By Petra Velzeboer
As the saying goes, people leave managers not jobs – and we’ve all been there!
We like the role we have or the company values but ultimately our day-to-day experience is impacted by a manager who might be overly stressed, micro-managing or simply not be an inspirational leader somehow adding to your stress rather than reducing it.
Of course, we can all be leaders no matter what kind of role we’re in. Each of us has a sphere of influence in our team and can impact culture through our behaviours and actions – creating a healthy culture is about everyone, not just people at the top. Having said that, we must accept that we live in a world of mental health challenges that are affecting more and more of our people: the World Health Organization (WHO, 2023) for example named Burnout as an occupational phenomenon that needs addressing and Depression as a leading cause of disability worldwide so it’s fair to say that the task of the leader has become even more challenging.
While some leaders still think that people’s ‘personal problems’ aren’t their responsibility, with mental health affecting the bottom line of the business for example in sick days, losing talent, and loss of productivity, it has become a business objective to invest in our people – and there are key skills we can develop to help us do this:
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Firstly, let’s think about prevention.
Creating a healthy emotional culture is not just about having resources or benefits when people are struggling. It’s about helping your people feel safe so that they can be honest about what’s going on for them and they can put things in place themselves with your support to prevent burnout and overwhelm
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How to help the individual
I know, you are not a therapist and sometimes you need to point them in the direction of a professional, however, there’s a lot we can do as leaders to help. Learning to listen, practising empathy and knowing that you don’t need to fix what’s going on for them is a real skill that takes time to develop.
In our role as leaders fixing is often what we are required to do, so it can be a real challenge to switch gears and approach our people in a different way. Helping your people feel seen, heard and valued is crucial to enabling sustained productivity, and efficiency and preventing burnout.
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Promote team wellbeing
While it’s important to know your people and what they are going through so you can be the best support, it’s also useful to focus on these topics as a team – this way you can ensure positive accountability throughout the team and it takes the pressure off being responsible for every aspect of the team. Afterall, leading by example is a powerful tool but ultimately the team is made up of adults who can also learn to be responsible for their own emotional health.
The trick is creating a safe enough environment to be able to talk about health as a team. This might be a simple team question like ‘what’s one thing you do to invest in your health and wellness’ or creating space for a 3-minute meditation before a team meeting. Some of this may feel radical but you’ll have skills and capability within your team if you simply open up the topic for discussion and ask who might want to get involved with supporting the wider team.
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Finally, practice bravery
It can be scary to take the first step to open up or say that you want to focus on the health of your team – especially if you haven’t really done it up until now. Remember that you can learn together, understanding that we have all been through the COVID-19 pandemic and are still adapting to new ways of hybrid work and supporting each other through screens or random office times. Make sure your office days really do count and aren’t just about sitting at screens but are used for creativity and boosting team cohesion – this is essential to thriving in the new world of work.
About the author
Petra Velzeboer is a psychotherapist, certified coach and author of Being With You: invest in your mental wellbeing and satisfaction at work
