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One lesson has stayed with me throughout my career.

Real clarity of the ask, at every level of the ask. People do not simply need a job description. They need clarity about what excellence looks like. They need opportunities to grow. They need to feel trusted. They need to know their contribution matters. And perhaps most importantly, they need to understand how their work connects to something bigger than themselves.

When these things are missing, organisations often describe the problem as disengagement. I think the reality is more complex. People don't usually wake up one morning and decide to care less.

Disengagement is often the cumulative effect of feeling overlooked, undervalued, under-levelled or unheard.

In public health, we frequently ask professionals to carry increasingly complex responsibilities while navigating financial pressures, organisational change and workforce shortages. Yet we are sometimes surprised when people quietly withdraw. Not by leaving. But by lowering the emotional investment they bring to work.

The phenomenon I hear often, now called "quiet quitting" is rarely about laziness.

More often, it reflects a broken relationship between effort and recognition. I understand that feeling. Like many professionals, I have experienced periods of being under-recognised, under-compensated and underestimated. It is deeply demoralising when your contribution appears invisible. But I have also learned something that has fundamentally shaped my leadership.

Your commitment to excellence cannot depend entirely on someone else's recognition of it.

If your standards rise and fall according to whether you receive praise, promotion or acknowledgement, then other people ultimately control your professional identity.

Excellence becomes conditional. Instead, I have come to believe in something different. I call it unconditional excellence.

It means choosing to produce excellent work because it reflects your values, not because it guarantees applause. It means recognising that every project, every meeting and every conversation is another opportunity to become better than you were yesterday.

The greatest beneficiary of your excellence is often not your employer. It is you. Every time you strive for higher standards, you strengthen your judgement. You deepen your expertise. You build credibility that follows you long after one particular organisation has disappeared from your CV. Your reputation travels. Your skills stay with you. Your integrity compounds.

That does not excuse organisations from their responsibilities. Quite the opposite. Employers cannot expect excellence while neglecting the conditions that allow excellence to flourish.

Organisations should be asking difficult questions.

1. Do our people understand why their work matters?
2. Do they have autonomy to lead?
3. Do they have opportunities to grow?
4. Do they receive meaningful feedback rather than annual compliance conversations?
5. Have we asked what might cause them to stay, not simply why they leave?

Too often we conduct exit interviews after trust has already been lost. Perhaps we should spend more time conducting stay conversations, understanding what enables talented people to continue bringing their best.

Leadership is not simply about demanding performance. It is about creating environments where excellence becomes possible. Likewise, professionals have responsibilities of their own.

Define your own standard of excellence before someone else defines it for you.

Find motivation rooted in purpose rather than praise. Set goals that reflect your values rather than organisational politics. Hold yourself accountable for continual growth. Take initiative without waiting for permission.

Public health has never advanced through minimum effort. It has always progressed because ordinary people consistently chose to give more than was required.

Not because someone was watching, but because communities deserved their best. That is the kind of workforce public health needs. Not professionals driven solely by promotion. Not professionals who only excel when recognised. But professionals whose commitment to excellence is rooted in integrity, purpose and service. This is also why I will continue advocating for public health as a profession.

We need more people choosing careers in population health, not simply because there are workforce shortages, but because the challenges facing our communities demand talented, compassionate and purpose-driven professionals.

Population health is one of the few disciplines that has the potential to influence the health and wellbeing of entire communities before illness occurs. Yet too often, its professionals work quietly behind the scenes, preventing problems that the public may never even know existed.

1. That work deserves greater visibility.
2. It deserves stronger leadership.
3. It deserves investment.
4. It certainly deserves a workforce that sees public health not simply as a career, but as an opportunity to create lasting social impact.

If we want to attract and retain the next generation of public health professionals, we must do more than talk about workforce shortages.

We must build workplaces where people can thrive, grow, innovate and lead. We must celebrate the impact of prevention, recognise excellence when we see it, and create cultures where purpose is sustained rather than slowly eroded.

The future of public health will not be determined solely by policies, strategies or organisational structures. It will be determined by whether enough people choose this profession, stay in this profession and believe their contribution is valued.

1. Recognition matters.
2. Fairness matters.
3. Leadership matters.

Excellence that depends entirely on external validation is fragile. Excellence grounded in purpose changes organisations.

And ultimately, it changes lives.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest responsibilities we have as leaders in public health - not simply to build better systems, but to build a profession that people are proud to join, proud to remain in, and proud to pass on to those who will shape the health of future generations.

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