As the year draws to a close and organizations slow down for Christmas and New Year, leaders often reflect on performance, results, and plans for the year ahead. Yet one of the most critical drivers of long-term performance is frequently treated as a seasonal afterthought rather than a strategic priority: health. Sustainable leadership is not about pushing people to deliver more in the short term, but about designing systems that protect human energy so performance can endure.
At its core, sustainable leadership recognizes a simple but powerful truth: organizations do not perform—people do. When people are healthy, they think more clearly, recover faster from setbacks, collaborate more effectively, and make fewer costly mistakes. When health is compromised, performance may appear stable for a while, but cracks inevitably form. Burnout, absenteeism, errors, and disengagement accumulate until the system can no longer compensate.
Health Is Not a “Soft” Issue
Health is often framed as a personal responsibility or an HR benefit rather than a leadership concern. However, research challenges this assumption. Lagrosen et al. (2010), in their study on quality management and employee health, found a clear relationship between leadership commitment, participation, and how employees perceive their own health. This means leadership behaviors and organizational culture directly influence how well people feel—not just how well they perform.
When leaders model healthy behaviors, involve employees in meaningful decision-making, and build quality-focused cultures, health outcomes improve. This connection reframes health as a quality indicator and a risk-management issue, not a wellness perk.
The Hidden Cost of “Mask Behaviour”
One of the least visible but most damaging threats to sustainable leadership is what can be called mask behaviour. This refers to the sustained effort of appearing calm, enthusiastic, patient, or resilient while internally feeling exhausted, stressed, unwell, or emotionally drained. Most professionals engage in masking occasionally, especially during presentations, meetings, or client interactions. The danger arises when masking becomes the default mode of operation.
Prolonged mask behaviour consumes energy at a physiological level. It increases stress hormone exposure, weakens emotional regulation, and reduces immune function. Over time, this can result in chronic fatigue, anxiety episodes, persistent illness, or full burnout. Importantly, leaders who mask constantly send a powerful signal to their teams: “This is how we survive here.” As a result, fatigue becomes invisible but widespread.
The effect is often delayed. Much like the exhaustion people experience after extended holiday gatherings with family—where politeness and restraint are required for days on end—the body eventually demands repayment. Illness or emotional collapse after the holidays is not a failure of character; it is a predictable biological response to prolonged energy drain.
What Sustainable Leaders Do Differently
Sustainable leaders actively reduce the need for masking and increase opportunities for recovery. They understand that resilience is not about endless endurance but about intelligent cycles of effort and restoration.
First, they model recovery. Leaders who take vacations, step away from email outside working hours, and openly acknowledge the need for rest legitimize these behaviors for others. What leaders do matters more than what they say.
Second, they create spaces where masks can come off. This may include honest check-ins, psychologically safe meetings, or informal moments where people are not expected to perform. When employees can speak plainly without fear of judgment, emotional load decreases.
Third, sustainable leaders design flexible rhythms. After periods of intense workload or public-facing effort, they allow for asynchronous work, lighter schedules, or buffer days. Recovery is planned, not improvised.
Fourth, they clarify roles and expectations. Uncertainty drives impression management. When goals, responsibilities, and boundaries are clear, people expend less energy trying to look competent or available at all times.
Finally, they implement health-forward policies. Easy-to-use sick leave, supportive return-to-work processes, ergonomic resources, and access to mental health support all reduce long-term organizational risk.
Health as a Leadership Legacy
Protecting health is not about lowering standards. It is about preserving capacity. Leaders who design for health build organizations that can deliver consistently, adapt under pressure, and retain talent over time. As Lagrosen et al. (2010) demonstrate, leadership commitment to quality and participation does more than improve outputs—it safeguards the people who make those outputs possible.
As the year ends, sustainable leadership asks a different question: not “How much more can we extract?” but “How can we ensure people still have energy left for the year ahead?” The answer to that question defines whether performance is merely impressive—or truly sustainable.
