Leadership and mental health

Mental Health Month has been and gone, but with mental health and employee wellness being as evergreen a topic in business as you’re ever likely to find, this is as fitting a time as any to touch upon the subject as we reach the final lap of what has been a most extraordinarily challenging year.

Uncertainty and sudden, anarchic change is the root of anxiety, and with COVID-19 infection rates skyrocketing once more across every corner of the globe there has never been a more important time to reach out and check-in on our family, friends and work colleagues.

Many, many of us grapple with our own internal demons, and as each of us are unique so too are the battles we secretly grapple with as we go about our daily lives. The Coronavirus pandemic has thrown fuel onto the fire, however, and no wonder: periodic lockdowns are a central pillar of the new normal, for the time being, as is the economic fallout – the millions of redundancies globally and countless business failures, along with the protests and simmering discontent that we read of in the news daily as the culture wars that so characterise the times we live in rage on.

It’s OK not to be OK

All of these factors have taken an immense toll on our individual and collective mental well-being, and now more than ever it is important for employees and organisational leadership to remember that, much as we might feel alone, we’re not. We’re all in this storm together and it’s OK not to be OK.

The workplace, whether that’s at home, in the office, outside or, for those in key worker positions, on the frontlines, so to speak, is at the centre of our lives. Organisations must play a crucial role in creating a positive space that facilitates wellness and helps fortify the mental resilience required to get through this difficult period of uncertainty and provide the support for those that need it.

Enabling your employees

From a business vantage point, employees are the most important asset without question. From a human perspective, employees’ thoughts and feelings and aspirations and concerns are paramount. Organisational success or failure will be dictated by their performance, which is where the role of leadership comes in.

A good leader supports and enables their team. Having the empathy and skills to help employees manage the mental health burden that these difficult times places on their shoulders will reap rewards in every conceivable way.

Be open and accessible

Even before Coronavirus reared its ugly head at the beginning of the year, the everyday stresses of modern life continued to grow ever more overbearing seemingly with every passing year. The emergence of new technologies has done wonders for productivity and connectivity but this has come at a cost. Our reliance on smartphones, Zoom and emails - the technological marvels upon which the modern world is build - means that we’re never really switched off and, in spite of our ability to reach out to colleagues, friends and family instantly at the touch of a screen, people are more anxious, depressed and lonely than ever before.

With this in mind, a willingness on the part of leadership to be open and candid about their own experiences and mental health struggles destigmatises a subject where, even in 2020, stigma still lingers, and fosters an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their own concerns and mental health worries.

The breaking down of rigid hierarchies and barriers that once existed between leadership and their teams in favour of a more open, inclusive management style is a key characteristic of modern business. For the first time ever, the people that work for us see that we are human too. As children and cats crash Zoom calls at important moments, we see through that digital window into the homes and souls of the people we work alongside. As we increasingly connect to our colleagues we humanise them, further building openness.

Mental health is wealth

The days of the superman-superwoman leader are over – today, in the modern era, inclusive, democratic leadership is the key to achieving success. Empathy and mindfulness are the key characteristics that great leaders demonstrate to optimise staff performance and help create a positive workspace that encourages and inspires. Mental health is wealth, literally and figuratively: when leadership executives take care of their teams’ mental well-being, such mindfulness will be reciprocated in kind to the benefit of organisations and their performance.