I really enjoyed meeting new people as I spent the start of the year in sunny Mexico, like the Canadian firefighter I met by the pool. As we chatted about life and work, he perked up when I mentioned my new book about improving the mental health
of CEOs and leaders.
He told me about the 1st responders he worked with - in situations I couldn’t handle - and we realized the similarities between them and the executive leaders I work with. For different reasons, both face a lot of pressure, deal with intense issues, and most – even though they are strong individuals - need help because of the stress and mental effects of their work. Both can short circuit, breakdown or acquire addictions as they try to cope on their own.
Their super-hero personas lead people to assume they have it all together when, sometimes, they don’t.
And because people look up to them, they feel additional pressure not to show any perceived weakness, fearing it could be detrimental to their relationships and their careers. But unless they find constructive ways to deal with their stress and talk about it openly - to normalize what they, what we all go through, sometimes - the stigma won’t be reduced, and people won’t get the help and support they need.
The more I meet new people, the more we find common ground in stories of stress and breakdown. We all go through rough patches, so it’s about learning and becoming stronger and more resilient; getting the support we need - and then being a great resource for someone else when things get weird for them.
Latest Article from the Blog
Listen to Learn
I love working with smart people and strong personalities – it makes for interesting conversations and tremendous insights.
And one of the things we start to believe, over time (especially me) is that we have good listening skills – but we’re usually just listening to find a solution or to make a decision quickly. We don’t listen to learn. We listen for the two to three things we need to move ahead – and miss the four, five or six things we need to understand the situation fully.
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