Request a demo
BetterUp
Request a demo

There’s no work you and home you: just whole you

May 20, 2021 - 12 min read
Meet BetterUp's Whole Person Model

Jump to section

Understand the ingredients for your success

Why and how a Whole Person approach helps you thrive

You're not alone — the creeping feeling that everything in our personal and professional lives is becoming more intertwined is indeed valid. Even before the pandemic, the lines between work and home were blurring, and creating balance was something many of us were struggling with daily

While fostering a clear separation between our working and personal time is a must for our sanity and well-being, dividing ourselves into two distinct personalities and identities — work self and personal self — can actually hold us back from success in the workplace.  

There's a variety of reasons we may wish to moderate how we show up at work — cultural norms, workplace dynamics, personal backgrounds, or even fear of appearing out of line with others. But despite our best efforts, come work time, we simply can't just turn off the traits that influence how we build and maintain relationships, relate to others, or deal with our emotions.

In fact, by obscuring from our workplaces the fundamental ways we think and act, we actually limit our ability to lead, collaborate, and inspire others. Research shows1 that when we bring our whole selves to work every day — all the good stuff that makes us us — we're more creative and perform better. But how do we identify and cultivate the right mindsets and behaviors that will positively contribute to this success?

BetterUp data2 shows that there are key behaviors and mindsets from other areas of our lives that lead to improved and sustained performance given we have the individualized support to improve them. Whether it’s focus, self-awareness, or strategic planning, you can use our Whole Person Model (WPM) to help you better understand your specific areas of strength and opportunities for growth to inform a roadmap to success through coaching and personalized support. 

Let’s take a closer look at how the Whole Person Model works and how it can help you in your personal and professional life.

Understand the ingredients for your success

If you've ever taken a traditional leadership assessment or attended a corresponding one-off company-wide training, you've probably noticed that their broad scope creates a gap in addressing your needs. More often than not, these approaches to leadership development focus on general skills that we're told will drive our success at work, like listening, empathy, and persuasion. While these qualities are important, they aren’t exhaustive, nor do they account for the personal and complex drivers of what influences us daily.  

When we show up at work, we bring our complete selves, not just our work selves, so it's essential to make investments in thriving behaviors like rest and emotional regulation, too, which are proven to impact how we lead and interact with others and the quality of our work.

Take rest, for example — it's not typically measured on assessments, but it plays an important role in our success. Studies show that 40% of people in corporate jobs get less than 6 hours of sleep a night and that even missing one night of sleep leads to decreased innovation. 

Rest is just one of many thriving examples that illustrate how an investment in our home lives can impact us at work.

BetterUp has gathered billions of data points from others like you to help us understand the behaviors that lead to thriving as a person and inspiring as a leader.


Our Whole Person Model was developed by a team of 8 PhDs and 3 MAs with expertise in psychology and leadership, drawing from literature in management science, organizational psychology, and positive psychology. In addition, the WPM was reviewed by members of BetterUp’s Science Board — including the father of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, PhD

Most assessments and training only address just one facet of your work, but BetterUp’s Whole Person Model (WPM) and Assessment help you gain a more comprehensive understanding of your strengths and areas for growth in your personal and professional life. The WPM was specifically designed to reflect behaviors that:

  • We can change
  • Directly or indirectly impact others, and 
  • Are linked to individual well-being, effective performance, collaboration, and leadership

BetterUp’s Whole Person Model accounts for mindsets, behaviors, and outcomes that drive your success at work.


The Whole Person Model has three core components:

  1. Mindsets - which are goals, beliefs, and emotions that motivate us to achieve an optimal state of working (e.g., growth mindset, optimism, self-awareness).  
  2. Behaviors - which help enable us to act on our full potential. Starting from a place of strength, we can focus on building and improving behaviors that are lacking. Behaviors fall under two categories:
    • Thriving Behaviors - investments across our personal and work life that support our thriving across cognitive, emotional, social, and physical dimensions (e.g., rest, focus, strategic planning, and emotional regulation).
    • Inspiring Behaviors - these help us to empower others to perform at their best, whether you’re a manager or not (e.g., motivating others, guiding others, and including others).
  1. Outcomes - the beneficial results that come from positive mindsets and behaviors (e.g., resilience, productivity, performance, engagement, job satisfaction).

Rather than uncovering static, fixed qualities, the WPM helps you receive and act upon regular pulse insights that you can use to drive long-lasting behavior change.

Why and how a Whole Person approach helps you thrive

The Whole Person Model is all about you. Your results are personalized and ensure that your corresponding developmental journey focuses on supporting your individual goals. With the results of your WPM Assessment, BetterUp Coaches will work to help you identify, understand, and own your strengths so you feel empowered to reach your full potential.

Here's how it works:

Assessments that help you understand your strengths 

Getting started with BetterUp means first taking the Whole Person Assessment. This 15-20 minute exercise is an engaging way to help measure your key mindsets, behaviors, and outcomes while boosting awareness of strengths and opportunities for further development. 

From the information that you share in your Whole Person Assessment, BetterUp personalizes your experience with unique Coach match suggestions (with 97% accuracy), content aligned to your needs and goals, and various coaching engagements to meet you where you’re at.

Don't worry, we'll never share your personal data with anyone, not even your employer. Your company will only have access to aggregated data, which helps them understand the impact and growth of BetterUp at your organization. This insight is key for your leaders to further invest in ways to support your growth and development.

"My results woke me up. My lowest scores were in self-compassion, resilience, and authenticity. I realized that I spent so much time prioritizing my ‘corporate skills’ that I neglected some of my most ‘human skills’ … and it was affecting how I show up both at work and at home”

BetterUp Member

Seamless onramp to coaching

The Whole Person Assessment provides a jumping-off point for the coaching relationship. The personalized results help you and your Coach customize learning and set focused goals with a plan for growth and development — whether it's to increase focus, strengthen communication skills, learn to manage stress, and more. You decide what’s most important to your needs and work to set an actionable path to accomplishing your goals.

"Amazing first session! Already unpacking actionable steps to reach my goals!”

BetterUp Member

Helpful ways to sustain your progress

Unlike other assessments or one-off training, the Whole Person Model is continuous and evolving, which provides you with opportunities to check in and adapt to your goals along the coaching journey.

Track progress on your goals and even loop in your manager when necessary.

Periodic assessments occur every four months to help you track progress over time, and 360° feedback allows you to gather the necessary input you need from your colleagues, direct reports, or supervisors on key leadership behaviors that you’re working toward improving.

"Picture me, week over week, working to become a more patient, calm, clear, understanding, wise version of myself in partnership with my Coach.”

BetterUp Member

Unlock your potential

Whether you’re looking to be more productive and resilient, lead thriving teams, feel a stronger sense of belonging and inclusion, or be a more effective leader, understanding how you show up in all aspects of your life plays a significant role in achieving those goals. Learn more about how an assessment paired with coaching and personalized support can help you find your focus, know your purpose, and live with confidence.

1 Debebe & Reinert, 2014; Wright & Cropanzano, 2000
BetterUp Labs member data, 2021

Transform your life

Make meaningful changes and become the best version of yourself. BetterUp's professional Coaches are here to support your personal growth journey.

Transform your life

Make meaningful changes and become the best version of yourself. BetterUp's professional Coaches are here to support your personal growth journey.

Published May 20, 2021

Adam Wood

Adam has over 15+ years of content and digital marketing experience. He's worked with some of the world's largest brands helping to bring their stories to millions of people.

Read Next

BetterUp Product
16 min read | May 13, 2021

The Whole Person Model: A holistic way to build inspiring leaders and thriving teams

Research shows that when we bring our whole selves to work, we’re more creative and perform better. That’s why BetterUp created the Whole Person Model (WPM). Read More
BetterUp Product
12 min read | November 10, 2021

Sleep, nutrition, new parent coaching and more: Meet BetterUp's specialist coaching network

To perform at our peak, we need to thrive physically, emotionally, cognitively, and socially. We also need rest, healthy habits, a sense of belonging, and resilience. What if... Read More
Leadership & Management
7 min read | December 1, 2022

Insights from Workday Rising Europe

Learn the top insights from Workday Rising Europe from BetterUp's VP of Business Development, Erik Darby. Read More
BetterUp Product
7 min read | September 7, 2022

BetterUp and Workday: Deploy coaching with precision and scale

The BetterUp integration with Workday securely and seamlessly transmits HCM data from Workday to BetterUp to provide joint enterprise customers with new data and insights... Read More
Diversity & Inclusion
11 min read | August 25, 2021

Measure the impact of your DEIB investment with BetterUp’s People Analytics Dashboard

BetterUp's People Analytics Dashboard goes beyond usage and satisfaction metrics to help you to track the actual growth of your people in critical mindsets, behaviors, and... Read More
Mental Fitness
12 min read | August 27, 2021

BetterUp’s first Chief Medical Officer on public health, behavior change, and mental fitness for all

In this Q&A, BetterUp's first Chief Medical Officer Thomas Van Gilder, MD, JD, MPH talks about his work in population health and whole-person care and his growing recognition... Read More
Leadership & Management
4 min read | November 14, 2022

5 Reasons HR leaders benefit from the BetterUp + Workday partnership

Discover 5 reasons why the BetterUp & Workday partnership delivers a best-in-class experience for HR executives and employees. Read More
Well-being
14 min read | July 16, 2021

Bringing your whole self to work — should you?

Learn how and why bringing your whole, authentic self to work allows you and your organization to thrive. Read More
Coaching
6 min read | September 3, 2019

Member spotlight: growth as a leader is not just upwards, but inwards

At BetterUp, we believe that becoming our best selves stems from developing our whole selves. In our work with members, we often hear that while many have found career... Read More

Similar Articles

BetterUp Product 

The Whole Person Model: A holistic way to build inspiring leaders and thriving teams

Well-being 

Your complete guide to self-assessments (with examples)

Customer Stories 

How to be a whole person leader with Ann Mukherjee, CEO of Pernod Ricard North America

Coaching 

The only guide you need to prepare for your career coaching session

Employee Experience 

6 strategies for supporting employees that actually work

Well-being 

Bringing your whole self to work — should you?

Mental Fitness 

BetterUp’s first Chief Medical Officer on public health, behavior change, and mental fitness for all

BetterUp Product 

Sleep, nutrition, new parent coaching and more: Meet BetterUp's specialist coaching network

Leadership & Management 

What we learned from leading a hybrid organization for 8 years

Stay connected with BetterUp

Get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research.