42 Wellbeing
“Flourishing organisatio by looking a people who them. You c outyoga a b manager.”
You Cannot Out-yoga a Bad Manager If there was a single line from the afternoon that stopped the room, it came from Dr Louise Lambert, Director of Happiness Policy and Programs at Happiness Matters and Editor of the Middle East Journal of Positive Psychology. “Managers drive 70% of employee wellbeing and that is equivalent to the influence of a spouse or a parent. You cannot outyoga a bad manager. Flourishing organisations start with looking at the people who lead within them.” Dr Louise Lambert, Director of Happiness Policy and Programs, Happiness Matters The implication is significant. For all the investment in wellbeing programmes, mindfulness apps, and away days, the research is unambiguous: the quality of someone’s immediate leadership relationship is the most powerful determinant of how they experience work. Wellbeing is not something individuals do in isolation. It is relational, structural and systemic. Dr Lambert also raised the issue of loneliness at work - a challenge that is rarely discussed openly in education settings. In the UAE, approximately one in four or one in five people report feeling lonely at work. In a profession that is built around human connection, that figure is striking. “We don’t measure enough. The new people in an organisation are struggling. The people who have been there forever are also struggling. Measure, measure, measure.” Dr Louise Lambert The Big Ideas The panel named the realities often left out of wellbeing conversations. Leadership pressure. Loneliness at work. Early-career teacher retention. Neurodivergent staff. Psychological safety. The small daily experiences that shape whether people feel supported or unseen.
Dr Louise Lambert, Director of Happiness Policy and Programs, Happiness Matters
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