A Conversation with Isabelle Campbell

In light of mental health awareness week, I sat down with Isabelle Campbell to discuss her thoughts on health and wellness in the workplace.

Not only is Isabelle a highly experienced, commercially focused Finance Director, she is also a passionate advocate for elevating diversity and wellbeing within the workplace.

Read on to hear her thoughts around this subject, hopefully you find it as inspiring and thought provoking as I did!

As ever, join in on the conversation in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts.

What do you see as the toughest challenges facing finance professionals today?

One of the toughest things is the concept of being always on. Even when I started my finance career 15 years ago this was a challenge and we didn’t have the same level of connectivity as we do now, particularly over this last year working from home when we’ve proved that we really can work from anywhere at any time. It’s over to us to set boundaries as individuals and that’s really challenging.

Particularly with qualified accountants it attracts a certain type of individual; ambitious, hardworking and with a desire to succeed. It can be hard to have confidence to set boundaries if you feel like you’re up against everyone else.

Connectivity was already a challenge but now working from home the onus is on us to set those boundaries, you have to have a lot of confidence and self-belief to do that without worrying that it has any negative reflection on your work ethic or commitment.

You are an advocate for mental health and wellbeing, why does good mental health at work matter?

It’s so interesting to see the shift that’s happened in the last 5 or so years, there is definitely a business case for good mental health. 70 million work days are lost to mental health in the UK each year [the mental health foundation: Mental health in the workplace | Mental Health Foundation] The more we can look after ourselves from the outset the better – not just for our individual wellbeing but for our teams and for the productivity and success of businesses.

As the pandemic has gone on, the ability to keep work and home life separate has become increasingly difficult for many. In what way do you see this contributing to anxiety and burnout of employees?

I am a firm believer that there is little in life you can control except your own response to things but 2020 showed us the uncomfortable reality of that. It held a mirror up to that fact in a way that a lot of people had resisted.

I believe we are storing up a host of mental health issues currently. The pandemic has brought with it a lot of generalised anxiety and uncertainty and that isn’t being consistently addressed for all people.

If we don’t find a way to help people manage this and recognise the warning signs we are storing up a problem for the future and this absolutely will impact businesses.

The reason I am so passionate about wellbeing and mental health is that I am used to an environment of working hard, constantly pushing but still trying to juggle everything at home and outside work. I got to a point in my life where I realised it wasn’t sustainable and didn’t work.

Looking after our own general wellbeing is number one. For me, I make better decisions, I’m a better employee, manager, mother (the list goes on!) when I have looked after my wellbeing. 

What are the warning signs of burnout?

We can often get so caught up that we don’t realise until it’s too late. Any kind of change in perceived ability to cope with things is always a warning sign.

More often than not it isn’t when a project lands or a looming deadline, it’s the smaller things such as missing a train or spilling your coffee.

Struggling to cope with things that you would otherwise take in your stride can be a warning sign that you’re feeling overwhelmed. This varies for all of us but if you notice you’re more irritable or angry and that perception of your ability to cope is shifting, that’s a classic.

There are also more physical and behavioural shifts; things like changes in sleep patterns (if you find you’re waking up or struggling to get to sleep), changes in eating habits etc.

I find that it tends to follow a pattern –

1.      Psychological shifts (your feelings or emotions)

2.      Physical shifts (headaches or difficulty sleeping)

3.      Behavioural shifts (maybe you’re reaching for a glass of wine more often, or changing your eating habits)

How can we support ourselves or others if we notice these warning signs?

The key thing for me is elevating the conversation about mental health and wellbeing.

It’s mental health awareness week this week and I’m delighted to see that organisations aren’t just paying lip service to this anymore but are putting actions behind their words.

I taught a yoga class this morning to our business and I have been seeing organised panels to discuss mental health and lots of other initiatives taking place to support the wellbeing of employees.

Whether leader manager or part of a team, being able to be part of that conversation and say “I’m not feeling great today”, those are the powerful moments that often are forgotten. Particularly as leaders or managers it’s about role modelling positive behaviours around our wellbeing to our teams.

Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening in the first place?

For me, it is all about self-awareness as the first step to change.

One thing that has been absolutely key for me has been building an awareness of the inner monologue - any negative self-talk I was engaging in. We need to listen to and recognise this as our inner saboteur.

Another key step is putting boundaries in place. It might be that one day a week you to commit to finishing work at 5pm (or it might be 5 days a week if appropriate to your situation). It might be going for a walk around the block every lunch time, or doing a yoga class.

It’s about believing that looking after your wellbeing is as important for a successful career as any other professional development that you might do, if not more so.

If you become overwhelmed, you risk burnout and you won’t be capable of making good decisions or optimally leading a team. Taking steps to slow down and balance work in order to achieve success still feels counter intuitive to many.

As a manager, what advice would you give others in leadership positions around cultivating a healthy space for employees?

Elevate the conversation and lead by example.

I share my calendar with my team and I diarise when I’m going to the gym, when I’m picking the children up from school, or when I just need some time blocked to focus on tasks. I am actively role modelling that work life balance.

I’m clear to the people I work with that if they see me online at the weekend or in the evening, that’s my schedule that suits me but it’s not what I expect of other people. I think it’s really important to demonstrate an output driven culture that values flexibility and balance.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self at the beginning of your career?

To believe in myself more.

From the start of my career, I constantly felt like I had been put in the job by accident and as though someone else could do that job better than me. I wasted so much energy doubting my ability.

When you believe in yourself other people believe in you too.

When you build that self-confidence people see it and it opens doors for you.