Dr. Erin Wilson

Episode 165 | Rest Is Strategy, Not a Reward | Dr. Erin Wilson

Show Notes

How are you resting—not just sleeping, but truly resting in ways that renew your energy and unlock mental clarity? What would happen if you stopped treating rest as something you have to earn and started using it as your leadership superpower? Are you building your culture on the stone foundation of well-rested leaders, or is it teetering on a house of cards called leadership exhaustion?

Transform your understanding of what real rest means on this energizing episode of the Work Positive Podcast with Dr. Joey Faucette and Dr. Erin Wilson. Dr. Erin is co-founder of the Strategic Rest Summit and co-author of "Strategic Rest in Leadership," challenging the hustle mindset that led her to a stress-induced seizure and a complete transformation in how she leads.

Listen as Dr. Erin explores:
☀️ Why rest is not just sleep—discover the seven types of rest your body and mind actually need
☀️ How to shift from earning rest as a reward to using it as strategic fuel for innovation
☀️ The brutal truth: leaders want improvement but they don't want disruption
☀️ Why you can't create new culture with old behavior, especially exhausted leadership
☀️ How to schedule rest like a meeting so you create spaces where people can breathe and belong

Dr. Erin transforms how leaders think about rest by proving that rested leaders literally lead better, and that your culture will only be as strong as the rest practices of those building it.

🔑 Key Insight: "If you don't start to take rest seriously enough to schedule it like it is a meeting or all of the things that you value, then you start to miss out on the wonderful opportunities that rest allows you. It allows you to answer the questions that you can't answer, it allows you to unlock clarity, and it really allows leaders to create spaces that not just attract top talent but also keep them and retain them in a space where people can feel like they can breathe and belong."

💡 Your DOT (Do One Thing): Choose one meaningful moment this week. Talk to someone on your team and have them name a strength you've seen them use. Being specific in your recognition creates psychological safety—the soil for a really healthy culture. Culture doesn't shift by meetings; it shifts by the moments we create with people.

"Strategic Rest in Leadership: The NAP Framework" by Dr. Erin Wilson

In today's fast-paced world, rest often takes a backseat to constant hustle and productivity.

But what if rest is the missing ingredient to achieving sustained success? In Strategic Rest in Leadership, Dr. Erin Wilson and Dr. Kellie Dixon introduce a revolutionary approach to leadership that centers on rest as a vital tool for clarity, creativity, and high performance.