According to the Gallup 2025 report, only 21% of people are engaged at work. We look around and see people who are exhausted, overworked and not very motivated or creative. We live apathetically, bored, working out of necessity and not out of a sense of meaning or fulfillment.
The world has changed completely, but our relationship with work has not. We are seeing the exponential evolution of generative artificial intelligence, but instead of working less and being able to focus on the strategic and creative, we continue to overwork and underwork. We're living in a theater of productivity, we're very busy, but according to research by Breeze, 51% of our activities are spent on activities of little value: lots of meetings, lots of communication, bureaucracy, operations and little focus on what really matters.
And instead of understanding that our relationship with work needs structural changes, we continue with the outdated model we've been using for over 100 years, since the second industrial revolution.
With all the changes we've been going through over the last few decades, isn't it time we rethought our management model? Do we really measure productivity and results or are we attached to control, presenteeism and the availability of our team?
We are late for change, but it is urgent and essential. And it will be with a new look at leadership that we will build a future of work that can be better for everyone. The leader has the same impact on the mental health of the professional in their team as that person's spouse, according to research by the UK Workforce. Furthermore, according to Gallup70% of team engagement comes from leadership, which inspires or demotivates. We leaders are the key to this much-needed revolution.
After all, there is no innovation in toxic environments with exhausted people. In environments with a lack of psychological safety, which comes from competition, environments that are not very inclusive, not very diverse and without openness to authenticity or room for mistakes, there is no innovation. And in 2025, more than ever, we know that innovation will not come from AI alone, but from using it through the eyes of a human being, who has a creative, analytical and strategic vision. From having the human being at the center of business.
But this requires a healthy culture and humanized leadership, understanding that it will be through a team that believes and trusts that we will build this new path. Caring for people is a business strategy and innovation will only come from this learning.
Renata Rivetti is an expert in the science of happiness, founder of Reconnect, TEDx speaker, LinkedIn Top Voice, columnist and author of "The Power of Well-Being: A Guide to Redesigning the Future of Work", published by Companhia das Letras. After years as a marketing executive, she made a career change to promote a culture of well-being in organizations. Today she is a reference on happiness, human relations, humanized leadership, mental health at work and the future of work. She works with large companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Stellantis, among others, and is also an ambassador for the 4 Day Week movement in Brazil. Renata has a degree in Business Administration from FGV-EAESP, a post-graduate degree in Positive Psychology from PUC-RS and a specialization in Happiness Studies from the Happiness Studies Academy, as well as various certifications in well-being and mental health at work from Harvard, Penn and other institutions.
