252: [Rebroadcast] A Past Interview with Wellness Legend Dee Edington

Redesigning Wellness Podcast

Dee Edington was a pillar of the wellness community and passed away on June 21, 2022. You can learn more about Dee here.

In this 2016 conversation, Dee and I talk about:

• How one question inspired the book “Shared Values, Shared Results”.
• Why a framework is needed to be built into the business, not just benefits.
• Helping people live to their best quality of life and to their highest level of performance.
• Why we shouldn’t walk away from the word “wellness”.

Dee also makes insightful comments about culture and how there’s only one culture in an organization. The questions becomes “is health a part of that culture or not?”. Ultimately, everything that happens in an organization affects the wellness of people.

We need to help CEO’s see the connection between positive organizational health and the business. Dee thinks short term outcomes are much better to focus on than lagging indicators, such as healthcare cost containment.

Dee makes a great point about asking the question “what is the best thing we’re doing around here to do our best work?”. In other words, ask for the positive things first.

What can you do if senior leadership is not bought into the concept of wellness? The #1 rule is don’t assume you know what the CEO wants. He imparts more wisdom around this subject that I personally found helpful.

Dee also addresses:

• The value of caring
• Are biometric screenings worth it?
• Why financial incentives discriminate against the lowest paid people in the organization.
• Infighting among wellness professionals

Finally, Dee grants me permission to forgive myself for past wellness mistakes and talks about incorporating gratitude as part of wellness.

To learn more about my new program, visit: https://everydayresilience.co/resilience-for-self-leadership/