Reframing Self-Care: A Leadership Imperative in Healthcare

Look familiar? Working on vacation is not vacation.

As healthcare leaders, we are no strangers to stress. We lead in high-stakes environments where people depend on us—not just our patients and clients, but our staff, our teams, and often our own families. When demands increase and time feels scarce, the emotional weight of grief, fatigue, and burnout can quietly accumulate.

This is your reminder: self-care is not a luxury—it’s a leadership responsibility.

Let’s start by dispelling a myth: that self-care is somehow indulgent, frivolous, or incompatible with serious leadership. Harvard Business Review addresses this directly in their piece, Serious Leaders Need Self-Care Too, calling out the internal narrative many of us have absorbed—that pausing, resting, or reflecting is a sign of weakness. In reality, it’s the opposite. Leaders who neglect self-care end up depleted, disconnected, and unable to show up with clarity or compassion.

Brené Brown describes the number one skill leaders need right now as being a “calm space maker.” In her words, “A critical mass of people, in my opinion, are emotionally unregulated right now.” In a time when many are overwhelmed, leaders who create psychological safety, who respond instead of react, and who model emotional regulation are the ones who inspire trust and resilience.

But you can’t make calm if you don’t have it yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Harvard Business Review’s article Reframe How You Think About Self-Care offers a helpful metaphor: if you consider yourself an asset to your organization—and you are—then it’s time to stop treating that asset as expendable. Skipping meals, working into the night, running on fumes is not sustainable. “Let’s cut to the chase,” the article says. “It’s not.”

So what does self-care look like for a healthcare leader?

It’s not always meditation or yoga—although it can be. It might be a walking meeting instead of a sit-down, a lunch break that actually includes food, a moment of deep breathing between patient visits, or simply shutting the laptop at a reasonable hour. Self-care is highly personal. And it’s not for show—it’s for sustenance.

Self-care is preventing burnout by taking care of yourself before self-care no longer is effective in managing stress, because your body is in a chronic state of "fight or flight."

Let’s also consider the ripple effect. When we model boundary-setting, stress management, and authentic leadership, we give permission for others to do the same. When we normalize conversations around self-care, we chip away at the culture of overwork that harms retention, morale, and ultimately patient care.

If you're using apps for meditation, sleep, or mindfulness—talk about it. Share what’s worked for you. One person’s story might be the encouragement someone else needs to try something new.

And for those who are consistently serving, showing up for others, and holding the weight of leadership—know that your efforts are seen and appreciated. When you're able, prioritize time for yourself. Not someday—soon.

Let’s reframe self-care not as an escape from leadership, but as a foundation for it.