For a leader, one of the most challenging aspects of your role will be supporting an employee who is experiencing mental health issues.  It can be challenging to know what to do and say and how to best support your team.   

Recently I have been speaking with several professionals that deal with mental health issues, including psychologists, social workers, and mental health first aid officers.  From these discussions, I have summarised some key tips that may be useful for you as you are supporting your team through mental health issues.

• Don’t try and be a psychologist or counsellor if you are not.  Know where to refer a team member experiencing issues, such as their GP or an Employee Assistance program if you have one
• Varying levels of anxiety may be experienced by one or more members of your team.  These issues will be unique and personal, so an individualised approach will be required by you
• It’s important to be on the lookout for changes in behaviour.  Specifically look for behaviours that are occurring more than usual or less than usual, i.e.: needing more sleep or less sleep, feeling more anxious or less anxious, eating and exercising more or less, becoming angry or frustrated more or less.  Is there a pattern to the behaviours?
• A change in performance could be a clue about someone experiencing some mental health issues
• Make observations about behaviour without judgement, such as, “I’ve noticed that you have missed a few key deadlines recently.  Is everything ok?”
• Create space for others if they are struggling by being present and just listening.  Try not to solve any issues for them.  They are likely to have the answer, but they may want to share as part of their process of working through an issue.  
• Your key question to ask is, “How can I best support you?”  This is empowering rather than disempowering and presuming you know what they need
• Consider having trained Mental Health First Aid Officers in your team.  These work much like a first aid officer however focused on mental health

Some tips for you as a leader if you feel you are experiencing mental health issues

• Pay attention to your internal warning light system – are you feeling more tired, agitated, on edge that usual?  What might be causing this? 
• Don’t push through – be aware of how you are feeling and try to address it
• Get the support you need. You’re not effective for anyone else if you are feeling unwell
• Tempo- consider how fast your day goes, how fast you do things, how much you take on and why
• Is your tempo sustainable? Is it too fast or too slow?
• Tempo is a choice -so be aware of it and modify it as required
• For a day do things slowly – walk slower, eat slower, cook slower, speak slower.  Check in with yourself – how does it feel?
• Ponder and reflect – give yourself 30-60 mins each day of ignoring your tech – no phone, no podcasts, no music, nothing.
• Go for a walk and take in the sounds on your walk or sit quietly – just with ambient sounds, this will enable you to ponder and reflect without being open to “noise” all the time

As an added bonus this week, you may also like to tune into my podcast with Rebecca Max from Infinite Presence.  We discuss managing stress and what leaders can do to support themselves and their teams.

Rita Cincotta writes, mentors, and speaks on individual and team performance, leadership development, resilience and new ways of working. She works with organisations to develop human centred solutions that help people and businesses to thrive.