“Are you doing OK?” The question came from a former boss a number of years ago, as we were finishing one of our frequent one-on-one coordination meetings.
I panicked at the suddenly personal question, and in knee-jerk fashion simply told my boss that I was “fine.”
The truth was that my mental and emotional health had been suffering for quite some time, but I was afraid and slightly ashamed to even acknowledge it.
I decided to initiate a second conversation, where I opened up about what I was experiencing.
The result? I wasn’t told to simply toughen up, or that we all go through difficult things, or that I needed to keep my personal life from affecting my work. Instead, my boss listened with genuine empathy, shared personal experiences and offered to make any adjustments at work that would be helpful.
This experience profoundly impacted my personal and professional life, and offers some vital takeaways for other leaders in business, government and the community.
First: Be vulnerable, authentic and human. We can’t eliminate the stigma around mental health solely by echoing calls to do so. Leaders must lead by example. I knew my boss would be receptive to my circumstance because I witnessed her speak and lead vulnerably on this issue many times prior.
Second: Lead through genuine connection. Leaders who invest time and effort in developing genuine connections with employees engender greater loyalty and trust — a good business practice — but also vital for creating a culture of mental fitness.
Third: Remember that mental fitness includes all of us, not just those living with a clinical diagnosis. Thanks to the good work from other nonprofits like Room Here, mental fitness is catching on as a new term to broaden the conversation and erase the stigma.
In the same way that we all can take daily steps to improve our physical fitness, whether we have a health diagnosis or not, we all can and should take daily steps to enhance our mental fitness as well.
After that pivotal conversation with my boss, I took appropriate steps and was able to get better. I opened up to family and close friends, and met with a professional therapist.
As it turns out, my circumstance didn’t rise to the level of any kind of diagnosis, but was instead “situational” or “subclinical.” Though not chronic, it was no less important to address and take corrective action.
This experience taught me that a regular mental fitness regimen is just as important as a physical fitness regimen, and in fact they positively reinforce one another.
It also gave me a new depth of empathy for those who courageously go through life with long-term diagnosable mental illness.
Lastly, it showed me how impactful a workplace culture of mental fitness can be, when modeled by those in positions of leadership.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I share this story now to join the chorus of voices bringing awareness, normalizing the conversation, and showing how each of us can play a role in building resilience in our workforce, families and entire state.
For each and every Utahn, whether facing a lifelong mental illness or a temporary, situational blow to their mental fitness, we all have a duty to help. And one of the best places to start is for leaders of organizations to be more vulnerable, empathetic and willing to create a culture of mental fitness through their own example.
Nic Dunn is the director of Utah Community Builders, the Salt Lake Chamber’s nonprofit social impact foundation.