Manila, 5 September 2024 — What to do when you’re not thriving and flourishing. 

Story

It happened during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Health authorities around the world observed a surge in languishing, a state where people feel rather aimless, demotivated, and emotionally depleted. As a result, languishing has become a prominent focus of research, and this has continued after the pandemic when it was recognized that a large number of people are affected by challenges to their mental health and wellbeing.

Research on languishing started attracting attention when Corey Keyes, a sociologist at Emory University, introduced the concept in 2002 as part of his efforts to classify mental health along a spectrum ranging from flourishing to languishing. People who are languishing are not depressed but are also not flourishing. Living without a sense of purpose and fulfillment, they can find themselves in a state of stagnation and emptiness, lower emotional well-being, and a struggle with motivation and engagement.

The past two decades have also seen a large amount of psychological research on flourishing, the state on the other end of the spectrum introduced by Reyes. Flourishing describes our highest level of well-being, often characterized by feelings of meaning, engagement, positive relationships, and personal growth. Those who flourish will report high levels of life satisfaction and well-being. Flourishing, clearly, is a state to aspire for in our life, work, and leadership.

Challenge

Research by Keyes has shown that the proportion of people who experience flourishing in life and work is remarkably low, below 20%. In contrast, studies by the World Health Organization, Cigna, and others show that the proportion of people who experience symptoms of languishing may recently have risen from a pre-pandemic 12% identified by Keyes to as high as 30 or 40% post-pandemic, with youth and young adults showing disproportionately high rates of mental health struggles triggered by uncertainty about their future.

This suggests that most or all of us may be aware of, and in touch with, people around us who are feeling disconnected, lacking motivation, and in a stage of mental stagnation, fitting the description of languishing. This underlines the chances that we as leaders have to make a difference for the people in our workplaces and wider social circles and networks. Thankfully, during and after the pandemic, the topic of our mental state has entered regular discussions in the workplace where it often was a taboo subject before. 

How can we help more people in our lives and workplaces move out of languishing and engage in positive life changes to enter a state of flourishing? That is a question facing us as leaders, as colleagues, and as compassionate fellow human beings. Research has shown that languishing is associated with lower productivity, reduced emotional resilience, and a greater likelihood of developing mental health disorders like depression over time. It can be seen as a potential risk factor for mental illness if left unchecked. 

Question

My question for you this week is where you see yourself on the spectrum ranging from languishing to flourishing. And what about your team members, your colleagues, and your friends around you: where are they on that spectrum?

Thanks to extensive research over the past two decades, we know more than ever before about how to help people make positive changes in their lives and move towards a state of flourishing. Chances are that your mental state is somewhere between languishing and flourishing, and that you have leadership role models to inspire you towards flourishing. We all have work to do to get there.

In my experience, effective leaders work on experiencing flourishing in their life and work. And they are keen to grow leaders around them to experience that too. To create such positive changes in their workplaces, they invest in their next leadership transition bringing out their best individually and in their teams. Set up a free strategy call to share what thriving and flourishing as a leader will mean for you.