More of your team is struggling than thriving.

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Hey Spark Family,

I want to share something with you that I don’t think is getting nearly enough attention. Not because it’s new, but because it just crossed a line we’ve never crossed before.

Gallup has been tracking whether people are thriving or struggling for years. Through economic shifts, the pandemic, and everything in between, one thing held steady. More people were thriving than struggling.

Until now.

For the first time in Gallup’s tracking history, that balance has flipped. 49% of U.S. workers report that they are struggling, 46% say they are thriving, and the remaining ~5% fall into what Gallup classifies as “suffering,” meaning they are experiencing significant daily distress.

That shift didn’t happen overnight. It’s been building slowly and quietly. And that’s exactly why it’s so easy to miss.

Because the people who are struggling are not always the ones you’d expect. They are still showing up, still delivering, still saying they’re fine. On the surface, everything looks intact.

But that’s not reassurance. That’s a signal.

The Research Is Clear

Gallup’s most recent data paints a picture that leaders need to understand, especially right now.

➡ 49% of workers report struggling, compared to 46% thriving, with ~5% suffering. This is the first time that struggling has outpaced thriving.

➡ 51% of employees are actively looking or watching for new opportunities. They haven’t left, but they’re not fully here either.

➡ Job market confidence has dropped from 70% in mid-2022 to just 28% today. People feel stuck, not stable.

➡ Among those dissatisfied and looking, 27% cite leadership or management as a top reason. Not just compensation. Not just workload. Leadership.

➡ And when people are thriving, the difference is meaningful: they experience 53% fewer health-related absences and are 32% less likely to be seeking a new job.

This isn’t just an engagement issue. It’s a human signal with very real business consequences.

When connection drops, performance eventually follows. When people don’t feel seen, they don’t bring their best thinking. And when leaders lose visibility into how their people are actually doing, they start making decisions based on an incomplete picture.

What I'm Seeing In The Field

The leaders who are most surprised by this data are often the ones with the strongest teams. Because on the surface, everything looks fine.

People are delivering. Meetings are productive. The team dynamic seems solid. So the assumption becomes: we’re okay.

But struggling and performing are not mutually exclusive. Some of the most capable people I work with are also the most depleted, and they have no intention of saying so.

I see the high performer who is hitting every metric and quietly dreading Monday morning. She’s not going to raise it. The risk feels too high, so she keeps delivering and starts watching for what else is out there.

I see the manager who absorbed more responsibility after a restructure and hasn’t complained once. What’s harder to see is that he stopped taking time off, stopped bringing ideas, and stopped believing things will get better.

I see leaders checking in on project status every week and having no idea that several people on their team would describe their lives as something they are just trying to get through.

The gap between what leaders see and what people are carrying is wider than most leaders realize. And in a moment where people feel stuck but not committed, that gap is where engagement starts to erode.

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What We Teach Leaders Inside Spark Brilliance

When I talk with leaders about this data, I always start with one question.

How would you actually know if someone on your team was struggling?

Not underperforming. Not missing deadlines. Struggling in the way the data describes.

Most leaders don’t have a clear answer. Because most organizations have built systems to track output, not wellbeing. And those are not the same thing.

The leaders who catch this early do a few things differently. They ask better questions, and they ask them more often. Not just “How’s the project going?” but “How are you actually doing?” in a way that makes it safe to answer honestly.

They also pay attention to what’s missing, not just what’s wrong. The person who stopped bringing ideas. The one who used to push back and now just agrees. The energy that quietly left the room. These are signals, and leaders who notice them can respond before the damage is done.

Because thriving isn’t a nice-to-have metric. It’s a leading indicator of performance, retention, and the kind of culture that sustains itself over time.

🌟 Your Challenge This Week

Before your week gets moving, take an honest look at your team.

If you had to rate each person, not on performance but on whether they are genuinely thriving, where would they land?

Is there someone you’ve assumed is fine because they’re still delivering? When did you last ask them how they’re doing in a way that invited a real answer?

And the one worth sitting with the longest:

What would it cost your team if one of your strongest performers quietly decided they were done, not because they found something better, but because they stopped believing things would improve?

Your team doesn’t need you to solve everything. They need you to see them clearly and make it feel, even in small moments, like someone in their work life actually cares about how they’re doing.

That is still within reach. And it matters more right now than it has in a long time.

With gratitude,
​Jackie

P.S. – If someone came to mind while reading this, trust that instinct. The cost of checking in is almost nothing. The cost of not noticing is much higher than it appears.✨

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