Be an Explorer, not a Tourist pt1 Off the edge of the map

‘Be an Explorer, not a Tourist'

Secluded, space to think, be, wonder and wander a while.  

In this blog, I invite you to dare to discover, be a champion for curiosity, and take the path less travelled with me, as I journey in search of new ways of thinking, seeing & experiencing wellbeing & professional success.

It’s a worthy pursuit.  Take a look around - of the people nearest to you right now, one in four will suffer a mental health illness in their adulthood.

The estimated cost of work-related stress to European businesses and social security systems is €600 billion a year. And the knock-on effects are untold – the discomfort, pain, dis-ease, impact on personal performance, relationships, outlook. It de-bases us to focus on surviving, instead of thriving. 

There has been a recent surge on the focus of wellbeing and lifestyle medicine – no doubt to address the maladies we have already identified; but there is a vital missing link. And, as most of us spend most of our lives at work… perhaps the workplace is the missing link to improving health, happiness & humanity.

According to Gallup, 85% of the global workforce is either not engaged or is actively disengaged at work, costing over $7 trillion in lost productivity. Gallup also found in a study of 7,000 Americans that 50% of those surveyed had left a job at some point during their career to get away from their manager so that they could have a greater quality of life.

If you are non-profit, the Kingsfund 2012 research report published “In general terms, the more positive the experiences of staff within an NHS trust, the better the outcomes for that trust. Engagement has many significant associations with patient satisfaction, patient mortality, infection rates, Annual Health Check scores, as well as staff absenteeism and turnover. The more engaged staff members are, the better the outcomes for patients and the organisation generally.

Read that again… less people die; there are less infections; and staff are healthier at NHS trusts where employee engagement (the outcome of a positive employment experience) is higher.

The elegant solution recognises that no business ever thrived when its people were on their knees.  By exploring what is happening inside businesses that understand the health and wealth link - we see everyone stands to win.  

Jacob Morgan’s meta study shows companies that generate a culture and climate where employees thrive are 4 x more profitable, 4 x productive and 4 x more innovative. They also have up to 10x higher brand value and up to 7x higher employer brand proposition.

So what can businesses do to improve their financial health through the health of their people?

It’s fair to say we can be better than stopping at mental health first aiders.  Using our explorer analogy - that's the equivalent of travelling east from the shores of Europe, arriving at the first landmass and believing you’ve reached Asia.

Understanding the stress cycle is essential when it comes to building resilience in today’s VUCA world: constant change, uncertainty and ambiguity trigger our stress response.

The stress response anticipates expending a short burst of intense energy - so movement is an excellent tactic to moderate the situation. Can you encourage your team to have more walk and talk meetings instead of sitting in a meeting room or on Zoom? Could you offer fitness class discounts or gym memberships?

After the surge of power expected… you need a recovery phase. Time out, chill time, headspace, relaxation, rejuvenation, restoration.   Can you facilitate listening or playing music, reading, gardening, any hobby?  It doesn’t require a budget to set up a book club or film night.

We’re wired for connection & belonging - do you have a strong sense of belonging? Do you create a culture where people feel they can be themselves, and make a contribution. If this is missing for you or your business, take a look at what’s important to you/ your team and drill into purpose - where do they find meaning at work? Is there a sufficient level of autonomy? Do they have a voice? 

Considering the ROI and wider wins, it seems, applying learning from lifestyle medicine is certainly a frontier worth exploring in the world of leadership and business performance.