Leader Inspired Nutrition (A Concept Analysis) using the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) as a Framework
Leaders play a critical role in the success or failure of an organization to accomplish their mission. Leaders depend highly upon the art and science of leadership. ADP 6-22 in Army doctrine defines leadership as the “activity of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” Leaders within the military must be able to effectively communicate, be mentally adept, agile, and understand the specific requirements to leverage their units at superior strength against multi-domain operational threats. One consistent factor remains is that operational readiness is strategically linked to Warfighters health and performance. Recent national public health reports have highlighted high rates of employee absenteeism related to mental health, lower employee work productivity, and rising employee associated hospital costs related to suboptimal nutrition and lifestyle behaviors. The military population is no exception; there has been an increased focus on human health performance with the introduction of Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F, FM 7-22).
Commonly, leadership discussions often focus on character, competence, context, communication, with less attention given to the leaders’ role in modeling and influencing healthy behaviors within their organization. Optimal nutrition and health of Warfighters within the military population are foundational to organizational effectiveness. Equipping leaders with greater knowledge on how to engage employees on nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices may help to maximize Warfighter health and workplace performance. Emerging evidence suggests positive outcomes on employee health and increased organizational effectiveness when leaders promote healthy behaviors in the workplace.
A new concept of Leader Inspired Nutrition (LIN) is proposed as a domain of leadership that embraces conscious promotion of Warfighter healthy lifestyle as a facilitator for optimal performance and operational readiness. LIN is an innovative approach in which leaders can influence their subordinates, transform their operational environments, and demonstrate investment in the Army’s most prized human capital, its Warfighters. The purpose of this concept paper is to raise awareness and insight of a leader’s potential influence on promoting healthy behaviors within their organizations and provide practical evidence-based guidance for positively engaging with Warfighters to create a healthy work environment. Within the concept paper, we will explore the concept of LIN as it relates to the Nutritional Readiness domain within the H2F model in a military context 2) describe the potential barriers to leaders assisting Warfighters towards optimal healthy lifestyle practices within the workplace 3) identify ways leaders can incorporate LIN in their daily work environment to cultivate a culture of wellness.
LIN is comprised of seven core proposed strategies leaders can use to foster an optimal nutrition and healthy lifestyle within their units: 1) Promote a Healthy Nutrition Environment 2) Model Positive Nutrition Behaviors 3) Assess Economic Factors that Affect Nutrition 4) Assess Nutrition Knowledge 5) Assess Employee Performance 6) Assess Employee Wellness 7) Promote Utilization of Wellness Resources. The following proposed strategies of how leaders can influence and inspire Warfighters through a nutrition-focused approach within their units and organizations will be addressed below.
Note (Model Question Prompts for below categories): author question prompts to address their respective core strategy- ie. How can the leader promote a healthy nutrition environment? What are behaviors that leaders can demonstrate to lead in this domain? Are there any resources that may be available for the leader to consider to promote a healthy nutrition environment? What innovative or evidenced-based strategies may already exist? What is the benefit of a leader promoting a healthy nutrition environment? This is an example motivation question prompt, but please feel free to address as the subject matter expert what may be relevant, important, or innovative from your perspective as you consider the concept of leader inspired nutrition or LIN.
- Promote a Healthy Nutrition Environment
- Model Positive Nutrition Behaviors
- Assess Economic Factors that Affect Nutrition
- Assess Employee Performance
- Assess Employee Wellness
- Promote Utilization of Wellness
- Holistic Health and Fitness (FM 7-21)
