By Dan Hammond, Chief Disruption Officer, LIW
Much of our work with teams has, according to our CEO Pia ‘turned into group therapy sessions’.
There is – finally – more openness about mental health in workplaces. As INSEAD’s Professor Gianpiero Petriglieri observed: “even your average jerk colleague who only cares about the numbers is now saying, ‘How are you?’ “. But is it enough?
What does this mean for leadership?
We need to do more:
- Take time: focus not on taskwork but on teamwork: the health of your team and the humans in it.
- Be confident: recent research shows that even if you are not skilled in dealing with mental health issues, just being seen to try makes a big difference.
- Don’t be a hippopotamus manager (big mouth, tiny ears): it’s time to ask a question and then listen. A lot.