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Approval ≠ Buy-In
Why leadership attention fades even after the budget is approved
Nicholas Layne
February 16, 2026
Welcome to the Well-being Wire, the weekly newsletter focused on practical strategies and solutions that advance well-being in the workplace. This week is a part of our series on gaining leadership buy-in for your well-being program.
Most well-being leaders notice this pattern sooner or later.
The program gets approved.
The budget is signed.
Leadership nods and moves on.
At first, that feels like success.
But over time, something changes. Senior leaders stop asking about it. The program still exists, but it no longer feels protected. Attention drifts to whatever feels more urgent.
This usually isn’t because leaders changed their minds. It’s because approval and belief are not the same thing.
We know that senior leadership support is key to a well-being program’s success. This study using the HERO scorecard found senior leadership and organizational support to have the strongest on perceived effectiveness.
If a leader approved your well-being program, doesn’t that mean they support it and believe in it?
Approval is a financial decision. It answers the question, “Can we fund this?”
Belief is a strategic decision. It answers the question, “Does this matter to what I’m accountable for?”
Senior leaders approve many initiatives they never fully believe in. Those initiatives are rarely bad ideas. They simply never become priorities.
When well-being is framed as support, engagement, or culture, it often feels positive but optional. Optional initiatives struggle to hold attention once competing priorities appear.
This is why so many well-being programs stall after launch. Not from lack of effort. Not from lack of funding. But from a quiet gap between approval and belief.
If this pattern feels familiar, it may be worth watching.
P.S. We’re exploring this in-depth in our upcoming Well-being Wire Live session, The Leadership Gap That Keeps Well-being Stalled, on March 5th. Click here to register for free.
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An example of a fully customized well-being portal designed by Propel
At Propel, we create made from scratch well-being platforms that are built to fit your brand, goals, voice, initiatives, and culture.
Propel partners with our clients by providing a dedicated team that works collaboratively on a weekly basis to develop a program plan, set metrics, create custom branded communication and marketing materials, plan and implement engagement initiatives, answer questions, and provide strategic advice.
From marketing and communication strategy and execution to well-being champions programming, we design your program (not ours).
If you believe there is value in a well-being program that truly integrates your organizational culture but need strategic guidance or a team to take the workload on for you, Propel would love to help. The easiest way to get started is by scheduling a strategy session with us to discuss your program.