Inside the Role of Chief Wellbeing Officer with Jen Fisher

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Work is making people sick, and quick fixes are not enough. In this episode, I’m joined by Jen Fisher, former Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte, to talk about why wellbeing isn’t a perk but a business imperative. We break down why burnout is often rooted in systemic issues and hopelessness, how middle managers shape our daily mental health, and why hope and an understanding of the human nervous system may be the most underrated leadership skills of all. Tune in to rethink what wellbeing means and what it takes to lead with hope right now. Check out our sponsors: Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to http://shopify.com/anxiousachiever Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiaitry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes. Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://genius.com Brevo - Meet brevo, the all in one marketing and CRM platform built to help you connect with customers, boost engagement and grow your business smarter. Go to brevo.com/achiever and use code ACHIEVER50 for 50% off. In this Episode, You Will Learn 00:00 Why wellbeing is more than mental health benefits. 06:00 How burnout led Jen to pioneer the Chief Wellbeing Officer role. 13:00 What does “wellbeing at work” mean? 19:30 The ROI of fixing workplace culture. 23:00 Why does AI make us so anxious? 26:00 Why wellbeing must be part of organizational strategy. 30:00 How constant disruption dysregulates employees. 33:15 What is the definition of a successful leader? 37:15 What workplace data misses about human outcomes. 40:30 The #1 thing employees want from leaders. 46:00 Why middle management is the make-or-break layer. 51:00 Incentives drive culture more than values. 58:15 How to build a wellbeing role inside your organization. Resources + Links Get your copy of Jen’s book - Hope Is The Strategy Read Jen’s article: “The Wellbeing Imperative: What I Learned Pioneering the Chief Wellbeing Officer Role” Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever Watch the podcast on YouTube Find more resources on our website morraam.com Follow Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam Follow Jen: on LinkedIn @jenfisher + Instagram @jenfish23

Transcript

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0:00.0	don't wait protect your privacy built your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10
0:08.5	clicks and 10 minutes visit northwest registered agent.com slash achiever free just head to tachiatry
0:17.0	dot com slash achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in-network psychiatrist
0:21.8	in just a few minutes. Sign up for your $1 per month trial at Shopify.com slash anxious achiever.
0:30.2	That's Shopify.com slash anxious achiever. Just head to brevo.com slash achiever to take your marketing further with Brevo and its
0:42.4	AI assistant, ORA, which will help you craft smarter campaigns and create great content.
0:53.4	If I ever went back to work and got a real job, I think that I would like to be the
0:58.2	chief well-being officer at an organization.
1:02.7	Because well-being, which is more than just mental health and mental health benefits,
1:09.2	although those are super important, is a strategic
1:12.6	way to make sure that people at work are thriving and that because they're thriving,
1:22.6	the company experiences better performance.
1:26.6	And so today we talk to one of the most prominent people in the well-being at work movement.
1:34.0	I'm Maura Erin Smealy, and this is the anxious achiever, the show that looks at the intersection
1:39.1	of mental health and leadership and work and asks, how can we do it all better? I first met Jen Fisher when she was
1:46.8	the chief well-being officer at Deloitte, the mega giant consulting and accounting company. And,
1:55.4	you know, Jen was always an outspoken proponent for the strategic value of well-being. Now, she's an entrepreneur like me,
2:04.4	and she has a great new book. It's called Hope is the Strategy. We're going to talk about that.
2:10.4	If you know me, you know that hope isn't my natural setting, but I'm working on it. But Jen has a
2:15.1	really powerful case for why hope is what we need
2:19.9	in today's fractured work world. Jen shares her research, her experience on what it takes
2:29.3	to bring well-being into the fabric of an organization, not just as a nice-to-have program,
	...

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