I had an interesting chat with a senior executive recently which shone a spotlight as to where leaders and team members find themselves as we continue our journey into the ‘new normal’ of our work and personal lives.
Three specific comments stood out for me:
– His frustration that some of his older managers are waiting for the Covid19 pandemic to be over so they can go back to working as things were before. (Fear of change)
– His concern with how his people are coping in their personal lives and an expressed need for personal mastery training beyond ‘routine ’mental health offerings. (Complete wellbeing)
– Feedback that many of his team members are suffering from digital communication overload. (Training effectiveness)
The chat confirmed what I have heard from several clients about a need for equipping their people for life in the new normal.
His comments align quite strongly with my approach to equipping people with the skills to ‘do life’ over the past 15 years which is founded on two key evidence-based beliefs:
– Complete wellbeing is greater than mental health
– We all have control over our own brain chemistry with the right tools
Complete wellbeing is greater than mental health
The World Health Organisation defines wellbeing as individuals being complete in physical, social and mental wellbeing and defines wellbeing as the ‘presence of wellness’ rather than the ‘absence of illness.’ It is a powerful paradigm shift which should dictate our focus, and what we should be looking for, measuring, and celebrating.
Within this threefold definition there are nine specific sub-domains of wellbeing, of which mental health is an important one, but the other domains also have a critical role to play in shifting from a state of surviving to thriving.
2020 has seen a huge focus on mental wellbeing, and rightfully so with an emphasis on mental health training and support.
As we look towards our new way of working in 2021, leaders will need to place more trust and autonomy in their team members’ ability to manage all the aspects of their personal wellbeing and mastery.
All nine domains come in to play if teams are to build sustainable and thriving wellbeing and the domains have a direct impact on our brain chemistry.
We have control over our own brain chemistry
I have shared my story of suffering depression and anxiety in other articles, which led me to publishing a book on Happiness 10 years ago, and more recently, ended a 30-year struggle with an addiction.
The point in sharing this personal information with you, is that I believe its possible to take control of our brain chemistry, and give ourselves the best shot at creating the presence of wellness that the W.H.O describes, as opposed to a life of combating illness.
The answer lies in creating wellbeing safety nets, daily rituals, and understanding and managing our brain chemistry.
In her book Mentally at work, Genevieve Hawkins masterfully describes the chemicals in our brain, and the point that we have control over them in terms of increasing or decreasing their presence.
This correlates strongly with actively and intentionally setting up safety nets and rituals for the nine domains I alluded to earlier, for example:
– Reduce Cortisol: Techniques to manage how we respond under threat
– Increase Oxytocin: Intentionally setting up connection with others
– Increase Serotonin: Contributing to others and feeling valued
– Increase Dopamine: Identifying opportunities to build mastery and a sense of achievement in each day
Effective training without digital overload
Listening to the needs of clients and team member, I have reformulated how I deliver training, and the notion of bite size training sessions has proven highly successful over the past few months.
Delivering a focussed 90 minute session has the advantage of participants arriving with a ‘ready to learn’ mindset and results in creating learning outcomes equivalent to what is achieved in a traditional half day workshop.
By ensuring less disruption to work, and with no geographic boundaries, feedback from participants has been that this engaging training modality is highly effective.
I have recently been delivering a series of Bite Size training topics providing in depth personal mastery skills beyond the norm of traditional wellbeing training and would be delighted to share the more popular topics with you.
2020 has been an unprecedented and challenging year, so make 2021 the year of learning and personal mastery and set yourself and your teams up to thrive.
