“Remember to take your vitamins. When things get difficult, like they are now, you have to focus on your health.” These were the words my mother shared with me the day I told her I was getting a divorce. I remember being very angry when she said that. “Take my vitamins? Didn’t you hear what I just said? My life is turning upside down, and you’re talking about VITAMINS?!?”
At the time, I thought she was offering the only feeble advice she could, given that she lived across the ocean from me and couldn’t provide tangible support. But with the wisdom of hindsight, I realize now that she was reminding me of something essential: taking care of my health would help me weather the storm ahead. By looking after my well-being, I would be better equipped to face the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges inevitably coming my way.
It was so basic, that I dismissed it at first. Only later did I understand how crucial it was to take her advice to heart and pay attention to my physical, emotional, and energetic health. Doing so gave me the power to make good decisions, stay focused, and remain open to new experiences as I navigated this huge change. Taking care of myself was something I could control in a world that suddenly felt out of control.
In my work with people and organizations, I see this focus on health often overlooked. And yet, wisdom about tending to health is everywhere. Farmers have known for millennia that the most essential factor in growing crops is the health of the soil. When the soil is strong and nourished, plants will grow, and they will be better able to withstand unpredictable weather, pests, and other challenges. The same principle applies to individuals — and to organizations.
I wish I could say I followed my mother’s advice perfectly and that it was a complete success story. But that’s not how my life works. Instead, I had moments when I truly did “take my vitamins” — both the kind you buy at the store and the less tangible ones, like exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep, and feeding my spirit with music, theater, and meaningful connections. But I also had (and still have) plenty of moments without vitamins — eating too many croissants and cookies, neglecting movement, isolating myself from friends, and overdosing on negative cultural input, like endless scrolling online or dystopian movies predicting the world’s collapse.
Still, through it all, my mother’s words remained a north star — an anchor reminding me to regain balance when I lost my way. Even when I wasn’t following her advice, I knew it was true.
I share this story not just to reflect on my mother’s wisdom or my own journey but because I see its relevance in the organizations I work with. Just as individuals need to prioritize their health in turbulent times, so do organizations. When an organization is healthy — when its people are well-supported and its structures are resilient — it is far better equipped to navigate difficulties, tap into its resources, and avoid burnout. Strengthening an organization’s foundations is key to not just surviving but thriving in uncertain times.
Organizational Health: Beyond Tangible Assets
When people hear “organizational health,” they often think of financial stability: Is the accounting in order? Are there enough funds in the bank? Is cash flow steady? Are physical assets like buildings and machinery well-maintained?
These are indeed important aspects of health, true organizational health extends beyond them. A healthy organization also needs to take work on:
People’s Energy and Creativity: Are employees able to contribute their best work, or are they overstretched and exhausted? Are there avenues for them to bring fresh ideas and energy into the organization, or is the organization clogged, setting up limits that are unneccessary, or not setting the right limits so that people know where to focus?
Cohesion and Purpose: Do employees feel a sense of connection to the organization’s reason for existing? Do they understand how their work contributes to something meaningful, or do they feel separated and isolated doing their own thing without a sense of the whole?
Knowledge Flow: Is knowledge shared in a way that benefits the organization as a whole, or is it locked inside individual employees who take it with them when they leave? Or worse, buried in mountains of paperwork no one will ever read?
These so-called “soft areas” of an organization are often dismissed as less important, yet they make the difference between a workplace that’s resilient and thriving or one that’s toxic and stagnant. In stable times, you can get away with not looking after your health. But when things start to unravel, these things become the pivot points that determine whether an organization can adapt and innovate and take on these challenges with courage, and spirit as it navigates the new situation.
Cultivating Health in Your Organization
So, the question becomes how can you attend to organizational health in a way that is as deliberate as how you attend to financials or operations?
For me, it starts with seeing the organization as a living system — one that, like any living being, experiences cycles of balance and imbalance, vitality and exhaustion. The key is to keep returning to the north star of health and to develop the right practices to nurture it. A simple way to begin this journey is by learning to notice what is going well:
Identify what’s working. Where are the bright spots? What areas of the organization feel strong and healthy?
Understand what contributes to that health. What factors are allowing these areas to thrive?
Support and sustain these elements. Do you need to do more of something to reinforce them? Or perhaps do less — removing obstacles or unnecessary burdens?
Experiment and observe. Try changes that you believe will enhance organizational health and pay attention to the results.
These steps may seem obvious, just like my mother’s advice to take vitamins. Still, knowing something is important, doesn’t always mean we do it. That’s why having a simple practice to return to — whether in our personal lives or in our organizations —is worth taking a look at, especially now.