Intense

I have not managed to get fingers to keyboard over the last week and half and my head is ready to explode! I enjoy this process and without it, I do battle.

I haven’t been around as I have been doing some self-development*, first aid training and learning about workplace mental health, oh and throw in some fire warden training just for fun. The first aid training was physically intense and as I walked out after 7 hours, I was fervently hoping I would never have to face that in real life. I could barely get it right on the dummy – humans would be terrifying!

Fire warden training reminded me how far behind on the 8-ball we are when it comes to having stuff written down. We do it, we just have not documented it. Ugh! It is a lot of work and somehow I will add it to my list.

The really intense, and I mean, slap in the face fucking pay attention! intense, revolved around the workplace mental health. 14%, approx, of all suicide and attempted suicide is work related. Fuck me! What are we missing as employers? Work keeps us connected, and being human we need to feel useful and contribute. We need meaning in our lives. Work provides this and when we feel like we have no control, no input the spiral starts. To note, that work is usually the last straw in a myriad of factors that lead to a mental health issue.

I work for an amazing company. I am aware that they show compassion, they get that we are human and they pay attention. I can share things with my boss that I know will have no judgement, no repercussion and I will be offered whatever help I need. Having said this, there is still so much work to do in this space. There is so much more we need to have in place for our staff and for our company.

I have started to outline an action plan (oh yeah I am now HR Manager along with Financial Controller) for the next year and it is daunting. Yet, I know that if we procrastinate, we will not be able to stop more episodes occurring and that is the point, right?

I left the first for last … I did the “Dare to Lead” workshop based on the book by Brenè Brown. Oh my … I was not prepared for the reflection. I thought I was fairly self-aware until this course. I had to reevaluate so much stuff I thought I had pretty well organised. Fuck!

Yes, I got leadership tactics and stuff to work through, but the course was really about changing myself. The sentence that stands out the most: Clear is kind, unclear is unkind. The activity? Writing your SFD to clear your head before you assume anything.

I still have so much work to do, so many things I would like to achieve in my role. Most importantly I would like to see my staff achieve their goals and surpass any of my efforts. There lies the true measure of any leader.

*I was so not prepared for this self-development disguised as a leadership course. I am still trying to assimilate it all.