Leading for wellbeing in today’s workplace
By: Emma Farrell-Thew
Emma Farrell-Thew
RCS has invited guest contributors to share their insights and views on workplace wellbeing in a series of articles. This article is from Emma Farrell-Thew a Business Psychologist, Lecturer, and qualified Executive Coach. Emma is also Associate Manager of the Coaching Academy, and Lecturer at the Grwp Llandrillo Menai Business School.
With workplace wellbeing reportedly on the decline, what role does leadership play? RCS’s guest contributor Emma Farrell-Thew takes a look at the impact leaders can have on a team’s wellbeing, resilience and performance.
Let’s tackle the elephant in the room
One of the things that comes up time and time again in my work with teams and leaders that affects performance and wellbeing is a sense of disconnect. “They’re very nice, but they just don’t get it” someone said to me last week about their head of service, frustrated at their boss’s inability to see the realities faced by teams on the corporate front line. Employees want to do a good job and feel satisfied, but they are often thwarted by obstacles which leave them feeling exhausted and depleted. We are working in increasingly complex environments with rising pressures and diminishing resources. It’s tough for leaders, but the danger is, they can close in on themselves and stop listening. This is an understandable but ultimately unworkable strategy, and the longer it continues, the more people suffer, burnout or leave.
It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Do feel like you spend your time going from one meeting to the next, constantly dealing with emails, tasks and other demands on your time? Whilst it can feel invigorating and motivating in the short term, high stress states triggers cortisol and adrenalin, meaning prolonged exposure makes it harder to stay focused, steady and optimistic. It also dampens down our feel-good hormones of serotonin and dopamine. What’s more, as leader people will look to you as an example of how they should use their time. Multi-tasking may feel like you’re being hyper-productive but research shows that what you’re actually doing is just task switching really quickly. Why is that bad? Well, I hate to break it to you but research carried out by Dr Glenn Wilson at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London found that constant interruptions led to a 10-point drop in IQ; a greater decrease than smoking marijuana.² I’ll just leave that alarming statistic there for you and quietly move on.…
In his seminal book, thinking fast and slow, Daniel Kahneman explains the two way we make choices; fast intuitive thinking and slow reasoned thinking, and how we can be tripped up by these mental shortcuts. As Kahneman says, solving complicated problems takes mental work, so our brains cut corners when we get tired or stressed, leaving our judgement coloured. The solution? Accept that there is always too much to do and the challenges are complex. Slow down. Pace your work. Trust that people (including you) will have solutions and ideas if you offer reflective thinking space. Encourage ways to unlock fresh possibilities and mindsets, by asking yourself and your teams for feedback, including how you can pace workloads to prevent overwhelm. Make it a regular standing item on your team meeting agenda if you can.
Be a steward of people’s time
Research shows that long days of meetings leave employees feeling fatigued and drained, with the sense that they have achieved nothing and have more work to do than before. In his Google talk ‘the Surprising Science of Meetings’³, Dr Steven Rogelburg explores how we can use the science of meetings to generate more innovative and creative ideas, including standing meetings, quiet brainstorming time and shorter meetings. As a meeting host, can you be more intentional with people’s time? How can you bring good energy, set the tone and check on people’s wellbeing?
Focus on service
Resilience is a team support – our strength is in the bonds that lie between us, not within us. A sense of overwhelm or lack of power can flip us into a state psychologists call ‘functional freeze’, where it feels hard to think properly or get motivated. Servant leadership can help. The main premise of servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1970) is behaving ethically and with morality. There are four elements: empowerment, building relationships, setting vision and stewardship. Leadership is something that you do, not that you are. When leaders do stewardship well, they set the tone for a kind, inclusive culture. Get to know your team, understand what they care about and what motivates them. Be available. You won’t always get things right but you will be creating the right conditions for strong resilience and high performance.
Make space for Active Recovery
Stress and burnout are the biggest issues in modern workplaces. It’s not realistic to expect people to give consistently peak performance. Whilst we know this, our delivery schedules frequently expect something different. Build in time to cycle back around. Aim to manage people’s energy, as well as time. Don’t let them hit the wall and burn out. Athletes are familiar with this concept, they do it because it makes them stronger. The same principles can be applied to work.
Active recovery typically engages a different part of your brain, firing up creativity and spark. Active recovery is purposeful and restorative, even strategic. You’re still working but dialled down.
Firstly, ask yourself, ‘what am I recovering from?’ Whatever you do next should be a lighter form of that activity. If you’ve worked on a project or process, can you offer some mentoring to a different part of the business going through the same? Sharing your experience will help add value in new and different ways, and revitalise your energy in the process.
In short…
It’s not easy being a leader. You have a responsibility for the psychological wellbeing of your people. Traditional leadership theories had us looking up at The Leader for all the answers. There is a lot of research that shows us this is not the best form of leadership for today’s complex and challenging workplaces. High performance and bounceback-ability is a team sport. We need compassionate stewards of people’s time and energy. Leaders who can set a vision, let people play to their strengths and allow them to thrive in their role.
I’ll close with this final thought. Before 2002 the British Cycling team had almost no record of success. The thought of aiming for the podium was too much, so newly appointed Head Coach, Sir Dave Brailsford, inspired by his MBA studies and process-based improvement techniques, set out to think not big, but small. He and his team broke down the components of everything that goes into competing on the bike, then aimed to improve each component by 1%. Five years later at the Beijing Olympics the team won 70% of the medals available and went on to match the achievement at the London Olympics. Isn’t that reassuring? They started with the smallest goal imaginable then, boom! The takeaway is this: Forget about perfection; focus on progression, and compound the improvements.
So, what small changes could you put in motion this week for you and the people you lead?
References
¹ Indeed’s Global Work Wellbeing Report 2024: Indeed’s Global Work Wellbeing Report 2024
² Info-overload harms concentration more than marijuana: ‘Info-mania’ dents IQ more than marijuana | New Scientist
³ The Surprising Science of Meetings, Dr. Steven Rogelberg: The Surprising Science of Meetings | Dr. Steven Rogelberg | Talks at Google (youtube.com)
RCS deliver courses that offer up the latest thinking in key wellbeing topic areas for managers and teams. Sessions are practical and interactive, providing ideas and resources to inform and inspire. Courses topics include Mental Health Awareness, Managing Sickness Absence & Return to Work Conversations, Menopause Awareness and our popular Wellbeing Champions programme.
If you are interested in arranging a course just for your team, or would like a customised programme to meet your needs, get in touch today. If you are an SME (less than 250 employees) in North, West or South West Wales, these training may be free, contact workshops@rcs-wales.co.uk for more information.