Something To Talk About - Day 2
Denise Collison
SVP Public Sector Sales at SHI International Corp. ?? Sales Leadership?? Culture Builder ??Revenue Growth??Change Agent ??Strategic Thinker ??Solution Selling ?? Public Speaker
DAY 2
I’m going to start off bold. If I’m going to do this, why not just jump right in and tackle the tough things? I’ve made no secret about my struggles with mental illness. I was diagnosed with depression in my 20’s and have been dealing with it ever since. As I get older, I find that anxiety is starting to creep into my life more. While it isn’t easy for me to get up in front of my team or other audiences and talk about this, I’ve felt that it was an important part of my overall journey and that by sharing, I could perhaps make it a little easier on someone else dealing with similar issues.
?It shocks me how, in 2023, many still feel shame about mental illness. It shocks me that this is not yet an acceptable topic to discuss in any forum, including work. When will it change? What will it take?
A Harvard Business Review (HBR) article titled, The Future of Mental Health at Work Is Safety, Community, and a Healthy Organizational Culture, discusses key findings of the Mind Share Partners’ 2023 Mental Health at Work Report. The report shows that what employees want is a mentally healthier culture. In fact, when asked to rate how helpful a) Mental health treatment b) Self-Care resources, c) A safe and supportive environment, and d) a healthy and sustainable culture of work were, “d” was the clear winner with a 78% rating.
My perspective and the HBR article agrees, is that culture needs to be enabled from the top down and the bottom up. For me, sharing my story is the start of that enablement. You can count on the fact that it will be woven into this blog as we go forward. I will continue to share my story and I hope other leaders will consider doing the same.
领英推荐
#mentalillness #workplaceculture
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Director, Sales Excellence @ Microsoft - | Licensing, Solution Selling
1 年Thank you for sharing your story - you are an amazing leader!
Director - Apple at SHI International Corp.
1 年Burnout.
Director of HR Transformation at SHI International
1 年Thank you Denise for sharing. It is so important for more leaders to be open with their teams and peers about their own struggles to help the culture develop to support mental health as a constant topic and acceptance of the rollercoaster many of us go on daily, weekly, monthly. I also struggled with depression when I was younger, and have in recent years been open about it within the work environment to ensure others feel comfortable to also say ‘I’m having a bad day’ So thank you.
Customer Advocate - Problem Solver - Women's Empowerment Collective Advisory Board Member - Mommy????
1 年Your openness has allowed me to also be open with my struggles and my story.