Dimensions of Well-Being and Workplace Dynamics

Well-being Is Multifaceted

Brackett stressed that well-being is not just about pursuing happiness, which can ironically make people feel more dissatisfied. Instead, it encompasses three core dimensions:

• Emotional well-being (the balance of joy, contentment, and hope with frustration, sadness, and stress),
• Social well-being (feeling included, connected, and appreciated versus isolated or excluded), and
• Purpose and meaning (inspiration, pride, and motivation versus boredom, burnout, or disengagement).

Importantly, positive and negative emotions are not opposites. People can feel inspired and exhausted at the same time, underscoring the complexity of human experience.

Survey Insights: The Gaps in Joy, Inclusion, and Purpose

Mindful Leader's audience completed a survey developed by Brackett’s team. The results offered a snapshot of workplace well-being among attendees:

• Emotional Well-being: Pleasant emotions outweighed unpleasant ones, yet joy scores hovered around the midpoint, suggesting room for improvement.
• Social Well-being: Attendees generally felt accepted and appreciated, but inclusion and loneliness surfaced as concerns — reflecting challenges exacerbated by remote work and organizational silos.
• Purpose and Meaning: Determination and motivation scored higher than inspiration, with exhaustion emerging as a major issue, reflecting the broader burnout trends in workplaces today.

These insights prompted reflection on how leaders can foster more joy, inspiration, and inclusion — not just reduce stress.

Leadership and Culture as Drivers of Well-being

Survey responses also pointed to the factors that hinder and support workplace well-being. The leading impediments included:

• Leaders lacking empathy,
• Excessive time pressures,
• Bureaucratic culture,
• Lack of resources, and
• Team conflict.

Conversely, the greatest sources of joy came from:

• Helping others and supporting growth,
• Strong colleague relationships,
• Experiencing personal and professional success,
• Having an impact, and

• Opportunities for creativity and problem-solving.

Brackett shared broader research showing that leaders with higher emotional intelligence and mindfulness practices cultivate workplaces where employees are more engaged, satisfied, and even healthier. Emotional intelligence, he argued, is not a “soft skill” but a critical leadership competency that directly impacts performance, retention, and well-being.

Final Thoughts

Marc Brackett’s session underscored that workplace well-being is multidimensional, measurable, and leader-dependent. The findings reveal that while many employees experience positive emotions, joy, inclusion, and inspiration are often lacking, while exhaustion remains widespread. For leaders, the message is clear: cultivating empathy, fostering inclusion, and enabling purpose-driven work are not optional extras — they are foundational to sustainable engagement and organizational success.

Marc Brackett PhD, is the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine at Yale University. His grant-funded research focuses on the role of emotions in learning, decision making, creativity, relationship quality, wellbeing, performance, and organizational climate; the measurement of emotional intelligence; and the influence of emotional intelligence training on key life outcomes. Marc is the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and our Society Thrive.

Check out Marc's new upcoming book: Dealing with Feelings (out Sept 16, 2025)

This article is part of our Best of Summit series where we spotlight the most compelling sessions from our summit.