Mental Health and the Executive

The CDC estimates 200 million days are lost yearly due to depression or related mental health issues, costing companies $17 billion to $44 billion. One study showed that 49% of CEOs struggle with mental health conditions. Most CEOs say they are overworked, struggling with fatigue, and suffering from continual stress.  

While effective leaders learn to manage stress as they make decisions and motivate employees, they still experience emotional and physical stress, especially during the pandemic. However, when leaders make room for healthy mental care for themselves, it allows them to take on crises and challenging situations with resilience and demonstrates their value on mental well-being. 

While workforce well-being is an area of interest for business, senior leaders' and CEO mental health and well-being are often overlooked. The balance between caring for their team and feeling the need to be responsible for the well-being of their company and company brand can bring about significant emotional and physical stress for executives. 

Stressed leaders are bad for the individual and the organization. Stress and anxiety decrease the mind’s ability to attend to critical thinking and productivity issues and the daily barrage of emails, texts, and chats, thereby increasing burnout rates. Stressed leaders miss the signs of stress among their team, creating an unhealthy work spiral, disengagement, and poor company culture. A reluctance to admit stress by dismissing it as part of “the cost of doing business” may stem from a feeling that admittance of stress may imply a leader cannot handle their workload. Leaders also handle these stresses in isolation, adding to the rising crisis in mental health.

Research also suggests that mental health issues are more common among senior leaders, likely because of the traits and psychological attributes that make them great at being leaders. CEOs and board leaders must be sensitive to this predisposition for mental health challenges. The signs of impending mental health challenges include lack of attention, decreased productivity, overworked, exhausted appearance, and inability to determine importance and expectations. Taking proactive steps to improve executive mental health is a critical responsibility of organizational leaders and board members before symptoms of stress and overwork surface. 

While everyone’s stress symptoms vary, some are more common than others. Be on the lookout for short-tempered, argumentative responses, reports of stress within a team, higher turnover rates within a department, decreased productivity and performance, and increased complaints and grievances. By working on your wellness strategy, head off warning signs from a leader or team. Normalize mental wellness and be appropriately transparent when sharing your journey. Provide mental health first-aid care and training, create a nurturing culture, and offer leadership support through mentors, coaches, or third parties. Clarify what is important to the company with clear communication and project confidence, protect your staff by eliminating unnecessary work and too many priorities, and provide space for quiet, focused work. 

Strategies to Manage Stress

To manage stress and mental well-being, leaders can: 

• Develop decision-making skills before a crisis arises to maintain innovation and agility.

• Learn to manage a loss of control in a healthy manner to avoid micro-management and dictatorial management styles to regain control.

• Practice being approachable, even when you’re stressed, so you have support in place when times get tough.

• Recognize that sleep deprivation can cause unprofessional behaviors; create a negative, self-fulfilling mood/outlook; and slow one’s ability to respond to a situation.

• Learn to slow down in times of stress. Reflect on the drivers and consider thoughtful solutions.

• Prioritize self-care like exercise, being with friends and family, and hobbies.

• Create a trusted support staff who can lighten the load when needed most.

• Celebrate small wins and big victories regularly.

Enjoyable and meaningful work is crucial for every staff member when creating a culture of mental well-being in the workplace. Protecting that state of well-being is increasingly under threat and should be elevated as a high priority in every organization by senior leaders and board members.