?

The Multiplier Method Do Speak Create

Laura Putnam 33:54

So this is it's well, first of all, just as we've been talking about, it's so simple. Yeah, it's so simple. Three steps do, speak, and create. So every team leader, and and for that matter, every leader needs to do. That is, they need to lead by example, they need to model self-care and well-being. And it is not about being perfect, and in fact, it's better when we're not perfect because we provide a pathway and we provide permission for the people that we lead to imperfectly engage with their well-being. It's you know, to be a well-being multiplier, you don't need to be vegan, you don't need to be a marathon runner. And if you are, that's wonderful. But you need to just make the effort imperfectly. So that's the first thing. I call this I want to see my boss in spandex, or maybe not, but you get the idea. People want to see their boss in there just, you know, fine. The second is to speak, to talk about well-being in a and and mental well-being, that includes all these dimensions of well-being, in a positive way, in a supportive way, in a way that indicates that I, as your leader, I am committed to your well-being. And by the way, I'm also committed to my own well-being. I think a lot of leaders don't understand that this act of self-care, while it may feel selfish or perhaps even irrelevant, it is in fact one of the most giving things that you can do for the people that you lead. Because when you engage in your own self-care, then you in fact give permission for your team members to do the same. And then the last piece is to create, which is to devise systems, activities, rituals that normalize the pursuit of well-being. So within the team, what are some team policies or practices that you can create across the organization? What are practices and norms and policies across the entire organization that normalize well-being and not just well-being as a standalone program? In fact, those don't really matter. What matters is what happens in the day in and day out, what happens in terms of how the work gets done, what happens when things get really, really hard? Is there still a culture of care and love and well-being? And, you know, so much of this, especially when we're looking at things like rising rates of burnout, is really transitioning our concept around how the work gets done. And it, you know, I can't take credit for this. This is originally come from Jim Lair and Tony Schwartz. They they talk about this idea of managing your energy, not just your time. And this is what every leader needs to be doing for themselves and for their team. So if we think about it, the x-axis is our energy, y-axis is our performance. When we're in our top energy, top um output, this is when we're in the performance zone. Now we can't stay here. And what happens is that we tend to try to keep the same level of output without replenishing our energy. So then we start to move into survival, the top left quadrant. So no, you know, our energy starts to go down, um, but we're still sustaining the same level of output. If we try to stay there too long, then invariably we drop down into that bottom left quadrant. Burnout. No output, no energy. Now, this is a cycle that many of us go through over and over and over again, so that our batteries are in fact never fully replenished. But there is another way, which is that we can go from performance zone, that top right quadrant, down into restoration zone. So where we temporarily reduce our output, especially when we have a deadline to meet, we temporarily reduce our output. And that might be something as simple as going outside for five minutes. It might be something as simple as calling a loved one or connecting with a coworker or taking a breath. And then we can return back to the performance zone. So we proactively restore. So while our FaceTime may go down, our net productivity goes up. And so it's these kinds of concepts that every team leader can bring to their team. And when they do, we have research showing based on um we a third party measured this, that not only does the managers' levels of well-being reported well-being go up, but so does the level of well-being for their team members go up. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, for example, they implemented this program. They're now delivering the program to their customers, and they're getting there. We found that not only were the managers reporting higher levels of well-being, but also their team members. But also, we have data showing that the managers are reporting higher levels of productivity. So are their team members, as well as higher levels of engagement with their work, as well as their team members. So it really creates this ripple out effect when you start with the manager. Yeah. That's the power of the multiplier. Yeah. Calling it the multiplier method. Yeah. I love that.

Scott McGohan 39:59

You know what's hard to teach people? It's so hard to teach people that they think doing that is selfish.

Laura Putnam 40:11

That's right.

Scott McGohan 40:11

You know, because they're they think that their job is to take care of other people. And it's you know, and especially those that are have the disease to please or massive enablers and have this, you know, codependency bent. And and they're I mean, they're beautiful people. But when you start teaching them how to love themselves, they can change the world. That's right. But they see that as selfish and it's and it's not. And it is so you give them permission to go do that.

Laura Putnam 40:46

And and that's where those top leaders really play such an important role because those managers need to know that they have permission from their manager and from their top leaders that this is okay. And you know, case in point, our mutual friend and the reason why we know each other, Crockett Dale. He during one of these managers on the move workshops that uh I was delivering to the managers at Healthstat at the time, the managers were starting to kind of scratch their heads and they're like, I don't know. Do to do our top leaders actually really, is this really gonna be okay for us to bring this multiplier method to our teams and engage with our well-being and have our team members engage with well-being at work? And so Crockett actually came into that workshop and he signed what he calls the Declaration of Wellness Independence. That yes, I, as your top leader, I encourage you and I support you in engaging with well-being, starting with yourselves. And also to use his terms, you can't pour from an empty cup. You have to fill your own cup first.

Wendy Roop 42:06

I

Convincing Skeptics With Why Well-Being

Wendy Roop 42:07

have so many questions. Okay, so um, but the I think the one thing that's on my mind right now is when you go into Laura, an organization that is, you know, what's the word? I'm gonna use, I don't know what the word is, but like they're they're having a difficult time connecting with the the love and and you know the importance and understanding the impact that they really have on, you know, wellness and so forth. So where do you invite them to start if they're like, okay, I don't know how this is gonna work, right? How where do you invite them to start?

Laura Putnam 42:48

Well, I really organize this around three big questions. Why well-being? Why is well-being not a nice to have, but a must-have? And and and also defining what it is. Um, but you I literally say you give me any metric that matters to your organization and to your team. Whether we're talking about profitability, we're talking about retention and attraction, we're talking about customer service, we're talking about safety on the job. And I will show you, I will prove how that ties to well-being. That's the first thing. And I have to say, I one of the most important parts of this, Wendy, is to even to the most hard-nosed leader who only believes in statistics, yeah, I make the emotional case. I start with the emotional case, and I say, let's talk about our children. And I mean our children collectively, and let's talk about what's happening to our children today. Did you know? Did you know, because of this. Tidal wave of lifestyle-driven poor health and well-being and mental health. Did you know that one in five of our children are obese, not overweight, obese? Did you know that it is likely that one in four of our children will become diabetic at some point in their lifetime? Right now it's about one in ten adults. And did you know that for the first time in our history, it's likely that our children will have a shorter life expectancy than we do by as much as five years. Imagine what would happen for our children if all of us who are working adults were healthier and happier because of where we worked, and we were bringing that back to our families and to our communities. Imagine the difference that that would make. We could literally literally give back those five years to our children. So that's all about why well-being. And then I talk about why you. Why is it not enough for our top leaders to say, hey, we want to do this wellness thing, and then it goes straight to HR. HR, you figure it out. Yeah give us some perks and programs and some apps and some platforms. Why are you the one who matters most in this? And one of the statistics that I share, it's a study that came out of Sweden, actually, the Karolinska Institute. And I think we can all relate to this, which is that if you have a toxic boss, your chances of having a heart attack, not only today, but 10 years out from today, dramatically increases. So when we hear people joking about how their boss is killing them, they actually kind of mean it. So then I go on to assure them, this is not meant to scare you, but this is meant to show you that you have a really important choice to make, which is am I going to choose to be a gatekeeper? As in getting in the way of my team members' engagement with their with their well-being, starting with myself by not giving them permission, by not modeling it. Or am I going to put on my cape and become a force for good? Am I going to become a multiplier of well-being for my team, where I create an expansive effect of well-being. And I create an oasis of well-being within my team by engaging in those three practices of do, speak, create. And so then the final question is after why well-being, why you is what now? You got to do, speak, create. You got to become that multiplier for your team, that well-being multiplier for your team.

Wendy Roop 47:16

Yeah. Great. Thank you. Karen Scott. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

Scott McGohan 47:24

No, no, I'm going to have to go on mute because otherwise I'll just talk too much. So I'm going to get that sticker and put it over my lips. That's what I'm going to do.

Wendy Roop 47:32

No, you're doing great.

Scott McGohan 47:34

Yeah.

Wendy Roop 47:34

I love it.

Karen Benoy Preston 47:35

Karen, you have anything? I'm gobsmacked. I'm just loving everything. I'm taking notes. I'm copiously like absorbing everything you're saying. Laura, thank you for um such a beautiful gift of you know, just how powerful is it? First of all, let's go back to love and how the difference is, but we don't have to go in and actually say we all need to love each other. But what we actually, how do we behave together and how do we listen to one another and all the things that we do that are built and rooted in love so that we can be more engaged and be more productive.

Laura Putnam 48:17

I mean, I think that my Angelou quote rings so true, which is people will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget the way you made them feel. And I can assure you, Scott, I never forgot the way you made me feel and the way everyone else at McGowan Braybender made me feel on that incredibly special day. And I know I got to see and feel and experience just a tiny snapshot of what all those people got to experience day in and day out. And Wendy, you got to experience as well in being there. And Karen, you get to experience now in being with Scott today. But we really can have such a powerful impact on one another, including in the workplace, around how we make one another feel.

Wendy Roop 49:21

Yeah.

Together We Thrive And How To Connect

Wendy Roop 49:23

Um, Laura, so one thing that we do, um, we try to remember to do at the end of all of our podcast episodes, or um, you know, we say, let's go inside, right? So, in other words, we ask our listeners, like there's a call to action for our listeners. And you've shared so many great things today and um tactical things and so forth as well. But if there was just one thing, like one call to action that you would invite our listeners to, what might that be?

Laura Putnam 49:54

Well, I think it was something that really struck me during the pandemic, and I think that it still sticks with me today, which is one of the things, if there's anything that we learned from that pandemic, it was a reminder that my health and my well-being matters to you, and yours matters to me, and that there is no me without you, and truly the only way forward is together because together we thrive.

Wendy Roop 50:33

Yeah, that's beautiful. Love that. Okay, well, we I think we're all sitting here saying, you know, we could probably talk with you another, you know, another couple of hours, but unfortunately, um, we want to make sure we honor your time too. So thank you so much for being here with us and sharing uh with our listeners. And um, how can people find you and your work and how could they connect with you?

Laura Putnam 51:04

Well, first of all, please do connect with me. I like Scott am active on social media. I try to share love on social media. Uh so please connect with me on LinkedIn, and you can also find me on Instagram, Laura Putnam author. My website is LauraPutnam P-U-T-N-A-M.com. And you can also look on the motioninfusion website, motioninfusion.com. And then last but not least, Uply at work. So UPLI at work.com. And you can also check out my book, Workplace Wellness That Works. It's on Amazon or any major distributor. Terrific.

Wendy Roop 51:50

Thank you.

Scott McGohan 51:50

Well, Laura, thanks for thanks for making one today super fast, right? So this just I felt like I we were on like just talk for like five minutes. But the other thing you really did is you just made this really simple to understand. So you didn't make this complicated uh for uh for people. Uh and then you just brought you just brought light to it. So I had a bunch of notes. I had to turn them over because I was like, I'm just gonna like I'm gonna I'm gonna take this conversation over, and I don't want to do that because I'm and Wendy. And and um I just appreciate that you know the deep, loving, caring, compelling work that you do. And I'm just glad you're in my life. So thanks for being with us today. Means a lot.

Laura Putnam 52:30

Me too. Me too, me too. Thank you all so much. This was really a gift.

Wendy Roop 52:34

Yes, thank you. And we will see all of you, our listeners, uh, next time um when you tune in to Culture is an inside job. See you soon.