There are proven things that leaders can do to create and enhance robust work cultures in challenging times. It is also very easy to be distracted and have practices that destroy organisational energy.

Many people confuse busyness with effectiveness, and hours worked, as a measure of productivity. Multi-tasking is standard practice. Research by David Meyer shows that switching tasks increases the amount of time it takes to finish the primary task you were working on by an average of 25 percent.

In short, juggling activities is incredibly inefficient and ultimately weakens a culture.  This juggling contributes to extraordinary levels of unhealthy stress. The recent RUOK?atWork survey showed that 40% of Australian workers” typically feel stressed out every day with 12% experiencing extreme stress.

Extreme stress leads to suboptimal performance and for some, depression and/or an anxiety disorder. A recent Medibank report reveals that 34% of all lost productivity can be attributed to the absenteeism and presenteeism (people at work but not fully productive) related to depression and anxiety disorders.

Having carefully weighed up the evidence, I believe that these 5 things are critical to having a robust and resilient work culture that thrives.

1. We trumps me

Ideas workers are motivated by purpose. Knowing how their work contributes to the greater good is essential for an energised work force. Leaders who can communicate their mission in a compelling way will increase their employee’s energy levels. No I’m not talking about “Our mission is to maximize shareholder value” but something that let’s everyone know your raison d’être. For example Ramsay Healthcare’s (RHC) “People caring for people”.  Most organisations have these statements framed on the on the wall, it quite another for leaders to consistently “walk the talk”. If it is done well it will pay dividends. In the last 10 years RHC have returned 2500% to shareholders versus 147% for the ASX.

Only 27% of highly stressed employees in the RUOK?atWork Survey agreed with “my organisational purpose energises me” compared to 66% of employees with low levels of stress.

2. Acknowledge Progress and Setbacks

In a surprising study summarized in Harvard Business Review (May 2011), researchers Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer interviewed over 12,000 employees – particularly knowledge workers and members of project teams - to discover what motivates them. Respondents said employee recognition is the least effective way to motivate them. Yet, 95% of managers surveyed said they believed employee recognition was the most important way to motivate employees.

In their research, the authors conducted an analysis of daily diaries kept by teammates on a variety of projects. Their conclusion is clear: what motivates people on a day-to-day basis is the belief they are making progress – successful steps forward to achieve a goal.

So, as a leader, what specifically can you do to motivate your team members by supporting their progress?  It is not hard to see where coaching fits in here. However the authors go on to highlight a couple of interesting areas on which to focus introducing the concepts of Catalysts and Nourishers, Inhibitors and Toxins.

It is also essential that supervisors learn to identify and develop employee’s strengths and utilized these to coach and mentor.

Mastering the art of asking “Are you OK?” is essential to stop little problems turning into big ones.

3. Encourage physical wellbeing

In the recent RUOK?atWork Survey only 42% of highly stressed employees said their employer encouraged physical wellbeing compared to 73% of low stress employees. Physical wellbeing can be encouraged by having walking or standing meetings, enrolling employees in the Global Corporate Challenge, having flexible work arrangements that allow time for exercise, gym subsidies.

Interestingly, when we asked employees what were the most effective strategies for reducing harmful stress “doing more exercise” rated second after “speaking to someone at work”. All other strategies nominated were very expensive for a business, such as “take days off” and “look for a new job”. Other elements of wellbeing include knowing and practicing how to relax.

4. Focus on outputs not inputs

Despite extensive research in Daniel Pink’s book “DRIVE: the surprising truth about what motivates us” showing that autonomy and mastery motivate employees, many employers still operate with Industrial Age thinking. For example, most legal firms operate on the billable hour method where employees are asked to account for every 6 minute interval. They are evaluated by how many hours they bill. Lawyers also have the highest levels of depression, substance abuse, and anxiety levels of any profession. This obviously has massive implications for the systems and processes that are utilized by organisations. Do they encourage or inhibit flexibility and mastery?

5. Invest your time wisely

Jennifer Aaker and Melanie Rudd from Stanford University published “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy, Consider Time,” in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2011. They discuss how happiness is indeed a consequence of the choices people make. So what can people do to increase their happiness? Their answer is surprisingly simple: invest your time wisely.

Although happiness is clearly relevant for individuals, businesses should also pay attention. Building a workforce of highly qualified, hard-working, and loyal employees is an essential aspect of staying competitive in today’s global markets. Therefore, being concerned about employee happiness is not just a moral thing to do, but it makes smart business sense as well.

They conclude that the activities that generate the greatest wellbeing are spending time with people you like, work on projects that energize you (these usually allow you to use your strengths), enjoy experiences without actually doing them, focus on the here and now.

What has been your experience? I would welcome your comments/suggestions/questions.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: anxiety at work, depression at work, graeme cowan, mental health at work, resilience, robust cultures, thriving cultures, work stress, workplace mental health

For mental health week I think it is essential to celebrate our uniqueness. I am convinced that honouring our uniqueness in the key to a thriving life. At conception, we won the race from 500 million other sperm. It was the ultimate survival of the fittest. The more we strive to understand the unique elements of our DNA: our strengths, values and passions, and live them, the more effortless our lives become. There is an Indian proverb that says:

Relaxation is who I am; tension is who I think I should be

If we have a predisposition to depression, bipolar, or anxiety it should not define who we are. Sure we have to learn to manage it and be aware of our early warning signs, but there is no reason why that should define us or limit our contribution. Our strengths if developed and celebrated will always outweigh any weakness.

Discover and celebrate your strengths

If you haven’t discovered your top 5 strengths out of a possible 24 strengths, I can’t think of a better time to do it than for Mental Health Week. Martin Seligman and positive psychology movement have made a free assessment available to discover you strengths. They have shown that those people that use and constantly develop their strengths will have a much more fulfilling life than those who don’t. Discover yours now.

Brisbane seminar this Saturday - 7 essential strategies to beat depression for good

I have been often asked when I am presenting interstate. I do travel a lot but unfortunately it is usually for private conferences – not open to the public.

This Saturday October 15 from 2-5pm I will be presenting at the Relaxation Centre in Brisbane. For more information and to register.

In an endeavour to share what I have learnt for those who aren’t able to attend my seminars I have created the following:

BACK FROM THE BRINK Facebook Page

The BACK FROM THE BRINK Facebook Page allows me to share my thoughts on how to bounce back from depression and adversity to live a meaningful life. I have shared over 40 free downloadable resources under these categories:

· Anxiety

· Bipolar

· Carers

· Clinician Resources

· Diagnosis

· Facts

· Lifestyle treatments

· Old people

· Medical Treatments

· Wellbeing

Click the link. Click “LIKE”. Click “Free Stuff”

Let me know if you have any questions/comments/suggestions.

Strive2Thrive YouTube Channel

I have also created this channel to share some insights. Some of the videos on there include:

· Finding a GP that can help with depression

· What if you partner has depression

· Rituals for behaviour change

· Guiding principles to build resilience

· Depression treatments that really, REALLY work

Click here to check them out and subscribe to be advised of new additions. If you have a question you would like me to cover, please let me know.

RUOK?Day 2011

As a Director of RUOK?Day I was delighted with the coverage and impact we achieved this year. I will share more details of this in my next post, but we were delighted to learn that awareness of the day increased from 28% in 2010 to 68% this year. Over 2500 organisations participated in the RUOK?atWork program this year compared to 700 in 2010. More information soon.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: Bounce Back, depression treatments, mental health, natural depression treatments, overcoming depression, resilience

Between 2000-2005 I went through, what my psychiatrist described as the worst episode of depression he had ever treated. Although I had experienced four major episodes of depression previously, this was by far the worst. During that time I was hospitalised 4 times and attempted suicide. I tried 23 different medications, underwent ECT (shock treatment) on 20 occasions, tried Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Acupuncture, Kinesiology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and participated in many other programs related to the treatment of clinical depression.

Generally there are thought to be 2 major types of depression, reactive – which occurs due to adverse circumstances, and melancholic – which seems to be more biological in nature, and can occur for no apparent reason. The latter was my diagnosis. Whatever  the cause,  I know it is impossible to describe the despair I felt.

After coming out of a 9 week stint in a psychiatric hospital in 2005, I began to walk regularly every day (even though I didn’t feel like it) and began having regular contact with family and friends who I had been isolating from (didn’t feel like that either). I also began taking a higher dose of a medication I had been on. Over the next  4 months, my mood lifted a little. A friend then encouraged me to do a meditation course. I had tried this when I was severely depressed, but found that I couldn’t concentrate. This time I was able to experience peace and this further lifted my mood.

 When I was at my worst, I yearned for stories of people who had been through what I was feeling and had come out the other side. Now that my mood had lifted significantly, I decided to prepare a book that told authentic stories of hope.

In 2007, “BACK FROM THE BRINK: Australians tell their stories of overcoming depression” was launched at the Black Dog Institute in Sydney. In it I interviewed people like the ex WA Premier, Geoff Gallop, Olympic Swimming Gold Medallist’s John Konrads and Petria Thomas, artist Margaret Olley, poet Les Murray, and 7 other everyday Australians. These courageous people told their stories with honesty and dignity.

The book launch lead to around 150 media interviews and book signings. What astonished me was that around 70% of the people who spoke to me during these events, were loved ones of the depressed person, desperate to know how they could make a difference. This lead to me writing “BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression” which was awarded SANE’s 2009 Book of the Year.

Through the process of writing the books and afterwards, I interviewed over 5000 people, either in person or via surveys, to understand their strategies for bouncing back. This is what I’ve learnt.

When you are severely depressed there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I know from personal experience that you can reach a point where you TOTALLY lose hope. This emphasizes two things. It’s essential to act early and seek help before you slip below the water. The cargiver can play a critical role by providing much needed emotional support and encouragement.  Carers can often they feel pushed away, but they should be assured that this is the response of someone in great pain who is lashing out.

The mental health system is extraordinarily fragmented. There are resources out there, but it is incredibly difficult to find holistic solutions. For those trying to make sense of it when they are depressed, it is almost impossible. For a comprehensive list of helplines and mental health websites there is a free ebook at www.DepressionCarer.com

If you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Mental health professionals are very well meaning, but in most cases, the communication between say a GP, psychologist, psychiatrist, community health worker, naturopath, hospital employees, etc, about your case is virtually zero. You may find that, for example, your psychologist recommends Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, your psychiatrist antidepressants, your naturopath St Johns Wart, a GP exercise. What complicates this further is that some health professionals are openly dismissive of the advice of others, leaving you wondering who to believe. Some fantastic GP’s play the role of a defacto case manager and help guide people through this maze. Unfortunately they are rare. If you do not believe your GP has good expertise in mental health,  go to www.beyondblue.org.au and do a postcode search to identify doctors that have a special interest (and training) in your area.

There are multiple tracks to the land of milk and honey  The term “depression” is used to cover a myriad of situations and symptoms. The vast majority of GP’s have a one size fits all approach which is usually just drug or therapy oriented. Everyone’s path to recovery is unique – there is no golden bullet. In my view and from what 5000 people have told me, you are best to follow multiple strategies. When I asked people who had overcome or managed their depression what worked best for them they listed the following 7 strategies: exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, meditation/relaxation, nutrition, and antidepressants. To see the details of the research you can download a free ebook from www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

In summary, if my best friend experienced the symptoms of depression every day for two weeks this would be my advice to them:

1.       Immediately encourage them to see their GP (or help them find one with mental health expertise – see above).

2.       Encourage them to share what is happening to them with a couple of trusted friends/family members.

3.       Encourage them to begin walking (or equivalent) every day and offer to accompany them.

4.       Encourage them to set moderate goals for the next week for the above 3 areas - ask them what they think is realistic.

What thoughts/comments/questions do you have about this article? What advice would you give a best friend who you thought was depressed? Please reply to this post.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Graeme Cowan is an International Speaker and Author who educates people on how to bounce back from challenging times.  www.GraemeCowan.com.au

Tags: Bounce Back, graeme cowan, overcome adversity, overcoming depression, resilience

GUILT AND DEPRESSION

In the latest seminar series on beating depression I am running, a participant asked a very important question which is listed below. My response also follows. If you have any comments about your own experience with guilt and depression, please respond to this blog.

I was wondering if you would be talking about guilt at all? I was just about to send my question on guilt when you said your goodbyes, so serves me right for not having the courage to do it earlier. I just wondered…. what strategies do you have, if any, for coping with the guilt you feel when you aren’t able to do chores / tasks / exercising / all those things you’re supposed to do for yourself and others ? I find it’s so overwhelming. I sit there knowing I have something I’m meant to do, but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t do it. Because I can’t, and don’t do it, the guilt then sets in, so I have that burden on top of the burden of knowledge of not completing what I was meant to.

Does that make sense? I find the guilt to be a real issue.

On the positive side, after week 1 of the seminar, I have committed to walking with my dogs. I managed two walks ( took the dogs along ! ) and made it to four walks in the second week. This is the third week but I haven’t been out YET…..I hope to get the four walks in though. So, thank you for that encouragement. I hope to add socialising because I’m a master at isolating myself. Working on that. My intention is to just do one thing at a time with the ultimate goal of getting well and back to work.

I trust you’re getting excellent feedback following each week’s seminar Graeme, and it’s good to hear you covering the needs of carers because the poor things really do work very hard. While I’m looking forward to next Tuesday, I am also very sad that it’s the last in the series. It’s been so beneficial.

Jenny, VIC

Dear Jenny,

 

Thank you for raising this issue.

Inactivity and guilt is so central to people living with depression. From my own experience with depression I know how hard it is to get out of bed in the morning.

 

Everyone’s situation is unique but I would like to make the following observations/suggestions:

 

BE GENTLE ON YOURSELF

Give yourself credit for what you are already doing. You have started exercising. If you miss a day, don’t bash yourself up, but just resolve to do it tomorrow. Depression drains you of your self esteem and it doesn’t serve any purpose to get more whips out to lash yourself. Besides it was unbelievably hot in Melbourne last week (and the tennis was on!!)

 

FOCUS ON ONE DAY AT A TIME BUT PLAN A WEEK AHEAD

This sounds a bit contradictory, but let me try to explain.

When we are not well, we can only see the million problems we have to solve to sort ourselves out but the truth of the matter is, that we only have today.

 

I found it very helpful in my recovery when I was asked to plan my week ahead – to work out when I would exercise and see other people. There was something about scheduling it with my carer in the diary that made it seem more definite. Knowing that I had to report back to them in a weeks time also made me more committed. Once that weekly schedule was worked out I then tried to only worry about the day.

 

TRY TO THINK OF WAYS TO GET YOU WALKING EACH DAY

Decide what time each day you are going to walk and stick to it..

Is there a friend who can accompany you on some of those days?

Try to be really observant on the walk.

Maybe consider keeping a walking log. What did you notice today? Were there any animals, birds, unusual scents, colours or sounds? If you went with a friend, what thoughts or feelings did you discuss?

 

Each day just focus on getting to the front gate. Getting there is at least 50% of the effort.

 

Make the daily walk the only thing you have to do this week. Having a walk often has an energising effect.. People with depression say it often serves two purposes. It gives them a sense of achievement for the day and it often enhances their mood. Both these outcomes are good for diminishing guilt. This then often provides the energy for other things (but you don’t have to do anything else).

This week try to walk for 6 days. Getting to the front gate counts as a walk.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

I found an excellent article on handling guilt at:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/14689-handling-guilt/

 

 

Hang in there Jenny.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression, exercise, guilt, resilience