On this episode of the Sales Leadership Show, Tim and Marin share who’s responsible for our teams mental health at work and the best way to approach this subject with our colleagues.

Resources:

* Tim on LinkedIn

* Marin on LinkedIn

* Uncrushed.org – A platform for community and mental health awareness

Transcript:

Will:

Marin and Tim, welcome to the sales leadership show.

Marin:

Thanks for having us. Happy to be here.

 

Who’s responsibility is it to support your teams mental health? · [05:14]

 

Marin:

Yeah. It’s a big question to start with. I like that you’re just heavy hitter question right out of the gate. That’s one of the most thought provoking questions. I’d say, for myself as a leader, I feel, to my own self and my own values, a responsibility to my team to lead vulnerably and authentically myself, to make that a safe space for them to also show up in the same way. I don’t know that I have a legal obligation or, you know what I mean? I can speak for my own journey, and I think that that’s just what it comes down to is each individual has to answer for themselves, how they show up in this world. For me, how I show up at work is how I show up outside of work. I am the same person everywhere and I can’t make my team take care of themselves, but I can make it a safe space for my own actions and leading in the way I lead my life and the stories I share with them, to make it okay for them to do the same at work and to express if they need help. Then that’s as far as I can take anyone else. I can only do it myself and then make it okay for others.

Will:

Do you think this is common? Because what you just described seems like you’d be a great boss to work for. Is this common in the workplace, what you’re describing?

Marin:

I have my own life experience to go off of and I’ve had a lot of amazing leaders. It’s a great question. Statistically, I have no idea, but I think that there is a movement towards it. Brené Brown is one of my favourites, and in her Dare to Lead, she talks a lot about vulnerability and authenticity, but appropriate boundaries around that too. Not just oversharing or things that are inappropriate at the workplace, but there is a thoughtful way to do it. I share a lot of similarities with Brené. I’ve been in recovery myself in a 12 step community or coming up next, actually this week is 16 years sober, so it’s just really who I am as a person and my foundation to life.

Marin:

I’ve had a lot of great leaders that show up authentically and vulnerably, but is it common? I have no idea. I’d love to see the data. I don’t know. But I think it’s becoming more common and I think that, that, I can say at Salesforce, it’s something that I see and I am encouraged to be as a leader myself, more and more. There seems to be a bigger focus on it. I think it’s a movement. I think it’s a shift though. It is not, when I entered the workforce, how corporate worlds worked in my experience.