“Portland, Maine — A computer specialist had a stroke in his office but wasn’t discovered until five days later, then died at a hospital, relatives and authorities said Wednesday.” The story can be read here.
When I worked at a computer firm many years ago, a man who worked in a cubicle two doors down from me died. I didn’t even know his name. When I was teaching, a colleague in my department did not show up after the holidays to begin Spring Term. Our department chair found him dead at his apartment. He had committed suicide. Several weeks earlier, I had seen him going through his course evaluations throwing away the bad ones. I said nothing. Was I being kind because I didn’t want to get him into trouble or was I just a coward or being indifferent? What, exactly, is our responsibility to those around us, especially those who work for us, to notice and act on signals that something may be wrong?
Would earlier detection and treatment have prevented Adam Lanza from slaughtering those children, teachers, his mother and killing himself? No one knows. In an earlier article (The Will to Kill: Leadership Behavior and Workplace Violence), I posed the same question about Jared Loughner, the man who killed six and injured U.S. Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others in 2011. The answer, unfortunately, is the same. We just don’t know. Would greater vigilance and earlier action prevent many suicides, reduce the number of violent incidents, produce healthier, happier workplaces and schools? Probably. We, as a society, still harbor many prejudices about mental illness. We tend to dismiss it, are embarrassed about it, don’t want to acknowledge it, avoid dealing with it.
Like most problems, those strategies are pretty ineffective. In the workplace, I often hear managers say, “Leave your personal problems at home.” Human Resource professionals coach supervisors to ignore ‘Non work-related problems.” Most of us, however, do not and cannot cleanly compartmentalize such problems. Those things that worry us at home have an impact on us at work. Our work problems interfere with our home life. Where do you draw the line? As with many such complex issues, there is no one easy answer but here are a few of my thoughts on actions that organizational leaders can take that could make a difference without compromising the goals of the team or the company.
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Conduct some basic training on how to recognize and respond to signs that people may be depressed or having some sort of psychological problem. We are not therapists but, as leaders, we have a responsibility to be the “first responders” when something may be going wrong. As with most problems, the earlier it is recognized, the easier it is to deal with.
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Create a supportive environment in which people are not afraid to discuss important issues, including troubling personal problems. It costs the company a lot more to fix a problem once it has escalated than when it is merely “troubling.”
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Learn to listen. Good leadership training will help those in leadership roles learn to pay closer attention to nonverbal signals and help them develop the kinds of listening skills that will encourage team members to talk openly about problems rather than try to hide them. These skills are taught extremely well in Dr. Thomas Gordon’s Leader Effectiveness Training.
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Improve the company’s policies regarding mental health. Work to provide better coverage for counseling and therapy. A little prevention will, in all likelihood, lead to fewer, more expensive health issues later on.
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Reduce your tolerance for prejudicial behavior. Discourage the kind of humor that derogates, mocks or diminishes those with mental health problems.
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Encourage true work/life balance practices. Stress kills. A work environment that is inflexible creates a lot of stress and often is less productive than those with more family friendly environments.
There are certainly many other actions that may contribute to a safer, healthier, workplace but these alone would go a long way toward preventing, at least some of the anxiety, anger and resentment that fuels depression or rage in some people. No one action or set of actions will “fix” the problem we have with violence in our workplaces or in our country but each of us can take steps to do our part. Collectively, we can make a difference. As the New Year begins, start fresh with your team members. Create the kind of workplace that you can be proud of, one in which people can speak openly, problems are identified early and dealt with properly. Set the example for your team members by being open with them. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if many of us do this, it will matter.