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How to Talk about Mental Health with Your Team
Great leaders want what’s best for their team. They want to ensure that each individual is put into a position to succeed, one in which they are able to leverage their strengths and unique abilities. When all roles have been identified, filled, and placed in the correct spot in the system, the engine is ready to turn on. It’s time to go places.
But often the very fuel that keeps the motor running — our health — slowly starts to feel the pressure of the external forces around us. We might even see the changes of our team at a surface level. Sedentary lifestyles. Poor nutrition choices. Burn out. Fatigue. What we can’t see though is hidden away, and it is the most influential aspect of our health as it is what manifests our behaviours in the world.
That’s our mental health.
And being a great leader, we want to help. As the awareness around mental health continues to rise, we feel we need to better communicate this with our team. We just don’t know how, because it is still such a subjective and nuanced discussion. We don’t want to upset anyone, step on any toes, or make a comment that causes unintentional pain.
Once we run through these thoughts in our minds, we can quickly become discouraged. How will we ever be able to help our team?
