Business schools have traditionally prioritised metrics, strategy and performance as markers of success, too often overlooking the human experiences that shape how people work and lead. Among these, grief stands out as a universal yet deeply personal challenge, with far-reaching implications for an individual’s wellbeing and focus. Yet how often do we equip leaders to address the emotional complexities that influence organisational dynamics and culture? B Current initiatives in business education, including mindfulness workshops, short-term counselling and wellness programmes, while helpful, often serve as reactive and isolated interventions. Although they serve a purpose, they seldom address grief as an ongoing experience or integrate it into leadership education as a core competency. Furthermore, despite society’s growing focus on mental health and wellbeing, these programmes remain peripheral to standard leadership training. Right now, leadership coaching initiatives tend to concentrate on performance optimisation, skirting the support required to address grief and other complex emotional challenges. This checklist mentality reduces grief management to a superficial exercise, undermining the need for a sustained and integrated approach to building emotional resilience. Encouragingly, some business schools are taking steps to address these gaps. Grief literacy and emotional wellbeing now appear in a handful of leadership
MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING
curricula, helping students recognise how grief can both derail and enhance effective leadership. Peer support networks and mentoring programmes are also gaining traction, creating spaces for students to share experiences and normalise discussions around loss. These efforts represent a promising shift from reactive interventions to proactive, integrated approaches. Why grief literacy matters Recognising and responding to grief is critical for future leaders. Grief manifests in various forms, from personal losses to career setbacks, financial difficulties and relocations. Each loss can fracture a person’s sense of identity and belonging, demanding time and empathy to heal. In his book, The Other Side of Sadness , Columbia University professor George Bonanno asserts the profound psychological impact of grief and highlights the importance of creating environments where individuals can process and recover from loss. Left unaddressed, grief can become an invisible disruptor, eroding trust, morale and psychological safety. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable we all are to abrupt changes in emotional wellbeing. Leaders can no longer afford to overlook the pervasive realities of grief that permeate their organisations. Grief is deeply personal, yet it exists within cultural, social and economic contexts. Marginalised groups, such as migrants and racial minorities, often face compounded grief due to systemic injustices and social exclusion. Migratory grief, for instance, captures
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Business Impact • ISSUE 1 • 2025
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