HOW TO COMMUNICATE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH STORY AS A SALES LEADER;
Mental health and mental illness are two terms often used as if they mean the same thing, but they don’t.
Everyone has mental health, just like everyone has physical health and spiritual health.
According to this week's guest, not everyone will have a mental illness, but they will experience a struggle in their mental well-being at some point in their lives.
It’s also a common misconception that sales leaders in the workplace must be infallible in order to be considered a success, however, there are so many benefits that come with being open, vulnerable and transparent about your own mental health journey as a mentor.
People will become more comfortable expressing themselves, and in turn, will be encouraged to support each other.
By doing this, you are laying the foundations for a positive culture change in your business.
But how exactly can you initiate this change?
In this episode, Chris Hatfield sits down with me to talk about the importance of sharing your mental health story as a sales leader.
Listen in to learn more!
WHAT WE DISCUSS;
[0:27] - Who is Chris Hatfield?[2:03] - Chris’ experience with anxiety during his sales career [4:05] - How Chris became comfortable sharing his mental health story[7:42] - How Chris measures the ROI of mental health coaching and training[10:27] - Why do sales leaders struggle with showing their vulnerability?[13:10] - Dealing with leaders that have a different mindset[14:54] - Why sales leaders should share their mental health story[17:40] - The cons in sharing your mental health story[20:11] - How to support someone with a problem you can't relate to[23:40] - Figuring out how much of your story to share[27:05] - How to deal with the anxiety that comes before sharing your story[30:11] - How long should your story be?[32:10] - Telling your story to encourage others to tell theirs[36:21] - How to make your team comfortable with mental health conversations[38:35] - How to deal with the ‘vulnerability hangover’ post sharing your story[39:51] - The vision of SalesPsyche
VALUABLE INSIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:
56% of sales reps are not comfortable talking about mental health with their manager.When you share your mental health story, make sure you provide a solution to your challenge so that people become encouraged to solve their own challenges.You don’t need to have the answers to all the problems but you can guide your team to find a solution for theirsAsk yourself “Why, What, How”: Why am I sharing this? What’s the intention? How am I sharing this? Anxiety tries to get you to pay attention to something - listen to it!Sometimes, our brain catastrophizes things and makes things worse than they actually are. Always find the evidence.When sharing your story, keep it succinct and think about the relevancy of what you're sharing.
3 REASONS SALES LEADERS STRUGGLE WITH SHOWING VULNERABILITY
Being vulnerable is not in their nature and the way they developed throughout their career created a habit of not having a space to be vulnerable.They hold a belief that being vulnerable may position them as an ineffective leader.They believe in the idea that the more vulnerable you are with your team, the less accountable they will be when it comes to reaching business goals as you won't be taken seriously as a leader.[25:29] - “Emotions are signals, not threats.” - Chris Hatfield[29:10] - “Writing things down helps you become more present and look at things more logically.” - Chris Hatfield
USEFUL RESOURCES:
Connect with Chris Hatfield:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishatfieldsalespsyche
https://www.instagram.com/heypsychehow
https://www.salespsyche.co.uk/
Ravi Rajani’s website: https://www.theravirajani.com
Social Media:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravirajani/
https://www.tiktok.com/@theravirajani