Quiet Thriving Vs Quiet Quitting
A phrase has lingered in the leadership lexicon these past couple of years: quiet quitting. It captured a generational weariness, a sense of doing only what is required because the wider system had stopped caring. For many, it was a form of self-protection – a way to reclaim energy, boundaries, and dignity in workplaces that had become all output and little oxygen.
But there’s another, quieter movement emerging in response: quiet thriving. It speaks not to withdrawal, but renewal. It’s about individuals – and increasingly, leaders – finding authentic ways to flourish within the system they inhabit.
The shift from disengagement to self-determination
The term “quiet thriving” has been popularised by workplace psychologists such as Lesley Alderman (2023), who observed that even in challenging work environments, some people actively re-engage by shifting mindset, creating meaning, and nurturing micro-moments of purpose.
The psychology behind this is not new. Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) tells us that human wellbeing and motivation depend on three core needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. When these are met, people thrive; when they’re thwarted, disengagement – or “quiet quitting” – naturally follows.
What’s interesting is how many leaders are now experiencing their own version of quiet quitting. Not in behaviour, but in spirit. They are present, but tired. Capable, but uninspired. Many tell me privately that they are “performing leadership” rather than living it.
Quiet thriving, then, is not simply about personal happiness. It’s a reclamation of vitality and meaning in a landscape that has become too transactional.
Inner-true leadership: starting from alignment
In leadership development, we often talk about authenticity – but inner-true leadership goes deeper. It’s about living and leading from an integrated sense of who you are and what you stand for.
Research on authentic leadership (Avolio & Gardner, 2005) suggests that leaders who act from self-awareness, relational transparency and internalised moral perspective generate higher trust and engagement in others. But authenticity is not a static trait; it is a dynamic practice of alignment between self, values and action.
Quiet thriving arises when that alignment is restored. When leaders stop striving to fit the mould and instead allow themselves to lead in ways that feel congruent, humane and whole. This is not rebellion – it’s reclamation.
The social system of thriving
It’s easy to treat thriving as a personal pursuit – mindfulness, resilience, or a morning routine. Yet, thriving is deeply social. Organisations are ecosystems, and ecosystems either nurture or deplete.
Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety reminds us that people can only thrive when they feel safe to speak, contribute and fail without fear of humiliation. Similarly, systems thinking (Senge, 1990) reminds us that individual wellbeing cannot be disentangled from collective health.
A culture of thriving therefore depends on both structure and story. It’s about the small signals leaders send:
Do we celebrate learning as much as performance?
Do we measure outcomes at the expense of wellbeing?
Do our systems reward collaboration or competition?
The answers to these questions shape whether people quietly quit or quietly thrive.
The paradox of thriving leadership
There is a quiet paradox here. Leaders who wish to foster thriving in others must first create the internal conditions for it in themselves. That means moving away from constant output towards intentional restoration.
This may look like pausing before responding; saying no without apology; or creating reflective time for sense-making rather than rushing to solution. Research in contemplative leadership (Reitz & Chaskalson, 2022) shows that even brief, regular reflection improves decision quality and emotional regulation.
In practice, thriving leaders are not necessarily the calmest or most serene – they are simply the most congruent. Their inner state and outer action are in dialogue, not at war.
Moving from wellbeing as perk to wellbeing as praxis
Organisations often fall into what some scholars call wellbeing washing – performative gestures that signal care without addressing systemic strain. True wellbeing cultures don’t depend on yoga classes; they depend on trust, workload integrity, and meaningful relationships.
To cultivate thriving at scale, leaders can begin with three shifts:
From performance to presence – noticing rather than judging.
From control to co-creation – involving teams in designing how work works.
From speed to sense-making – slowing enough to reflect on direction and impact.
These shifts aren’t cosmetic; they are systemic interventions that ripple through culture.
A quiet revolution
In truth, quiet thriving may be one of the most hopeful movements in contemporary work life. It doesn’t call for grand gestures, but for grounded presence. It asks each of us – leader or otherwise – to become more deliberate about where we place our energy, attention and care.
As with all sustainable change, it starts within. Leaders who cultivate their own sense of inner alignment become catalysts for collective renewal. They model what it means to thrive quietly but powerfully – to live, lead and work in ways that restore rather than deplete.
Perhaps this is the quiet revolution we need most: not louder leadership, but truer leadership. Leadership that begins where all thriving begins – from the inside out.