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Building Balance: Mental Health in Construction with Stuart Townsend
On this episode Kat is joined by Stuart Townsend, a passionate mental health advocate in the construction industry and Operations Director at Taylor Woodrow. In this episode Stuart talks about the challenges of switching off, the dangers of not being able to, and the one habit that he uses to decompress and be fully present with his family.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The construction industry is a demanding, tiring, rewarding one and it’s difficult to leave things at work, which I think are big contributors to the mental health of everybody. In some industries you finish your shift and you’re home, in our industry things play on your mind, there are certain things you can’t leave because tasks can last week and even months before they’re finished as well as the responsibility for the wellbeing of everyone you manage as well.
- We’ve been in a mental health pandemic for a lot longer than people realise. It’s difficult subject, and construction traditionally being a male-led industry meant people were told to be more broad shouldered and get on with it. This made it difficult for people to open up. We’ve looked at that as a business and have health and wellbeing champions in our divisions who go through training, but it takes a specialist to work with people who are struggling, our training allows people to signpost because we’re not fully medically trained.
- The pressures that come with delivery, timescales, locations, juggling all those balls at the same time, as well as trying to look out for a team, deliver quality, right first time, hit targets set internally, meet the clients’ targets externally, they’re all massive catalysts. And you’ve got to be as professional as you can be every day. You can’t help but take it home.
- ‘Fire-gazing’ goes right back to the Stone Age, I tell my people about it, it’s based around hunting: Man goes hunting, man brings food home, lady cooks food, man stares at fire. There’s an element of fire-gazing that I think everybody in this industry needs, whether you’re a man or a woman. You need to try and switch off in the evening. I now turn my phone off whenever I’m not at work or need to be contacted, that’s been a real benefit to me.
BEST MOMENTS
“Two people die by suicide every year in this industry and 91% of people feel overwhelmed.”
“I’m finding myself asking ‘are you OK?’ It’s OK to ask for help. It gives them confidence in me as a manager to give them the support that they need.”
“But there’s still that stigma and I don’t know how we break it.”
“I like to cook, it helps me de-stress.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
Stuart Townsend is an experienced Contracts Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. Skilled in Subcontracting, Construction, Value Engineering, Cost Management, and Highways. Strong operations professional.
ABOUT THE HOST
Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her first CEO role. She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit, and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.
She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.
View all episodes
By Kat ThorneOn this episode Kat is joined by Stuart Townsend, a passionate mental health advocate in the construction industry and Operations Director at Taylor Woodrow. In this episode Stuart talks about the challenges of switching off, the dangers of not being able to, and the one habit that he uses to decompress and be fully present with his family.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The construction industry is a demanding, tiring, rewarding one and it’s difficult to leave things at work, which I think are big contributors to the mental health of everybody. In some industries you finish your shift and you’re home, in our industry things play on your mind, there are certain things you can’t leave because tasks can last week and even months before they’re finished as well as the responsibility for the wellbeing of everyone you manage as well.
- We’ve been in a mental health pandemic for a lot longer than people realise. It’s difficult subject, and construction traditionally being a male-led industry meant people were told to be more broad shouldered and get on with it. This made it difficult for people to open up. We’ve looked at that as a business and have health and wellbeing champions in our divisions who go through training, but it takes a specialist to work with people who are struggling, our training allows people to signpost because we’re not fully medically trained.
- The pressures that come with delivery, timescales, locations, juggling all those balls at the same time, as well as trying to look out for a team, deliver quality, right first time, hit targets set internally, meet the clients’ targets externally, they’re all massive catalysts. And you’ve got to be as professional as you can be every day. You can’t help but take it home.
- ‘Fire-gazing’ goes right back to the Stone Age, I tell my people about it, it’s based around hunting: Man goes hunting, man brings food home, lady cooks food, man stares at fire. There’s an element of fire-gazing that I think everybody in this industry needs, whether you’re a man or a woman. You need to try and switch off in the evening. I now turn my phone off whenever I’m not at work or need to be contacted, that’s been a real benefit to me.
BEST MOMENTS
“Two people die by suicide every year in this industry and 91% of people feel overwhelmed.”
“I’m finding myself asking ‘are you OK?’ It’s OK to ask for help. It gives them confidence in me as a manager to give them the support that they need.”
“But there’s still that stigma and I don’t know how we break it.”
“I like to cook, it helps me de-stress.”
ABOUT THE GUEST
Stuart Townsend is an experienced Contracts Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the construction industry. Skilled in Subcontracting, Construction, Value Engineering, Cost Management, and Highways. Strong operations professional.
ABOUT THE HOST
Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her first CEO role. She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit, and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.
She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.