What’s changing at Kyricos & Associates?
The essence of our business hasn’t changed, but the approach has. I like to think it’s changed with the times, but the reality is, it’s been informed by my personal learnings advising on wellness strategies for organisations of all kinds.
We need to move beyond products, services and programmes and think strategically and holistically – to make wellness a part of how companies and organisations behave and operate, not just what they offer.
For example, it’s not only about hotels offering spa and wellness treatments to guests but also about the example GMs and corporate leaders set, how they operate, source and recruit talent and deliver experiences. It’s also about how they show up and give back to their communities and their overall impact on the planet.
With this lens, we’re changing the way we support organisations that want to leverage wellness as a strategic differentiator and at the same time, impact the wellbeing of people, planet and community.
In my opinion, this is what’s expected of 21st century organisations. We call this approach the Ecosystem of Wellbeing and have recently trademarked this term.
What inspired you to create this new framework?
The pandemic was a time of great realisation and inspiration. I left a job, a company and a city I loved and returned to my own consultancy that, candidly, didn’t inspire me anymore.
I knew I had to rediscover my inspiration and work through some personal disappointment, which involved everything from deepening my meditation practice and prioritising the things in life that give me the greatest joy, to researching crazy concepts such as love as a business strategy – which I would later learn was not so crazy, hence my title change to ‘chief love officer’
I had to step back from the world in order to see it more clearly. I watched, listened and learned how people and communities responded to everything from COVID-19 to the death of George Floyd and renewed corporate efforts to make diversity and inclusion a strategic priority.
A lightbulb went off when I added these observations to my professional experiences creating and implementing wellness brands and products or workplace wellness programmes within largely unwell systems. I realised we need to look at wellness systemically, not just symptomatically.
Why did you register your proprietary process?
I’m purpose-driven, which is not always a good thing because I’m in the habit of freely sharing what I later learn was pioneering. I had a team to help me; a brand strategist who illustrated Ecosystem of Wellbeing as an infinity symbol, which I thought was genius and when I shared it with our website manager he suggested I meet with a trademark lawyer, saying “you’ve articulated what I’d failed to understand until this moment and I think the world will want to copy you.”
I realised the concept may be easy to understand, but actualising it is a greater challenge, which is where our proprietary thinking and my experience working in the corporate and consulting worlds come in.
Our brand manager says, “Kyricos is the special sauce and our “associates” are who help us to scale, so we hope, over time, to guide our associate network around the world to identify and activate Ecosystems of Wellbeing, so we can oversee and make systems well together.
How will it change your work?
It will expand its scope and the business impact we create for companies. We’re changing mindsets in terms of how people perceive wellness and wellbeing, so we stand to reduce costs by streamlining resources, products and programmes that have historically been siloed, while increasing brand awareness and the overall appeal of companies, both internally and externally.
Who will it benefit?
For companies serious about making wellbeing part of their DNA, it presents a strategic approach to wellness that supports business and brand objectives.
If companies are wishing to address leadership, employee, consumer or even community wellness, it gives them a point-of-entry into a wider ecosystem they often don’t realise exists. For others who may have failed or had fleeting success with the launch of wellness-driven programmes, products and/or services, it gives an objective lens to reevaluate, evolve and deepen the potential for success. It’s a tool from which we can teach and learn because every company, every organisation – even every city and country – has an Ecosystem of Wellbeing that’s unique to them.
How happily does wellness sit with commercialism?
The answer is profoundly simple: it comes down to the authenticity of leadership. I ask leaders all the time if they’re trying to “tick the box” by offering a wellness-driven product, service or programme, or if they really want to change their companies for the better? Either answer is OK, but they need to be honest with themselves from the start.
We should stop feeling ashamed about making money. On the contrary, doing good often comes at a cost, so why not reward companies and organisations that do this while also caring for the wellbeing of people, community and planet?
The key to success and the future of work will be more about how we work than what we do or even where we do it from.
You’re suggesting executives spend time on their wellbeing…
If we only focus on challenges and stress, it becomes self-defeating because we ultimately grow what we feed.
Leaders who don’t personally identify or practice wellness are the ones that don’t understand it, or who secretly don’t believe in it, while publicly being responsible for its success. In both cases, they’re just setting themselves up to fail.
My advice is to find a wellness ‘religion’ of some kind. It doesn’t matter if it’s spiritual, emotional, physical, mental or financial. It doesn’t matter what time of day it’s practised, or for how long, just that it’s identified, respected and practised every day. If you look to the world’s most successful leaders and happiest individuals, you’ll find they have wellness practices they’re religious about and regularly share, publicly.
Do we have to accept wellness is for the privileged?
This is such an important question and one that those in the business of wellness have either complicated or neglected because it comes down to the environment required for our wellness to thrive.
For example, it’s impossible to think about being mindful or taking time to connect with loved ones or even eating or sleeping well when we’re worried about food or shelter. It’s difficult to take advantage of a workplace wellness programme or a free meditation app when you don’t feel included, seen or supported at work, or safe in the community where you live.
We have to remember that wellness is personal and the path to wellbeing is dependent on environmental factors inside and outside our control, both at work and in life.
We have to get real about the factors that affect personal health and wellbeing in order to refine what we offer, to whom and how. Only then will we stand to make wellness more equitable and achievable for all.
Can the wellness market be sustainable?
This comes down to the ‘how’ for every single company, community, industry or even country. All it takes is one thing: intention.
Just think about how far we’ve come. I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and we never talked about caring for people or the planet in the context of business – and if we’re being honest, some people and organisations weren’t even doing this by 2019.
But the world has changed, and the worst thing we can do at this point is to have collective amnesia. We can and should do better.
For me, it’s as simple as being conscious and having the intention to leave the world a better place, which I genuinely feel is a responsibility for us all.
How is your new framework being received?
Answering this question makes me emotional because the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve been contacted by people from all over the world and all walks of life who identify with the Ecosystem of Wellbeing in some way, or who’ve shared how it’s helping them to see the world of wellness, and their part in it, much more clearly.
Over time, organisations of all kinds will engage with it. This will lead to more data being shared, more positive outcomes and more learnings that will help us guide others to do the same. Perhaps the model will even be taught in business schools one day.
