How leaders can support their people’s mental health

You’re not responsible for it: you are responsible for your impact on it. Here’s how to make that impact positive.

Work causes stress. Some of it is healthy — the kind of stress that leads to growth and innovation. Some of it is not, and comes closer to the chronic stress that leads to burnout. And with burnout at record figures, leaders and workplaces are under pressure to take action.

In some places, including my homeland Australia, recent regulations around preventing psychosocial hazards at work have placed further impetus on leaders to ensure they create a healthy work environment for their people.

But where does the responsibility start and stop? Are leaders completely responsible for the mental and emotional health of their employees? Or should people just harden up at work and focus on wellbeing on their own time?

The answer to both the last two questions is no. Here’s why.

We bring ourselves to work

When I started my short career in law, I wasn’t in a perfect state of self-awareness, health and equanimity. The first time I walked into the lobby of the fancy offices of the law firm where I would eventually burn out, I was a…