Why Leadership Interest Fades Without Warning

How senior leaders decide what deserves ongoing attention.

Author

Nicholas Layne
February 23, 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 eventually ask the same question.

Why did leadership seem interested at first, and then slowly stop engaging?

It is tempting to assume the answer is competing priorities. And that is part of it. But something more specific is happening.

Senior leaders are constantly filtering information.

Not because they are disengaged.
Because they are accountable.

Every update, metric, and initiative passes through a quiet internal test:
Does this require my attention right now?

Well-being often enters that filter framed as support, engagement, or culture. Those are meaningful outcomes, especially at the employee level. But at the executive level, they often feel descriptive rather than decisive.

Support sounds positive, but vague.
Engagement sounds helpful, but indirect.
Culture sounds important, but long term.

So the initiative does not fail.
It simply gets sorted out.

This is why well-being can be working and still struggle to hold leadership attention. The issue is rarely effort or intent. It is relevance as leaders define it.

Senior leaders are trained to prioritize what reduces exposure, prevents disruption, or stabilizes performance. When that connection is unclear, attention naturally drifts elsewhere.

If leadership attention has been fading and you are not sure why, this may help clarify what is happening.

Have you ever had a well-being program approved, launched, and then slowly stop showing up in leadership conversations?

We’re hosting a live event that explains why leadership support for well-being fades even when programs are approved, clarifies how senior leaders actually decide what matters, and reframes well-being as infrastructure leadership can rely on rather than an initiative that needs constant explanation.

Share the knowledge! If you know someone who needs these insights, forward this newsletter and make their program better (and if someone already forwarded you this, click here to subscribe for future issues 🙂).

Want more? Check out our full library of past issues here.

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.