Individual Health and Organizational Health

To get things done, it is essential to consider a number of areas relevant to personal, professional, and organizational well-being.

From an individual perspective, one of the most obvious and important areas is the physical dimension. The four pillars of biological health are nutrition, sleep, exercise, and relaxation practices. This is where the missions that we have designed for ourselves manifest on the physical plane.

Another important consideration is the emotional dimension. This is the area where the ability to connect with others resides. Our relationships with family and friends make our affective world rich and joyful.

The cognitive or intellectual dimension comes next. In this area, there is training, education, and the constant learning of new skills. This is the area where our vision for the future is created.

The next area has to do with social life and behavior. As a person, your well-being and growth also depends on your ability to connect and relate within your community, your work organization, and other organizations and cultures.

Lastly, there is the spiritual dimension, which includes a relationship with a higher being or a connection with the higher self through prayer, meditation, and self-awareness. This area includes volunteerism, altruism, and esthetics. This is the area where our values reside.

All of these dimensions are essential components of a healthy lifestyle and interact in dynamic processes. Productivity and performance processes operate within each of these areas, allowing us to constantly improve within each dimension.

The above descriptions apply, of course, to a personal or individual perspective, but we can use the same framework in regards to a healthy organization.

Within the physical dimension, I would include safety, structure, and the human elements we choose for our organization, whether it's a small company or a multinational corporation. This is also where the organizational mission-in-action is brought to life.

The emotional dimension of a healthy organization includes the corporate culture: openness and trust, the ability to receive feedback, and the capacity to sustain employee hope during critical times.

The intellectual dimension within an organization includes the training, learning, and skills necessary to constantly improve the organization. This is where the vision for the organization is created.

The social dimension includes the level of community involvement engaged in by an organization and the relationships that it creates with other corporations, cultures, and organizations.

In the spiritual dimension, the healthy organization's values compose the foundation of the organization. Ethical values, volunteerism, and altruism are key components within this area at the organizational level.

As in the individual’s healthy lifestyle, all of these dimensions are intimately related and interact in dynamic processes. Performance and productivity within each dimension bring about dynamic processes within the area, providing the opportunity for constant improvement.

The more aligned the individual dimensions are with the corresponding organizational dimensions, the better the relationship between the individual and his or her organization.

The better the alignment, the better the match, and the better the chances of maximum productivity, performance, and longstanding well-being.

About the Author

Dr. Gaby Cora is the president of the Executive Health & Wealth Institute, Inc. Her expertise in managing work in life during times of status-quo as well as in times of crisis inspired her to design a powerful program assisting executives and  corporations in Leading under Pressure®, providing for effective strategies to maximize peak performance and productivity while maximizing health and well-being. She is a  licensed medical doctor, trained mediator, corporate consultant, and executive coach. She has a master's in business administration, and is a professional member of the National Speakers Association.