A Leader's Guide to Mental Health Conversations

Creating a safe and supportive space for open dialogue about mental health is not only crucial in the workplace, but a fundamental tenet of the work of great people leaders.

People leaders play a vital role in fostering a culture of empathy and understanding, which is essential to people well-being, mental health success and, consequently, to business success. People leaders have a unique opportunity to create an environment at work where employees feel comfortable discussing their mental health challenges and seeking support when needed.

Mental health conversations are not easy. On the contrary, creating a safe space at work for mental health conversations to take place can be extremely challenging. However, doing so, creating such safe space and having such conversations is essential for breaking the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

By fostering an open and supportive culture, we can build trust and empower people to prioritize their mental well-being. And leaders play an exceptional role in making this happen.

Here we provide some insights for people leaders to engage in meaningful mental health conversations. We highlight the significance of creating a safe space for open dialogue, where team members can express their feelings without fear of judgment or repercussions. By being approachable and empathetic, leaders can actively listen to their people and validate their emotions and experiences.

It's important to understand the power of language and how using compassionate and non-stigmatizing words demonstrate genuine care for the team's mental health. Also, by asking open-ended questions and avoiding assumptions, leaders encourage deeper self-reflection and help individuals articulate their thoughts more effectively.

Knowing our boundaries as people leaders is vital; recognizing that while they can offer support and understanding, often those leaders are not mental health professionals. Hence, it's important to seek professional help when necessary and provide information about available resources within the organization and the community.

As leaders invest time and effort in educating themselves about mental health issues, treatments, and support systems, they equip themselves also to be even more effective in supporting their teams. By recognizing the signs of crisis, they can act promptly and responsibly, ensuring the well-being and safety of their colleagues.

18 Things for Leaders to Know

1. Create safe physical spaces: Make sure that sensitive conversations about mental health and well-being take place in a private and comfortable setting where the people feel safe to share and communicate openly.
2. Create the conditions for psychological safety: Develop an open and non-judgmental attitude to encourage employees to discuss their mental health concerns. Make sure you are creating the conditions with your words, behaviors and actions for people to know that they are safe with you, that your conversations with them are private and confidential, and that you genuinely want to listen and help.
3. Listen to understand: Listen with the intent to understand and not to respond. Make sure that any potential interruption is thoughtful and guided by curiosity to learn more about people's emotions and experiences.
4. Act with kindness and compassion: Demonstrate genuine care and understanding for the person's struggles and emotions. Acting with kindness and compassions means coming from a place of consideration without making assumptions about someone. In addition, it is also about using the leadership leverage (talents, resources and authority) to help.
5. Avoid assumptions: Mental health struggles can be complex and vary from person to person. Leaders who care about mental health must avoid making assumptions about someone's experiences or feelings based on appearances or stereotypes, or even their own leadership experiences (informed by work or their personal lives). Instead, let people share their perspective without judgment.
6. Respect privacy and reassure privacy: Make sure that others know person that the conversation with them will remain confidential and private (within the limits of legal and company policy requirements.). Trust is the cornerstone of the relationship between leaders and teams, and it is vital for fostering open dialogue about sensitive topics.
7. Ask thoughtful questions: "How are you?" or "Are you ok?" are not enough to promote real conversations about mental health. Instead, encourage deeper reflection and understanding by asking questions that require more than a simple "yes" or "no" response. Open-ended questions like "How are you coping with these feelings?" or "What support do you think would be helpful for you?" can elicit meaningful responses. More importantly, they activate a higher sense of responsibility from their leader.
8. Be patient: Many ingredients need to be in place for real, genuine and open mental health conversations to emerge. Leaders need to build trust, safety and more. All of this may take time, especially if the person is hesitant or unsure about discussing their struggles. Be patient and give others the space they need to express themselves fully.
9. Listen without offering solutions: More often than not, people who want to talk about their struggles aren't looking for immediate solutions, but to be heard and validated. Thus, resist the urge to jump in with solutions or advice right away. Give people the opportunity to express themselves fully before discussing potential solutions or next steps. In fact, be very straightforward: ask how they want you to be there for them. They may say: just listen to me, or I need help, or I don't know what to do. Give them the chance to set the tone.
10. Respect what people need and want: Understand that not everyone may be ready to discuss their mental health openly, and that's ok. Don't push it. Don't force it. Respect people's boundaries and be available to support them when they are ready to talk. You can be subtle in the way you ask them how they are doing and how you check-in with them until the moment they are as ready as possible to have an open conversation with you.
11. Offer validation: Validating someone's emotions and experiences can have a profound impact in how they feel about certain situations and, more importantly, in their perception about the how the situation makes them feel versus how they are as a person. Let them know that it's okay to feel the way they do and that their feelings are valid and understandable. Avoid comparing their experiences with yourself or anyone else.
12. Be mindful of your language: Be cautious about the language you use during mental health conversations. First, make sure you use words that are compassionate, supportive, and free of stigmatizing language. Avoid phrases that may trivialize their emotions or struggles. In fact, go a step further: familiarize yourself with the proper language (both the stigmatizing language and the language of care) so that you can show care not only with your commitment, but also your words.
13. Avoid minimizing: Refrain from downplaying people's feelings or experiences, and even perceptions. Comments like "It's not that bad" or "Just get over it" or "it's not a big deal" are not kind or compassionate, and can be dismissive and invalidate their emotions. Take their concerns seriously and acknowledge their distress.
14. Know your own limits: Are you a mental health professional or someone with proper clinical training? If not, then recognize that you are not a mental health professional. If the person requires more specialized support or intervention, encourage them to seek professional help from a therapist, counselor, or psychologist. Be very active in this regard and, if possible, help them connect with a professional in the area. Also, within "know your own limits", make sure you also check in with your own mental health as a leader. It's hard, if not impossible, to pour from an empty cup. Seek the support and help you need if that's the case. Be mindful about your own struggles and don't add more to your plate than you can manage.
15. Follow up: Show ongoing support by checking in with the person after the initial conversation. Inquire about their well-being and let them know that you are available for further discussions if needed. Add a note in your calendar to check-in with others in their mental health state. Tell them you will do so, ask them if it's ok and how else you can support them going forward.
16. Recognize the signs of a crisis: Be aware of signs of severe distress or potential harm. If you notice any severe red flags, act promptly by involving appropriate support channels, such as human resources, employee assistance programs, or emergency services. Don't ignore the signs. Sometimes it is evident, other times it is just your gut feeling telling you that something is obviously not ok.
17. Know the available resources: Familiarize yourself with available mental health resources and support systems within your organization and the community. Be prepared to provide information about employee assistance programs, counseling services, or crisis hotlines if needed.
18. Educate yourself: This guide presents some ideas and insights about how to support your team with conversations about mental health. Evidently, it is not an exhaustive guide. Make sure you invest time and energy in continuous education about mental health issues, treatments, and available resources. This is essential to become an effective people leader. Stay informed about the latest developments in mental health to provide accurate and helpful support to your team. Have contact information from professional mental health services readily available.

Green Flags

People are not looking for perfect or infallible leaders. They don't want leaders who have all the answers or work harder and more hours than anybody else. They don't want leaders whose influence only depends on authority or a title or ego. People want leaders who care. Genuinely care. Leaders that foster culture of empathy, trust, and growth.

To care, leaders must be able to have the difficult conversations with their employees, some of which are about mental health.

Do you know when you are in the presence of a great people leader who cares? These green flags are key qualities found in exceptional leaders who care about others (and themselves):

?? They have high levels of self-awareness and emotional regulation

??They create the conditions for psychological safety in their every day, organic and ordinary, interactions with their teams via their words, behaviors and actions

??They are vulnerable and create spaces for vulnerability

??They make people feel included and that they belong

??They give people a sense of purpose and make them feel that they work matter and they are needed

??They genuinely care for others, not just in their condition as employees, but, more importantly, in their condition as human beings

??They act with kindness, compassion and empathy toward others. They don't just feel "sorry" for people when their going gets tough, but actively engage with them in trying to alleviate what causes them suffering or pain

??They listen with the intent to understand, not with the intent to respond

??They work on the things that are necessary to build a great corporate and team culture, but they also call out and directly tackle the situations that destroy it

??They set their own personal boundaries and become well-being and mental health beacons as role models. Simultaneously, they guide others to establish their own boundaries and focus on their own well-being

??They communicate tough decisions and hard choices effectively, with kindness and care, and transparency

??They own their mistakes and create a culture of safety where people can come forward when they make a mistake. They are accountable

??They make it ok and natural for people in their teams to ask for and offer help, and create the opportunities for team members to build meaningful connections with each other

??They face conflicts and seek to resolve them effectively

??They deliver great results and achieve their business goals by leveraging on a people-first culture, not in spite of focusing on people

Not all leaders exhibit these green flags. It's essential to recognize the red flags in leadership that may harm the team and people's mental health. Red flags could include:

?? Lack of Empathy & Understanding

?? Micromanagement & Control

?? Unwillingness to Accept Feedback

?? Disregard for Work-Life Balance

?? Blaming & Shaming Team Members

?? Ignoring Psychological Safety Concerns

?? Inconsistent Decision-making

?? Avoidance of Accountability

?? Promoting a Toxic or Divisive Culture

Moving Forward

Make sure to keep an eye out for the people who exhibit the green flags and can become great leaders capable of having important conversations, including mental health ones, with their people. Sometimes they are leaders with a title, other times they are regular employees who have the talents and care about others enough to become leaders. Simultaneously, make sure you identify leaders who exhibit red flags and may be damaging or harming people's mental health. You will need to address those cases immediately as the consequences for people (and your business) are too large and important to ignore.

Join the Hacking HR May Series: Everything About Wellbeing and Mental Health at Work

Hacking HR's Mental Health Awareness event series is designed to enable HR professionals and leaders with the knowledge, strategies, and tools to create truly supportive and inclusive workplace cultures.

This event series aims to redefine the narrative around mental health in the workplace, shattering stigmas and fostering open conversations. It will cover all the aspects of mental health in the workplace, offering practical strategies for cultivating psychological safety, promoting meaningful connections, and fostering a culture of empathy and belonging. From understanding the root causes of burnout to navigating grief and loss, this comprehensive program will equip attendees with the insights and skills necessary to support their workforce's mental health holistically.

Join us!

Check out the agenda and register here .

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