Rethinking Success for Regenerative Businesses

This is the third post in my series What the Future of Leadership Looks Like. So far, we’ve explored creativity in leadership and the importance of connection. Today, I want to turn to how we define success — especially within a regenerative business. It’s time to rethink what “making it” really means, so that leaders can lead in ways that are sustainable, humane, and future-friendly.

Introduction: Why the Traditional Markers of Success No Longer Fit a Regenerative Business

For many years, success in business has been narrowly framed around status: titles, promotions, pay-rises, rankings. We celebrate people becoming “Senior Manager,” “Vice President,” or “Director” and equate a bigger salary with “having arrived”. But in today’s fast-changing, socially conscious landscape, those definitions are increasingly unsatisfying, insufficient, and at times even harmful.

In a regenerative business model — one committed to restoring, renewing, and sustaining social, environmental and economic systems — traditional success metrics don’t always align. For example, focusing solely on revenue and promotion can neglect wellbeing, erode team cohesion, and ignore environmental costs. Many leaders are discovering that those old markers of success no longer serve modern leadership; success must be redefined.

A Broader View of Success in Regenerative Business

To lead regeneratively, success must be multi-dimensional. Here are aspects that should form part of that broader view:

Wellbeing and Balance

Wellbeing is no longer optional. There’s compelling evidence that employee wellbeing correlates with organisational performance. A report by McKinsey & Company summarises research showing that organisations that score high on wellbeing metrics tend also to perform better financially. For example:

• The Well-Being at Work Report (Johns Hopkins Carey Business School) highlighted how employee well-being is strongly linked to workplace performance and retention (carey.jhu.edu).

  
  

• Another study, Inclusive Leadership and Employee Workplace Well-Being, found that inclusive leadership behaviours increase employees’ “vigor” (i.e. emotional energy, mental liveliness) which in turn enhances wellbeing (BioMed Central).

For a regenerative business, success includes creating environments where people are physically, emotionally, spiritually healthy — not driven to burnout.

Lifelong Learning and Growth

Leadership in a regenerative business is not static. It involves continual growth — of skills, mindsets, and understanding. The ability to adapt, learn, unlearn, and relearn becomes central.

• A recent study Strategies for Lifelong Learning and Upskilling (Daher-Armache, 2025) highlights how leaders who model learning behaviour tend to foster cultures where innovation and adaptability are possible (ScienceDirect).

• Similarly, The Importance of Lifelong Learning for Senior Leaders (Chevening, 2025) emphasises that senior leadership must invest in continuous learning to make better, more inclusive decisions, refine leadership style, and stay relevant (Chevening).

Success, then, isn’t only about reaching a title or financial milestone, but about committing to growth — personal, professional, moral.

Creativity, Expression, and Contribution to Others

Regenerative business is inherently relational. It demands that you look beyond self-interest and contribute to the wellbeing of others — colleagues, community, environment. And it demands creativity: expressing ideas, innovating, or even questioning “accepted wisdom”.

When leaders encourage creativity, they unlock higher levels of engagement and performance. Research indicates that when people feel their ideas matter and are invited to express them, innovation increases. For example, inclusive leadership (which fosters belonging and personal expression) has been shown to improve workplace well-being and creativity (BioMed Central+2McKinsey & Company+2).

Success in regenerative business therefore includes how much you’ve enabled others, how much you’ve expressed originality, and how far your work benefits more than just yourself.

The Impact on Leadership When Success is Redefined

Redefining success in these broader terms has fundamental implications for leadership — from decision-making through to culture.

How Broader Definitions Change Decision-Making

When success includes wellbeing, growth, creativity, and contribution:

• Leaders make decisions not only for short-term profit but for long-term resilience. For example, investing in employee development even when there’s no immediate return.

• Trade-offs shift: choosing sustainable materials over cheaper ones, or allowing remote work for wellbeing over maintaining “presence” for appearances.

• Leadership becomes more values- driven: decisions are judged not just by financial outcome but by ethical, social, environmental consequences.

Shaping Cultures That Celebrate Diverse Forms of Success

Organisations with broadened definitions of success cultivate culture differently:

• Recognition systems reward not only output, but behaviours: mentorship, collaboration, helping others to grow.

• Feedback loops include questions about wellbeing, learning, creativity — not just sales, deadlines, or efficiency.

• Leaders model diverse success: making visible how they themselves value balance, learning, and contribution — not just status. That modelling matters deeply.

Practical Shifts Leaders Can Make in a Regenerative Business

Here are some concrete ways in which leaders can move from traditional to more holistic success models:

1. Recognise Success in Small Wins and Wellbeing

   Celebrate team wellness improvements, personal growth moments, overcoming challenging learning curves. Make wellbeing metrics part of performance reviews.

   
   

2. Value Growth as Much as Output

   Encourage, fund and protect time for learning. Whether through mentoring, courses, or simply letting people try new things. Recognise that someone stretched beyond comfort zone often contributes more in the longer run.

   
   

3. Encourage Diverse Definitions of Achievement within Teams

   Invite team members to define what “success” means for them. Some may value creativity, others work-life balance, others may want to see their work contribute to community. Make room for those definitions to flourish.

   
   

Success as Multidimensional in Regenerative Business

In a regenerative business, leadership cannot rely solely on promotions, pay rises, or status. The future demands that success be rich with meaning: wellbeing, continuous growth, creativity, and service. Leaders who embrace this broader view will find themselves better equipped to navigate complexity, attract committed teams, and build organisations that endure — ethically, socially, and environmentally.

If you’re ready to begin redefining success in your organisation, aligning your leadership and metrics with what truly matters, I’d love to support you.

Explore how we can work together via my Working Together page, read what previous customers have said on my Testimonials page, and when you’re ready, reach out here.