Executives today need Breathing Space - a mental health and wellbeing program for leaders. - Fisher Leadership

Executives today need Breathing Space – a mental health and wellbeing program for leaders.

CogNative Advisory, powered by Fisher Leadership, launches an executive mental health and wellbeing program to support high performance leaders operating in high pressure environments. 

For nearly 20 years, Fisher Leadership has walked alongside executives throughout their career journeys. We understand the specific challenges faced by high performance leaders today, and the need for boards and leadership teams to be proactive about executive mental health and wellbeing.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Breathing Spacea program designed to support high performance leaders operating under pressure to live, work and lead well. Managing Director Michelle Loader says “Organisations have a responsibility to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of their leaders, the Breathing Space program enables this.” 

The multi-dimensional program brings together behavioural science, wearable technology and pyscho-social assessments to build awareness and shape wellbeing strategies for individuals and leadership teams. First completing baseline assessments to establish mental, physical and workplace health, the ongoing support includes confidential one-to-one wellbeing check-ins, a deep-dive reflection session, team workshops, action learning labs, access to a resource portal and an off-site wellbeing retreat – Into the Wild.

Breathing Space

Given that the annual cost of mental health is estimated at 180 billion to the Australian economy overall (Productivity Commission, 2019), and the direct financial cost of mental illness to Australian businesses each year is 12.8 billion (KPMG & Mental Health Australia, 2018), can we afford not to act? 

At his State of the State address hosted by CEDA in December last year, Premier Daniel Andrews told the audience that the Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health will be the biggest and most impactful work he and his team will ever do.  

We know that one in five Australians suffers from mental illness (Beyond Blue, 2019), and that 70% of sufferers will never seek help (PwC, 2019).  Research out of the U.S. indicates that CEOs are twice as likely as the general population to experience issues such as depression (Barnard 2004). And a new study finds that while half of all Australian workers have experienced a mental illness, nearly half of these people believe their workplace is the cause (Superfriend, 2019). 

“The senior people in an organisation have a major role in setting the priorities for an organisation and for setting the culture which will determine where employee mental health sits in the hierarchy of concerns.”

Associate Professor Samuel Harvey who leads the Workplace Mental Health Research Program at Black Dog Institute.  

With the increased understanding of the impact a wellbeing-focused culture can have on commercial and social outcomes, many organisations are keen to lock in programs ahead of likely regulatory legislative changes. The Victorian Royal Commission in to Mental Health is expected to deliver its findings in May this year. From both a leadership development and a work health and safety perspective, we believe today’s leaders need Breathing Space.

 The CLA team welcome an initial conversation to create a future in which leaders thrive: contact tjoyce@clasolutions.global


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