In this International Security Journal exclusive, Jennifer Thamm, Founder and CEO of SaysLife explores the theme of people and wellbeing risk management in leadership teams.
Strain and challenge is part of leadership.
Successfully climbing up the corporate ladder can leave scars and once you’re at the top – there might not be anyone around to help clean the wounds but you’re there, you manage to survive and hopefully thrive.
Hidden expectations
Years ago, a ‘thriving’ top US CEO once told me that their job was to motivate and keep the team pumping.
He also added with a tired smile, “but who pumps the pumper?” It was a rhetorical question from him, an elegant way of expressing the pressures he felt; without any expectations that someone would swoop down and provide the same type of motivation and pumping-up to him that he was providing to his team.
As I worked in transformation and risk management with large global organisations, I was privy to observing many leaders navigating their people-related challenges. Everyone’s individual private stories would manifest in the office and commingle with business priorities.
While people issues pop up in various degrees, causing different complexities throughout our business operations, it wasn’t until both my previous CEO and CFO committed suicide, that I realised as a risk manager – it was my duty to mitigate as best possible the people and wellbeing related risks of our organisation.
At that time, I didn’t find a risk management company specialising in wellbeing related concerns nor did I find solutions offering frameworks designed to uphold an individual’s privacy while gathering the data needed to make risk-informed decisions and integrate this into our established ERM program.
Given my new sense of responsibility in this area, I dedicated my MBA dissertation to executive level stress and soon after founded my company ‘SaysLife.’
Stress related business performance
Post COVID-19 pandemic, we now have multiple studies conducted across the globe with stress related costs to business performance valued at over USD $1 trillion dollars.
Leadership today is unforgiving in speed and expectations as leaders are expected to protect others, deliver results and stay one step ahead at all times.
These requirements along with personal responsibilities, family activities, care-giving and social engagements, all pile onto the invisible load of stress and pressure.
Falling behind is not an option and we keep going regardless of the “tariffs” the invisible load places on our physical, emotional and mental health.
Weave in past trauma, a breaking point for a leader might not be too far away.
The invisible load
So what does the invisible load look like?
Just like heavy logs in a pile, the load can stack up silent and invisible and could reduce the top performance of a leader.
Examples of what this might look like for a leader in many companies, includes:
- Cultural adaptation and adoption due to expat assignments or more permanent relocations for work
- Working parents
- Caring for aging parents
- Relationship strains with partners
- Financial concerns
- Medical issues and/or ignored medical attention
- Too much pressure from closing periods, peers or stakeholders
Adding resilience and stamina to the load can be influenced by a leader’s childhood, past experiences and some experts even say genetics to a certain degree.
Before we pay the high price of these ‘tariffs’, boardrooms can no longer experience the phenomena of “FOMO” (fear of finding out).
Strategic priorities
Unless all leaders are replaced by an AI chat agent, silence and ignoring the elephant in the room will soon become extinct.
Our top strategic priorities will need to embrace human-focused and human-centered leadership to remain relevant and be an employer of choice.
Our risk programs and frameworks should have the ability to build trust, privately and securely identifying, mitigating and managing people and wellbeing related risks.
Leaders’ wellbeing needs have to be taken into account and simply paying them high salaries will no longer be enough.
We must prevent and mitigate the performance dips and strains on our leaders and provide them the support and the ‘pumping-up’ that they need, before it gets too late.
Recommendations
My recommendations are to use trusted resources to help create a balance of risk and opportunity around leadership and people’s wellbeing for your organisation.
- Respectfully gather insights without breaching a person’s need for privacy
- Be culturally aware of how and what support programs are chosen
- Decide on investments using data-driven information and protect them with crafted methods and standards that allow for mid to long term results tracking
- Encourage positive social relationships and establish the culture and approach centrally, then continue into your supply chains and partners
When I started in the risk management profession, I always thought this role should be a CEO’s best friend, protecting the team from any oncoming threats and quickly correcting arising issues.
The role is similar to that of the offensive linesmen blocking for their quarterback and receivers, ensuring the success of their organisation and watching the big numbers rack up on the scoreboard.
People and wellbeing risk management becomes the new strategic play, growing in its importance and supporting leaders worldwide.
I think for the first step, we need to embrace being human, what that means and keep a positive outlook.
If you or anyone you know needs immediate help please contact your local suicide and mental health emergency lines, people are there to help.
You are not alone.
