An employee's well-being—defined as judging one's life positively and feeling good—is directly related to their job performance. When an employee is thriving, the company sees higher job performance, but when an employee is suffering, that affects the company’s performance. Therefore, understanding the different aspects of well-being, and how to cultivate them, is critical to becoming a great team leader.

The 5 common elements included when assessing well-being are:   

1. Career Well-being: An individual likes what they do in their professional arena. 
2. Social Well-being: An individual has meaningful and strong relationships in their life. 
3. Financial Well-being: An individual manages their money well. 
4. Physical Well-being: An individual has good health and energy to get things done. 
5. Community Well-being: An individual likes where they live and engages and supports their community. 

Last year, ASM conducted a workshop for postdoctoral women on well-being and leadership. The speaker from last year and this year’s upcoming program, Aleksandra Sikora, Ph.D., a professor from the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University, discussed the importance of well-being and how its related to leadership. Well-being is tied into one's ability to motivate their team in either a positive or negative way, which can influence their leadership. Sikora recommended that leaders must first look at their own well-being before leading/encouraging their team to practice well-being approaches. “Just like on the plane where you have to apply your oxygen mask first, you must apply your well-being mask first. Practice self-care habits to manage your well-being. Leaders are the ripple effect for well-being,” Sikora said.  

For those in leadership roles and managing people, Sikora recommended these tips to help promote a team’s well-being:

• Communicate transparently, authentically and frequently with your team.
• Check-in regularly with your team and ask/address their needs.
• Encourage your team to plan and/or attend social events.
• Support the creation of community groups to overcome feelings of isolation.
• Address any concerns that your team might have on the company’s financials/state. 
• Share resources and employee benefits that help to reduce financial burden to employees. 
• Champion a culture of physical activities by promoting exercise breaks during the workday. 
• Promote healthy eating initiatives with your team by offering healthy options for lunch meetings.
• Distribute information on events where employees can give back to the community. 
• Provide some time for your employees to give back to community events.

By incorporating some of these techniques into leadership practices, one can help build a thriving team. 
 

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Enhance Your Leadership Skills with the Career Development Grant & Training for Postdoctoral Women Program  

ASM’s Career Development Grant & Training for Postdoctoral Women will cover skills focused on well-being, setting boundaries, finding mentors and sponsors and identifying inner strengths to support you in becoming a leader in your field. This is exclusively available and free for ASM postdoctoral members who identify as women. Register by Sept. 8, 2023!

Mark your calendar for the series:  

• Tuesday, Sept.12, 11:30-1 p.m. ET | Well-Being & Setting Boundaries to Be a Better Leader. 
• Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2-3:30 p.m. ET| Finding and Using Mentors and Sponsors to Advance in Your Career. 
• Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2-3:30 p.m. ET | Strengths on the Surface and DNA Levels: A Transformative Workshop.