By Leila Ugincius

How harmful is workplace stress? Christopher S. Reina sees it as one of the defining challenges in modern business — a persistent, systemic issue that has quietly become a health crisis for employees and a strategic risk for organizations.

Reina, Ph.D., is founding and executive director of the Institute for Transformative Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business. His research focuses on the intersection of leadership, mindfulness and emotional dynamics in organizations — and how these shape both employee well-being and organizational performance.

The bottom line? “If leaders are creating stress through ineffective leadership,” Reina said, “we need to support their growth — or reevaluate their fit.”

Even after decades of corporate attention to stress, the core issue remains unresolved. In a recent conversation with VCU News, Reina offered insight into the deeper causes of workplace stress, the disconnect in current approaches and how transformative leadership can point a better way forward.

How serious is the toll of workplace stress?

It’s more than just uncomfortable — it’s costly and potentially dangerous.

Chronic stress is tied to cognitive decline, health issues, disengagement and soaring turnover. People aren’t just quitting jobs. They’re leaving cultures that feel misaligned, unsupportive or unlivable, and leaders are the ones who create these types of cultures that people leave.

The organizational impact? Stress is estimated to cost U.S. businesses over $300 billion a year in absenteeism, turnover and health-related expenses. And that doesn’t include the quiet erosion of trust, collaboration and innovation.

What’s the disconnect in how we’ve been approaching this?

The problem isn’t that stress isn’t on the radar — it’s that we’re looking in the wrong places for solutions. Too often, companies invest in surface-level perks like yoga classes or mental health apps without addressing the root causes.

We treat stress as an individual’s problem to manage instead of asking: What kind of culture, systems and leadership are creating this environment in the first place?

So who’s responsible for changing the system?

It starts at the top. Without active, ongoing commitment from senior leadership, stress reduction will always remain a well-meaning initiative rather than a sustainable cultural shift.

Transformative leadership means modeling care and accountability simultaneously. It means creating structures and expectations that honor both performance and humanity. We have to stop with the creation of the artificial tradeoff between one or the other — this just isn’t the case. Leaders have to pursue both deep care and high levels of accountability both at high levels.

CEOs and senior leaders should visibly champion well-being as central to strategy. HR should co-design with them — not as a side function, but as a core partner in building a culture where care, clarity and compassion support sustained performance.

What are some practical steps companies can take right now?

Start with clarity and data. Organizations need to assess what’s really happening — through pulse surveys, exit interviews and honest conversations — and tell the story of how stress impacts outcomes.

Frame it as more than just a wellness issue. Stress is a performance and risk management issue. When leaders see it as a barrier to results, they’re more likely to act.

I recommend using a transformative lens: one that doesn’t just reduce harm but actively cultivates environments where people can thrive. That means empowering teams to manage expectations, take real breaks and resist unrealistic demands. It also means rewarding behaviors that align with a culture of mutual respect and shared purpose.

Why don’t we see more organizations getting this right?

Often, it comes down to fear, tradition and inertia.

Leaders hesitate to name what’s broken because doing so implicates long-standing systems and expectations. But transformative leadership is about confronting these tensions — and having the courage to co-create something better.

That includes letting go of outdated ideas, like stress as a badge of honor or hustle as the only path to success. It also means rejecting the myth that resilience is the only answer.

Resilience matters, but we also need to design jobs and cultures that don’t constantly demand it.

Is there hope for meaningful change?

Yes — but only through honest reflection and long-term commitment.

Quick fixes won’t solve what’s fundamentally a cultural issue. Meditation rooms and webinars are fine, but if they’re not backed by structural change and leadership modeling, they won’t move the needle.

Companies that want to lead in this space must go beyond awareness to action. That means reimagining performance systems, investing in leadership development and embedding well-being into the very way work gets done.

At its core, transformative leadership is about aligning values with behavior — fostering cultures that uplift, challenge and empower.

If we want sustainable performance, we need leaders who believe that people and performance aren’t in conflict. They rise together — when care and clarity lead the way.