Aumla Winning with Wellbeing
Sustainable high performance – coaching, biometrics and leadership habits
After his own burnout, Magnus Liungman founded PeakPath, combining coaching with wearable data. He explains why wellbeing should be framed as performance – and what sets peak performers apart.
Magnus LiungmanFounder and CEO of PeakPath
From burnout to PeakPath
Magnus Liungman started at McKinsey and later founded a fast-growing health tech company – until doctors at his own company staged an intervention and sent him home. He was diagnosed with burnout. That experience led to PeakPath, which offers personal coaching supported by biometric data from wearables.
Technology isn’t enough
Wearables alone don’t change habits; many people feel judged by the data. Adding human coaching was “like a light switch”. As Magnus puts it: humans may not be scalable, but they are so worth it.
Wellbeing as performance
A client told them it was not a burnout intervention – nothing they had tried had a bigger impact on performance. PeakPath combines the WHO-5 mental fitness scale with motivation. Among around 1,000 members, those with high mental fitness and high motivation were seven times more likely to rate themselves as high performers and three times more likely to intend to stay. They slept 45 minutes longer on average, with more regular sleep. Yet only 7–15 per cent start in that zone.
Why leadership development often fails
From around 40 interviews with HR and L&D leaders, Magnus concludes that few organisations feel most managers show the behaviours needed. Root causes: new habits are hard, feedback cycles in leadership programmes are too long, and low mental fitness makes learning difficult. Leaders need both mental fitness habits and leadership habits – delegation, prioritisation, clear roles, vulnerability and psychological safety.
Small systemic changes
Frame it as performance, role-model behaviour (don’t send non-urgent emails at 11 pm), help junior staff set boundaries, and build psychological safety.
Key takeaways
- Technology and data become powerful when combined with human coaching.
- High mental fitness and motivation are linked to performance and retention.
- Leadership development needs short feedback cycles to build habits.
- Managers need both recovery habits and concrete leadership habits.
- Small changes in culture and role modelling make a big difference.
