The Mind Solution Podcast

With the focus on leaders being more empathetic, in this episode we deep dive into what empathy means and what's needed to experience deep empathy with others.

We explore;

- What is empathy

- The difference between empathy and sympathy

- What do we as leaders need in order to experience empathy

- What blocks us from being able to access empathy

- Steps you can take to develop your levels of empathy as a leader

You can also book your free consultation to explore further how leadership coaching can help you at; https://calendly.com/the-mind-solution/free-consultation

Links https://themindsolution.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramaude/ Contact us at [email protected]

What if we stopped measuring success purely by profit and productivity… and instead focused on the wellbeing of people and the planet?

In this powerful episode, we're joined by Bonnie Clark, CEO of Remarkable, as she unpacks the vision of a wellbeing economy—an economic model designed to create good lives for all, while protecting the natural environment.

Drawing on her recent article and work with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll Scotland), Bonnie explores what it means for businesses to become fit for the future by rethinking how we measure success.

"The Goal of Prosperity Should Be Healthier Businesses"

As Bonnie shares, when businesses are measured only by productivity and profit, it can lead to extractive practices toward workers, natural resources, and even culture.

A wellbeing economy, by contrast, encourages organisations to ask:

• How connected are we to our people?

• What's the ripple effect of our business on the wider world?

• Are we creating a workplace that supports genuine wellbeing?

This is about more than just corporate social responsibility. It's about a paradigm shift in how we view growth, leadership, and sustainable success.

Future-Fit Organisations Need a New Playbook

With employee wellbeing rising to the top of the agenda, the most progressive leaders are recognising that the old models no longer serve us.

A wellbeing economy doesn't just benefit individuals, it leads to stronger teams, more resilient businesses, and a healthier society.

As Nicola Sturgeon put it:

"Growth in GDP should not be pursued at any and all cost… The goal of economic policy should be collective wellbeing: how happy and healthy a population is, not just how wealthy."

If you're ready to build a business that supports people, purpose, and the planet, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and discover how you can lead the way toward a more human, sustainable, and thriving future of work.

We were delighted to be joined by CEO of Remarkable, Bonnie Clark, as she chatted to us about what it means to create a wellbeing economy so that we as organisations and countries can be fit for the future.

In our interview Bonnie speaks about how, according to the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Scotland, a wellbeing economy is one designed to provide all of us with good lives while protecting the health of our natural environment.

As Bonnie also highlights in her recent article on how Scotland can transform its economy so its fit for the future

"Measuring businesses according to profit and productivity alone can easily justify extractive relationships with workers and natural resources. The goal of prosperity can encourage healthier businesses that consider their connection to their staff and wider operating environment.

Tune in now to find out more about what a wellbeing economy is and how business leaders, like you, can create one to support both your organisation, people and the planet.

"Growth in GDP should not be pursued at any and all cost … The goal of economic policy should be collective well-being: how happy and healthy a population is, not just how wealthy a population is." – Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland

Links https://themindsolution.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramaude/ Contact us at [email protected]

Menopause is a growing topic of concern for both women and organisations—and for good reason. Recent research from the British Menopause Society revealed that over 20% of women say the menopause has affected their confidence at work, while nearly half say it's impacted their home life.

So it's not surprising that more organisations are turning to employee wellbeing webinars, mental health training for managers, and even formal menopause policies to offer support. But is that enough?

🎙 In this episode, I'm joined by Tania Elfersy, menopause expert and author of The Wiser Woman, for a powerful conversation that turns conventional wisdom on its head.

Why Your Hormones Aren't to Blame

If you've ever felt like the menopause is something to fear, or something to fix, this episode is going to challenge that thinking.

Tania shares why hormones are not the problem, and how the nocebo effect—the belief that menopause will be hard—can actually create more symptoms. She invites us to take a completely different approach. One rooted in understanding the body's innate intelligence.

Rather than managing symptoms through external interventions alone, we explore how reconnecting with your body, calming your stress response, and understanding your own psychology can bring genuine relief—physically, emotionally and mentally.

Why It's Not Just About Air Conditioning and Desk Fans

There's growing recognition that the menopause is more than a personal issue, it's an organisational one too. Especially when you consider that menopause symptoms can affect performance, absenteeism, and presenteeism.

Under the Equality Act 2010, menopause can fall under age, sex, or disability discrimination. Which means it's no longer a "nice to have" in your wellbeing strategy. It's essential.

But while many companies are beginning to create menopause policies, few are going deep enough. Giving women control over the office thermostat might feel supportive, but it misses the deeper conversation.

If you truly want to support your female talent through this transition and retain the valuable skills and experience they bring, you need more than policies. You need education, awareness, and cultural understanding.

A New Way to Support Women's Wellbeing at Work

This conversation isn't just for women going through menopause. It's for any manager, HR leader, or wellbeing lead who wants to better support female employees and build a more inclusive, emotionally intelligent workplace.

Whether you run employee wellbeing programmes, deliver online mental health training, or want to evolve your wellbeing strategy, this is a conversation worth tuning into.

✨ Discover how to support menopause in the workplace without fear, drama, or outdated narratives. Listen now and find out how to create real change—for your people and your culture.

Menopause is a really hot topic (no pun intended!) right now. In the UK particularly there has been a lot of discussion - and fear - created by the recent Channel 4 documentary 'Sex, Mind and the Menopause' with Davina McCall. A survey by the British Menopause Society has revealed that over 20% of the working women surveyed reported that the menopause had affected their confidence at work. In the same survey, around half the women reported that the menopause had had an impact on their home life and just over a third said it had affected their social life.

So it's great to see a growing focus on raising awareness of the impact of women in the workplace, and how best to support women going through this sensitive time.

In addition, it's also key to upskill managers in this area because Menopause is covered under the Equality Act 2010, and can be on the grounds of sex, age or disability discrimination.

Therefore we are seeing more organisations putting in place policies about menopause, but is it enough to suggest giving women control over the air conditioning unit in the office?

Whether you are a women or an organisational leader, tune into this brilliant interview with Tania Elfersy, Menopause expert, to discover;

• Why hormones are not the problem!
• The nocebo effect of menopause
• Menopause and the stress response
• The wisdom of the body to manage this transition
• How women can change their experience of the menopause, which leads to symptom relief
• How you can change your experience of everything in life which will lead to a calmer, happier and stress free life

Links https://themindsolution.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramaude/ Contact us at [email protected]

One of the most powerful lessons I've learned after delivering mental health training for managers in dozens of organisations is this: leadership presence matters.

If you want to create real change in your workplace culture, the CEO can't be absent from the process. And when it comes to something as crucial as employee mental health, their involvement can make or break the impact.

🎧 In this episode, I share a real-life story from when we delivered mental health training for over 200 managers at Sofology—and the game-changing difference it made when their CEO, Sally, showed up for every single session.

When the CEO Leads from the Front, Everyone Follows

This was online mental health training for managers delivered across multiple sites, with managers at every level joining in. And while Sally didn't say much during the sessions, her presence was felt.

Her message was clear: this matters.

Every person in a management role was expected to attend. It wasn't optional. It wasn't just "nice to have." And that commitment rippled across the organisation. Store managers were talking. Team leaders were engaging. The post-training buzz was real.

People were speaking the same language. Mental health wasn't a taboo subject. It had a place in everyday conversation.

But What Happens When the CEO Doesn't Attend?

I've seen the flip side too. Many times.

The CEO signs off on the budget, maybe even champions the initiative in theory, but doesn't attend a single session. Nor do the senior execs. And trust me, people notice.

It sends a quiet message: "This isn't for us. It's for them." "It's not that important." "We're too busy."

The irony? These are the very leaders managing their own teams. The ones whose emotional presence (or absence) has the biggest impact. When they're not part of the conversation, it fractures the message and dilutes the power of the programme.

Mental Health Training Isn't Just a Tick-Box Exercise

It's not about downloading information. It's about modelling behaviour. Creating psychological safety. Building emotional fluency. And most of all, creating a culture of trust and connection.

That starts at the top.

When leaders show up with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn, it sends a powerful signal. It says, "We value this. We're in this together. And we're not above doing the work."

💬 And that's the key to making mental health training for managers actually work—whether it's delivered online or in person, in the UK or the US.

✅ If your organisation is ready to go beyond lip service and lead from the top, explore our Mental Health Training for Managers (UK) or US programme.

Let's make mental health a leadership priority—not just a wellbeing initiative.

What happens when you leave out the CEO?

In this episode I share with you the insights gained from what happens when the CEO hasn't played a part in the decision making about management mental health training, and the impact when they haven't attended the training themselves.

Links https://themindsolution.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramaude/ Contact us at [email protected]

🧠 You Need a Strategy, Not a Soundbite: Rethinking Mental Health Training for Managers

One of the biggest misconceptions we see in organisations is the belief that mental health training for managers can be compressed into a one-off session and still deliver meaningful results.

We get it, time is precious, and managers already have full calendars. But when you're investing in a topic that has the power to reduce absence, improve performance, and shift the culture of your organisation from the inside out, the real question isn't, "How fast can we deliver this?" It's: "What's the cost of doing it too fast, and doing it poorly?"

🎧 Quick note — this episode was recorded before I upgraded my mic setup, so while the sound quality isn't perfect, the insights are still gold.

🕰️ Why Compressing Mental Health Training Doesn't Work

We've seen it many times, a well-meaning HR team trying to condense a complex, transformational subject like mental health in the workplace into a 90-minute tick-box exercise. But the truth is, you can't fast-track real behavioural change.

When done well, mental health training:

• Builds manager confidence in handling sensitive conversations

• Creates deeper team connection and psychological safety

• Reduces long-term sickness and presenteeism

• Supports employee engagement and retention

• Positively impacts the bottom line

So if you're cutting a one-day programme into an hour and hoping for lasting impact, you're missing the real value.

📚 What Works Instead: Strategic, Modular Learning

The smarter approach? Break down the training into short, focused modules delivered consistently over time.

Many of our clients choose a model like:

• 90-minute or 2-hour sessions

• Once a week for 4–6 weeks

• With time for reflection and real-world application in between

This works particularly well for online mental health training for managers, where pacing and reinforcement are key. Neuroscience backs this up: when we encounter new learning, we form thousands of new synaptic connections, but if we don't revisit that material quickly, we lose them.

So it's not just about what you teach. It's about how and when you teach it.

💡 Employee Wellbeing Needs a Strategy — Just Like Sales or Marketing

If you asked your sales team to just "wing it" or deliver one call a month, you'd be horrified. Yet that's how many organisations still approach employee wellbeing.

Ad hoc employee wellbeing webinars, unconnected one-off sessions, and scattergun workshops may feel helpful in the moment, but without a clear strategy, they're difficult to measure and often fall flat over time.

Ask yourself:

• What problem are we trying to solve?

• What are we measuring?

• What would success look like?

A structured, aligned employee wellbeing strategy ensures your investment creates the right impact, not just for your people, but for your business.

🎧 Listen to the Full Episode

In this episode, I explore what I've learned from working one-to-one with hundreds of people and what truly works when it comes to mental health support at scale.

👉 Listen now: You Need a Strategy, Not a Soundbite Because this isn't about squeezing more into less time. It's about doing it right and making it count.

In this episode we share with you some of the key insights we have learned about wellbeing in the workplace based on over 10,000 one to one sessions with people.

Links https://themindsolution.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramaude/ Contact us at [email protected]

The future of HR is no longer just about processes and policies. It's about people. And the organisations leading the way are the ones placing employee wellbeing and flexibility at the heart of their business strategy.

In this episode, I speak with Jess Badley, Head of HR and Organisational Development at Blood Cancer UK — a charity that's been widely recognised for its innovative and human-centred approach to workplace culture. In fact, their efforts earned them the Culture Pioneers Award for Wellbeing in 2021.

We explore how HR is evolving, what it means to create psychological safety in today's working world, and how wellbeing has moved from a "nice to have" to a business-critical imperative.

💬 What We Cover:

• The changing role of HR in shaping culture and experience

• How to move away from toxic ways of working

• What leadership behaviours truly build trust and safety

• How to measure the impact of your employee wellbeing strategy

• The real challenges facing HR leaders in a post-pandemic world

🎧 Listen In

If you're reimagining your approach to employee wellbeing in the workplace or trying to embed flexibility in a meaningful way, this is a must-listen.

👉 Tune in: The Future of HR with Jess Badley Because culture change doesn't just happen — it's designed, lived, and led.