From the Experts: Mental Health - Turknett Leadership Group

By the Turknett Team

There have been few topics hotter than the topic of mental health recently. Following the pandemic, record levels of uncertainty, and increased workloads – our mental health is more at risk than ever. Highlighted by famous athletes like Simon Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Aaron Rodgers – organizations are recognizing the growing need to invest in the mental health and wellbeing of their employees. We turned to our experts to see how they cope with stress and guard their mental health. They also share with us the main stressors that they are seeing in their clients.

Answers From the Experts:

Lyn Turknett, Co-founder and Co-chair

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? My quickest “go to” is deep breathing – with a slow exhale of at least thirty seconds. Being mindful of my breathing, and working to make sure I am breathing deeply and slowly, is always relaxing to me. Next I monitor my thinking – how I am talking to myself. I usually find that I am saying things to myself that are counterproductive – things like:

Why did I agree to do this!
I can’t believe she said that!
Why can’t I get this right?!

I have practiced countering my thoughts with things that are more calming and productive, like “It is what it is, Lyn. You agreed to do it, so finish it as quickly as possible. And maybe try next time to decide up front whether you should say yes.” My next “go to” is moving – maybe a quick walk or ten-minute YouTube cardio. AND STOPPING TO BE GRATEFUL AT LEAST ONCE A DAY IS A HUGE STRESS RELIEVER! What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? A top one for leaders now in most industries, and one that’s been mentioned frequently, is Zoom fatigue. We are so fortunate to have these technologies, but it’s also more stressful to interact when you are missing the nonverbal signals we are used to as humans. Also, many organizations are booking meetings with no “commute time” between meetings. Response to the pandemic is a continuing stressor, with a big one now being decisions about returning to the workplace. And many companies find that employees are stressed and anxious about returning. Everyone with children is worried about safety in returning to school and caring for children if schools or childcare facilities are closed Stressors change by industry as well. In healthcare, there is extreme fatigue and frustration as hospitalizations rise again, while restaurants and food services are stressed by changes in infection rates just as diners were returning to indoor dining. Finding employees is a huge stressor for service and retail industries, and many workers in those industries are anxious about serving the public during a pandemic. I have to add, though, that one of the silver linings of being consultant during the past 18 months is the opportunity to see the incredible resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for adaptation and innovation. Seeing people in multiple industries adapt and change so quickly has been a remarkable opportunity.

Dr. Patricia Thompson, Ph.D., Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? When I’m under stress, I am very intentional about self-care. In addition to making sure I’m getting enough sleep, I meditate, and carve out time to engage in activities I enjoy. In particular, I find that working up a sweat by hitting balls on the tennis court works wonders for releasing physical tension. I also find it helpful to take a step back and figure out my top priorities. That way, I can get the most important things done, while not letting the less important items overwhelm me. What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? Currently I see clients struggling with some pretty typical stressors such as managing their workloads and juggling their personal and professional obligations. In addition, many are dealing with unpredictability related to the resurgence of Covid-19 and uncertainty with regards to returning to the office (with differing perspectives from leaders and employees).

Michael Sessions, Ph.D., Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? My go to’s for combatting stress include exercise, music, time with friends and reading (anything but work!). I also try and practice meditation at least 10 minutes/day. Did I mention exercise? It may be the most important one. What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? The biggest stressor I’m hearing about is the safety of the workforce relative to the risk of Covid-19. Employers are losing sleep wrestling with the question of bringing people back to the office and/or requiring vaccines versus respect for the right to individual choice or possibly losing valuable employees. Labor shortages are also an issue, particularly in less skilled positions.

Richard Stone, Strategic Partner, Chief Storyteller

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? I Meditate and use HeartMath’s heart centered breathing app. And I take plenty of walks in nature. What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? Dealing with the many uncertainties presented by the issues of Covid-19 and trying to figure out how to manage all of the issues related to whether folks can effectively work from home or need to be in the office.

Miranda Troy, Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? Exercise, gratitude journaling and mindfulness meditation have been my go-to stress relievers for a number of years. I find that stress can trigger my imposter syndrome and/or a feeling that I am “weak”. Exercise is the physical manifestation of strength so my exercise regiment increases when stress finds me and tends to calm the “not good enough” gremlins. Having a grateful heart has been scientifically proven to increase our happiness so I make sure I take a couple of minutes to name at least three things I am grateful for every day. If I can’t find the time to record it in my journal, we go around the dinner table as a family and share. Lastly, mindfulness meditation. I am such a believer in the benefits of mindfulness meditation that I bring it into my coaching practice and share a copy of the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World with all of my coachees at the start of our coaching engagements. The ones that explore it and start a practice reap the benefits and continue their practice well after our engagements concludes. What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? One of the assessments that I use when coaching clients highlights an individual’s stress behaviors. I have been working with clients to not just identify their stress behaviors but to also find the good in them. For example, I have a client whose stress behavior is that she becomes emotional and take things very personally. But one of her other stress behaviors is that she becomes a master planner and executor because she needs to feel some sense of control. Together, we are working to identify the behaviors and triggers when they arise, accept them and lean into the positive that they bring while not obsessing on the negative. Stress is constant and knowing how to channel it appropriately is so beneficial.

Tim Huff, Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? My favorite stress relief action is to go for a long run outside. Nothing beats good exercise on a nice day! I also like to spend some quiet time and unplug from e-mails, phone calls, social media, etc. and just listen to music or read a book. Any way I can give myself some distance from the stressor to gain a healthy perspective before re-engaging is very helpful. Sometimes that might mean simply closing my eyes and taking three deep breaths before joining my next meeting! What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? I’m definitely seeing a trend of increased stress in inter-personal relationships from my clients. Being remote for an extended period of time while trying to grow a high performing team, especially with new team members, can be very challenging and stressful!

Brian Bienn, Ph.D., Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? For me, there’s a first step that I try to take…and that is to manage how much I commit to take on. Even though I’m (fortunately) able to influence this to a large extent, I always run the risk of committing to more than I can handle – in an optimal manner. When I am stressed, I rely on these specific routines and tactics to manage it:

Put it in perspective. It’s usually the case that what I’m feeling stressed about pales in comparison to difficulties and challenges that so many other people must endure. I’m fortunate, and taking that appreciative view is valuable.
Break the stressful situation down into manageable parts. This re-establishes my sense of control and confidence that I will be able to make it through whatever the stressful situation might be.
Remind myself that I’ve been in similar situations in the past, have gotten through those, and will be able to do the same in this situation.
Take time to calm my mind and my thinking.
Self-care…trying to get enough sleep, taking breaks, exercise as a non-negotiable

What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? Workload pressures and life balance stresses. For many people, the performance scorecard has changed…and many are struggling to identify what the new performance measures are…how they will be evaluated. Some leaders and managers are feeling stressed by not being able to do as much to support their team members (in handling stress or managing workload) as they feel they should be doing. Some are experiencing “compassion stress” – listening so empathetically so often – that they become emotionally depleted.

Chris McCusker, Ph.D., Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? For mental stress I like physical activity. And I would rather do physical labor than exercise if possible. For emotional stress I need to be around family and friends. Those who love me unconditionally and listen. For the ultimate stress, mistakes and other forms of self-induced failure, I need nature. As a classic over-thinker, haunted by mistakes, I need to be alone and surrounded by forces bigger than myself. These days I stare out into Lake Michigan, and she stares back, and, at some point, catharsis, by way of learning and renewal, happens. I am still learning how to manage stress.

Melanie Polk, Senior Consultant

When you are under stress yourself, what coping mechanisms or grounding techniques do you use? Fundamentally, I have found that the most important factor in managing stress is self-awareness. By doing the work to understand who I am, what motivates me, and what triggers me – I can more easily leverage that understanding to map out a “stress plan” for when stress inevitably arises. My coping mechanism invariably involves some type of ‘pause’ – as I like to call it, ’the pause that refreshes.’ Depending upon the stressor, it could be as simple as a pause to exercise, do a crossword puzzle, walk the dogs or organize my closet – to something with a longer pause like a staycation or day hike in the mountains around my home in Arizona. What are the key stressors you are seeing right now in clients? The most consistent stressor I am seeing is burnout. Clients are mentally, physically, and socially exhausted by the continued uncertainty around the pandemic. Lately, that has centered around what work will look like coming out of it based on their companies’ policies (all remote? Hybrid? Back in the office?), and how that affects them. The other consistent stressor I hear is around ‘work overwhelm.’ While I would not say that this is specifically correlated to the pandemic – clients have been complaining about being ‘crazy busy’ for years now – the pandemic has certainly exacerbated the issue given the blurring between work and personal time and space. Want to get to know our consultants and staff? Check out their bios!