Mental Health Awareness Is a Leadership Skill

[Andy IT]

Many business leaders fail to recognise the importance of mental health awareness, although doing so would be detrimental to the long-term success of any organisation. It's crucial for you to have a thorough awareness of your team and a general sensitivity to their well-being as a leader. When a team member's personal struggles spill over into their professional life without any assistance, the team cannot function properly. Additionally, businesses have an obligation to their personnel to make sure that they are giving them a good life and that their work isn't harming them mentally or physically.

How Can Mental Health Issues Be Spotted?

Here are a few signs to watch out for:

• Leaving other individuals behind
• Losing interest in things that once seemed to be fun
• Deterioration in focus, motivation, and work production
• Having trouble making decisions or solving difficulties
• Significant changes in energy levels, mood, or eating patterns
• Abusing drugs
• A proposed solution will be simpler and more efficient the earlier you can identify a possible issue.
  

Work on your listening and questioning skills - It takes a good listener and thoughtful questions to properly understand how someone is feeling about their mental health because it rarely operates at the surface level. Open-ended inquiries are very useful for starting these kinds of discussions, and attentive listening is crucial for creating a culture of openness, safety, and support among your team members.

COVID-19's Effect on Mental Health - The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted not just business and society, but also worldwide health and safety. As a result of the increased stress levels that many people are facing, leaders may find themselves in a situation where they must simultaneously manage teams and projects while also dealing with personal consequences.

Advice for assisting coworkers who are having problems - A sympathetic, reassuring chat and providing support can both be very helpful. Are there any chores or projects that might temporarily be moved down the priority list or assigned to another team member to give that person time to rest and refuel? Helping to normalise the situation and lessen embarrassment or shame can also be accomplished by sharing your own challenges and offering some perspective on the significance of mental wellbeing.

Manfred Kets de Vries, INSEAD Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organizational Change, advises that the best support you can give team members facing more serious difficulties is to direct them toward specialised psychological and medical care. You should also reaffirm to your colleague that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.