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Every organisation wants its people to thrive. Yet many wellbeing efforts, no matter how sincere, seem to miss the mark. Wellness days, flexible hours, or mental health toolkits can all be valuable, but they seldom touch the root of the matter. The real determinant of wellbeing lies not in programmes but in the intent that shapes the culture.
The Care & Growth Model offers more than a leadership philosophy. It provides a way to see the organisation, to diagnose the conditions under which people either flourish or withdraw. At its heart lies a simple truth: people give their best when they experience both care and growth from those who lead them.
Diagnosing Wellbeing in Organisations
True wellbeing cannot be reduced to numbers on a dashboard. Absenteeism rates and engagement scores may reveal symptoms, but not causes. What matters is the quality of experience that people have each day at work.
- Do employees feel trusted and respected?
- Do they believe their leaders genuinely have their interests at heart?
- Do they feel stretched and encouraged to take ownership?
When these questions are explored with honesty and humility, leaders begin to see the invisible fabric of organisational life, the level of trust, the presence of meaning, and the spirit with which people contribute.
The Care Dimension
The first duty of a leader is to create a climate of safety and trust. Care is not sentimentality; it is the disciplined act of paying attention to the human being behind the role. It shows in how leaders listen, how they give time, and how they respond when someone fails.
To care is to recognise that people are ends in themselves, not instruments of production. When care is genuine, anxiety diminishes, confidence grows, and people become willing to engage wholeheartedly. As Etsko Schuitema reminds us, “You cannot grow those you do not care for.”
The Growth Dimension
Care without growth breeds comfort. Growth without care breeds fear. Both are incomplete.
Growth is about entrusting others with responsibility; progressively loosening control so that people learn, make decisions, and experience the dignity of authorship. A culture of growth enables individuals to test themselves against real challenges, to discover their capability, and to find meaning in contribution rather than compliance.
When people are empowered to give of their best, wellbeing becomes self-reinforcing. Confidence and purpose replace stagnation and dependency.
Integrating Care and Growth: The Leadership Balancing Act
The magic of the Care & Growth Model lies in the balance between these two dimensions. Too much protection and people remain dependent. Too much demand and they feel abandoned. But when leaders combine empathy with high expectation, they invite maturity, a shift from getting to giving.
In such cultures, wellbeing is no longer a separate initiative. It becomes a natural outcome of how people are led and how they lead each other. Performance and wellbeing stop competing; they begin to sustain one another.
From Initiative to Culture
To enhance wellbeing sustainably, leaders must examine the intent that drives their interactions. Is it to get results from people, or to give them the means to succeed? When the latter becomes the norm, trust replaces compliance, and contribution replaces extraction.
At Schuitema Group, we help leaders embed this intent into everyday practice, clarifying what Care means in behaviour, how Growth is enabled through empowerment, and how accountability reinforces both. The outcome is not just a healthier workforce, but a more mature, generous, and resilient organisation.
Employee wellbeing is not a side project; it is a reflection of leadership maturity. The Care & Growth Model provides both the lens and the pathway for leaders to nurture that maturity, within themselves and across their teams.
When leaders care sincerely and empower courageously, they unlock a workplace where people do not merely survive, but come alive.
To explore how the Care & Growth approach can transform your leadership culture, visit www.schuitemagroup.com/about-schuitema/#care-and-growth
