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The pandemic has accelerated a trend that has been unfolding over the last decade. As the world has grown more digital and complex, the range of decisions that leaders need to make has broadened, spanning from big picture strategic thinking to careful execution, to advancing technology roadmaps and upskilling and engaging employees. And decision-making criteria too have expanded, increasingly focusing on ESG considerations in addition to narrowly defined profit expectations. The past year has been particularly intense, pushing leaders to make decisions for which they had no previous experience — and do so quickly.

To succeed in this new era of value creation, leaders need new skills and capabilities. Our in-depth research of more than a dozen companies that have transformed and positioned themselves for success in this new world — including Microsoft, the Cleveland Clinic, and Philips — shows that leaders at these companies sought to be proficient across a wide set of characteristics rather than relying solely on their areas of strengths. They learned how to work together with others who have different backgrounds and different ways of thinking, and they emphasized collaborating together to lead their business despite all their differences. (If you’re interested in participating in a survey about leadership, you can find more details at the end of this article.)

The characteristics that leaders we interviewed considered most important in this new era align well with the six paradoxes of leadership described in Blair Sheppard’s recent book, Ten Years to Midnight.

Strategic Executor

Leaders who want to succeed in this complex and fast paced business environment need to have clarity about what the new world will look like and what their company’s place in that world is going to be. This requires highly strategic leaders, visionaries who can step back from the day to day to see where the world is headed, understand how value can be created in the future in ways that are different from today’s, and stake out a powerful position for the company.

Being a good strategist, however, isn’t enough. Leaders need to be equally skilled at execution. They need to own the transformation of the company needed to reach the future. They need to be able to translate strategy into specific executional steps and see that execution through to the end. They need to be able to make rapid operational decisions that help deliver the path to the future.

In many ways, the digital model of value creation may require even stronger execution skills than in the past, since there is so much to do to push the limits of what’s possible.

Humble Hero

The digital age calls for hero leaders, people who are willing to make bold decisions (like shedding certain business positions or staking out new ones) in times of uncertainty.

At the same time leaders need to have the humility to acknowledge what they don’t know and to bring on board people with potentially very different skills, backgrounds, and capabilities. They need to be willing to learn from others who may have less leadership tenure, but more relevant insights. They need to be highly inclusive and great listeners to understand not only new technologies, but also new ways of doing things that are different from how they did it before.

Tech-Savvy Humanist

While in the past, leaders may have gotten away with delegating the company’s technology challenges to their Chief Information or Chief Digital Officer, that approach will no longer work. With technology being an essential enabler for almost everything a company does — innovation, product management, operations, sales, customer service, finance, or any other area — every leader needs to understand what technology can do for the company and how.

At the same time, they also need to understand and care about people. They need to understand how technology impacts people’s lives and they need to help their people adapt to and adopt the many changes that technology will enforce. This means engaging people with a huge degree of empathy and authenticity — helping them to embrace the changes and co-own the transformation.

Traditioned Innovator

Company purpose and values have probably never been as important as they are today in a world of constant change and multiple disruptions.

In the midst of uncertainty, having clarity of purpose and values helps guide organizations through their path to value creation and relevance. While leaders reimagine their company’s place in the world, they also need to be clear and grounded about who they are as a company. They need to be clear about the organization’s reason for being — its purpose and values — to guide how they will uniquely create value in a way that engages others in their ecosystems and is relevant in the future.

At the same time, leaders need to innovate and try out new things — faster than at any time before. They need to have the courage to fail and allow others to fail as well. All this experimentation and innovation, however, must not be unbound — it must happen within the guardrails consistent with the company’s purpose.

High-Integrity Politician

In an ecosystem world where companies, institutions, and individuals must collaborate to create value, being able to accrue support, negotiate, form coalitions and partnerships, and overcome resistance is an essential leadership capability.

Leaders need to make compromises, be flexible in tweaking their approach and go one step back to be able to move two steps forward. This way of operating, however, can only be successful if leaders establish trust and integrity as the bedrock of all their actions. Effective collaboration within ecosystems can only happen when the parties involved can trust one another. Customers are willing to share privileged insights and participate in ecosystems only when they can trust how their data is used and how they are treated.

And integrity will be key for managing the increasing regulatory scrutiny many companies are going to see. In a data-driven economy, integrity and trust are essential foundational conditions. These are values that cannot come from a computer — they require human leaders to make deliberate choices measured by their actions and words.

Globally-Minded Localist

Technology has erased many boundaries and distances — it’s much easier now to reach customers on the other side of the globe and to collaborate with people from far apart.

Almost by force, companies operating in the digital age need to think globally — even if only to gain access to insights and talent to serve local needs. This requires leaders who can think and engage globally, who will expose themselves to new thinking and work with people from all around.

At the same time, leaders in the digital age also need to be deeply aware of and responsive to the situation and preferences of individual customers and to the local communities and ecosystems in which they operate. Customers, partners, and institutions expect companies to be responsive to their specific needs, and leaders will certainly have to adopt a locally conscious mindset.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, we believe it provides a good starting guide to negotiate the era that lies ahead. The digital age and the magnitude of the transformation that is needed requires that leaders build on their strengths and expand their aperture to manage the complex world we’re living in. We believe those leaders who have the humility, courage and commitment to reinvent themselves will become the champions of the digital age.

• A full 80% of Australian companies which permit employees to work remotely expect the trend to continue through the long-term.
• New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests working remotely will linger after COVID-19 industry shutdowns made it a necessity.
• 45% of firms which permit some level of remote working have reported an uptick in staff wellbeing.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Three in ten Australian businesses currently allow staff to work remotely, and the clear majority of those firms expect the trend to continue in the long-term, according to new workforce data.

Fresh figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), released Friday, outline how companies are adapting to life after the pandemic shutdowns of 2020, and how many plan to turn a necessary measure into an established business practice.

One in five firms already permitted some form of teleworking before the COVID-19 crisis shuttered offices nationwide, the ABS said.

That figure peaked at four in ten in September last year, and has tapered off as government restrictions and occupancy limits allowed businesses to return to their pre-pandemic routines.

But not every company believes the old ways were best.

80% of firms which currently permit a portion of their workforce to clock in at home, at the cafe, or anywhere with a working internet connection believe the practice will carry on.

The figures come at a pivotal moment for remote working, which exploded in prominence in 2020.

Australia’s commercial real estate industry is pushing for a return to the physical workplace, saying it boosts workplace culture and stimulates nearby business.

Even the CEOs of Slack, Atlassian, and Zoom — three tech companies which powered the initial work-from-home transition — cede there are a host of unknowns associated with remote work: What will happen to company camaraderie? And will extended periods away from the peering eyes of colleagues encourage workers to work extreme hours, or hardly work at all?

The ABS data goes some way to assuage those lingering concerns of burnout and workplace affinity.

A strong 45% of companies which permitted remote work reported an uptick in staff wellbeing, while a quarter said productivity had increased since the measures were introduced.

The findings do not spell out a total abandonment of the traditional workplace, and there is a clear bias in those figures towards industries which don’t strictly require on-site work.

In the Information and Telecommunications field, 10% of respondents said work-from-home arrangements would increase, and the Administration and Support Services sector followed a fraction behind.

But industries which may seem unsuitable for remote work have also latched onto the practice, suggesting the benefits have been acknowledged economy-wide: an impressive 19% of all mining firms which currently permit remote work expect it to continue, albeit at a reduced capacity.

For those who evangelise about the benefits of hybrid working arrangements, the figures will come as vindication. They show suggest remote work isn’t perfect for every circumstance, but neither is a workday confined to a central office.

When you feel overwhelmed, you may react in ways that not only don’t help the situation, but that even make it worse. Maybe you’re oblivious to these patterns, or you know what they are but struggle to do anything about them.

The following are five common self-sabotaging mistakes overwhelmed people tend to make. There are practical solutions for each that will help you feel like you’re on top of things and do a better job of navigating your most important tasks and solving problems.

1. You think you don’t have time for actions that would help you.

People often have great ideas about things that would help them feel better and more in control — for example, hiring someone to help around the house, practicing self-care, seeing a therapist, taking a vacation, or organizing a game night with friends. However, they dismiss them because they think they’re too busy or that it’s not the right time, waiting to take those actions until a more ideal moment that typically never arrives.

Instead of thinking about what would be ideal, choose the best option that’s easily available to you now. Perhaps you don’t have time to research the best therapists by interviewing multiple candidates, but you do have time to pick someone who meets a few of your criteria and try a couple of sessions with them.

When you have good ideas but don’t act on them, it can lead to a sense of powerlessness or incompetence. You may also have endless open loops of “shoulds” and waste time and energy thinking the same thoughts over and over again. Plus, when you don’t act, you miss out on the benefits you’d accrue from trying your ideas. By acting to help yourself, you’ll get practice finding doable solutions, feel more self-efficacy, and reap those benefits sooner.

2. You don’t utilize your unconscious mind enough.

Focus isn’t the only way to get things done. Your unconscious mind is great at problem-solving, too.

When I go for a walk, my mind wanders. I don’t aim to walk mindfully; rather, I let my mind drift without directing it too much. When I do this, it invariably meanders to work, but not in an unpleasant way. Solutions to problems magically emerge, and what I should prioritize becomes clearer without effort.

Even knowing this, it’s hard to allow myself to take a walk early in the workday (before temperatures where I live get too hot). What’s fascinating is that when I walk before work, my anxiety about the work I need to start once I get home creeps up. However, this doesn’t get in the way of me having insights into my problems and priorities. Both can occur together.

Your unconscious, wandering mind is as valuable a tool for solving problems and creative thinking as your focused mind. Utilizing your wandering mind will help you get important things done, without so much pressure to be focused and undistracted all the time, which can be an unreasonable expectation.

People who are feeling overwhelmed sometimes try to block out work thoughts during their personal time by listening to music, a podcast, or other entertainment. But that can rob you of some of the productivity potential of your drifting mind. Try identifying the activities during which your mind naturally drifts in helpful ways and solves problems for you. For me, these include running errands (driving), exercising, taking showers, and lounging in the sun.

3. You interpret feeling overwhelmed as a weakness.

Lots of times, we feel overwhelmed simply because we need to do a task we’re not very familiar with, or because a task is high stakes and we want to do a superb job of it. By itself, this isn’t necessarily a problem. We can often work through the task despite those overwhelmed feelings.

However, sometimes we get self-critical about the very fact that we feel overwhelmed. We think: “I shouldn’t feel overwhelmed by this. It’s not that hard. I should be able to handle it without it stressing out.” When you’re self-critical, you become more likely to procrastinate, because not only does the task trigger feelings of overwhelm, it also triggers shame or anxiety about having those feelings.

Some people react to this shame and anxiety in other ways. They might approach the task with extra perfectionism, or they might become more reluctant to ask for tips and advice from others. It’s important to replace your self-criticism with compassionate self-talk, which I’ve provided specific strategies for previously.

4. You default to your dominant approaches and defenses.

When we get stressed out, we tend to get a bit more rigid. Because we have less cognitive and emotional bandwidth to consider other options, we become less flexible about adapting to the demands of the situation and default to our dominant ways of handling things.

We all have values, but we don’t always use them to our advantage. For example, thoughtfulness can turn into overthinking, self-reliance can morph into micromanaging or doing everything yourself, having high standards can lead to being picky or perfectionistic, and resourcefulness can steer you toward doing things in unnecessarily complicated or unconventional ways.

When you’re overwhelmed, make sure you’re matching your values to the demands of the situation. Does the particular task or problem need _____? (Insert your dominant value, such as thoughtfulness or self-reliance.) Or would a different approach be better suited to the circumstances?

5. You withdraw from your supports.

If you feel overwhelmed, you’ve probably got limited emotional energy. This can lead to important changes in your behavior and emotional availability. They can be subtle — maybe you usually give your child a long hug when they come to you, but instead, you now give them a quick perfunctory squeeze while still thinking about other things, then get back to whatever you were doing.

This is self-sabotaging. You’re missing opportunities to fill up your emotional cup when you need it most, and you risk your loved ones noticing the differences and acting out to get your attention (for example, a child drawing on a wall, or a spouse picking an argument about something unimportant).

Identify ways you still enjoy connecting with your supports even when you’ve got limited emotional energy. For example, I like to draw alongside my five-year-old during my breaks, or construct something out of blocks and shapes with her. We also like to cuddle in bed while watching our own individual screens. If you struggle to get around to these activities, create routines for them so they fit into your day or week in specific places — for example, maybe you always bake with your child on Saturday mornings.

By being aware of the five patterns outlined here, you can make getting through busy and challenging times easier on yourself and those around you. They’re understandable patterns to fall into — and not a reason for you to be self-critical. Know what the traps are and make easy, small changes to overcome them.

Women are surging back into the workforce with female participation growing at five times that of men in the latest strengthening employment figures.

Women took almost 80 per cent of the 70,700 jobs added to the economy in March, continuing their strong recovery out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Female participation has now increased to a record 61.8 per cent and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg expects this will continue.

“It’s pleasing to see female participation rate increase as well as these jobs coming back for women,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

“Going into these numbers for the month of March, we had seen 450,000 jobs come back for women, and about 400,000 jobs back for men.”

The end of the $89bn JobKeeper program has not triggered a spike in unemployment, as the first labour force figures since the end of wage subsidies in March confirmed only a small drop in employment in April, alongside a fall in the jobless rate to 5.5 per cent.

Despite Treasury’s warnings earlier this year that up to 150,000 jobs could be lost when JobKeeper finished, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed employment dropped by 31,000, after the economy added 33,800 full-time jobs in the month, but shed 64,400 part-time roles.

A drop in the participation rate from 66.3 per cent to 66 per cent explained the fall in the jobless measure from an upwardly revised 5.7 per cent in March, despite the net loss of jobs.

Josh Frydenberg said Australia‘s surging jobs recovery had shredded the credibility of Labor’s economic argument, with new figures revealing 132,000 people have moved off income support since JobKeeper wage subsidies ceased at the end of March.

“This all happened after the end of JobKeeper,” the Treasurer told The Australian.

There was good news for younger Australians, with youth unemployment dropping by 1.1 percentage points to 10.6 per cent – its lowest level since the GFC and well down from the 14 per cent rate recorded at the peak of the pandemic.

READ MORE:JobKeeper’s end won’t stall recovery: RBA|PM, NSW dig in over vaccine passport|Work steady despite end of JobKeeper|Qantas imposes more job cuts, wage freeze|JobKeeper aid ‘helped prevent 500 suicides’|ACTU pushes for return of JobKeeper

Underemployment – which measures those who have a job but would like to work more – fell from 8 per cent in March (which had been estimated at 7.9 per cent in the previous labour report) to a seven-year low of 7.8 per cent in April.

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jervis said the end of the $89bn wage subsidy program in March “did not have a discernible impact on employment between March and April”.

“We have not seen large changes in the indicators that would suggest a clear JobKeeper impact, such as an increase in people working reduced or zero hours for economic reasons or because they were leaving their job. We also haven’t seen large net flows out of employment across many population groups,” Mr Jarvis said.

Still, the ABS figures confirmed only the second monthly drop in employment since the labour market roared back to life this time 12 months ago, with the only other decrease occurring in September – immediately ahead of the end of the first phase of JobKeeper.

KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said there were “two counterbalancing forces” evident in Thursday’s numbers.

“There has been an immediate impact of the ending of JobKeeper on certain businesses which has seen some job losses, pushing down employment – but there has also been a continuing improvement in the underlying strength and recovery of the economy, which has been pulling up employment,” Dr Rynne said.

Dr Rynne said he “hoped that the ongoing impact on the unemployment rate of the withdrawal of the JobKeeper life support will be more than equalled by the creation of new jobs”.

“Today’s figures give us cause for optimism in this respect.”

But the Australian Council of Trade Unions said the improving unemployment headline number hid climbing job insecurity, and that the ABS figures showed the number of people working two, three or more jobs had reached the highest share in the history of the data.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus said “millions of Australian workers are desperate for more hours or trapped in multiple insecure, unreliable jobs.”

“Job insecurity feeds low wage growth,” Ms McManus said. ”The budget assumes consumer spending will increase, but how will it increase if wages go backwards?”

The consensus among private sector economists was for the jobless rate to stay steady at 5.6 per cent, but that employment would lift by about 15,000, presenting a mixed picture overall, economists said.

There were 13,040,400 employed Australians in April, still above the nearly 13 million in February of last year before the pandemic struck.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs dropped by 0.7 per cent, with the ABS saying a higher than usual number of Australians took holidays during the month.

The consensus among private sector economists was for the jobless rate to stay steady at 5.6 per cent, but that employment would lift by about 15,000, presenting a mixed picture, economists said.

ANZ economist Catherine Birch said the latest labour report had not “derailed” the positive outlook for the labour market, maintaining her forecast that unemployment would trend lower to end the year at 4.8 per cent.

Economists said the full impact on jobs from the end of JobKeeper would only be fully revealed over the coming two or three months.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist Ross Lambie said while there was no discernible impact of the end of JobKeeper “on the surface”, “there would be if we were able to drill down to the sector level”.

“We would see some sectors going great guns and others lagging well behind – we really are a multi-speed economy right now,” Dr Lambie said. “We will need to wait until mid-June before we can see what is going on at the sector level.”

KPMG’s Dr Rynne warned that while some businesses will be now able to stand on their own two feet others may have only temporary cash buffers built up from these stimulatory payments and once these are expired the sustainability of those businesses may be questionable”.

Mr Frydenberg, who was in Tasmania as part of a national post-budget blitz, said instead of a “big whinge” Australian people were looking for a commitment from Opposition treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers that Labor will support the legislated stage three tax cuts allowing ”hardworking Australian families to keep more of what they earn”.

Since peaking at 7.4 per cent in July of last year, unemployment has charted a rapid descent as the labour market experienced a much faster than anticipated rebound following the end of national COVID restrictions and with the assistance of tens of billions in emergency government assistance.

Unemployment was 5.1 per cent before the pandemic struck, but fiscal and monetary policy is now squarely aimed at achieving a rate well below 5 per cent in order to secure a self-sustaining recovery.

Riverina and Barossa Valley winemaker Calabria Family Wines has acquired 140-year-old McWilliam’s Wines after it was placed into administration last year.

The acquisition, set to complete by the end of this month, will include the McWilliam’s brands, intellectual property and stock holdings. Calabria will also take over Hanwood vineyard, winery and cellar door. The value of the deal has not been disclosed. 

“Despite recent challenges, we know the McWilliam’s name carries a long and prestigious reputation as one of Australia’s oldest wine producers,” said Michael Calabria, GM at Calabria Family Wines. 

The new owners will work with KPMG and McWilliam’s to “ensure a smooth transition as the business changes hands”. Founded in 1877, the McWilliam’s portfolio includes a range of premium vineyard holdings across the Riverina and New South Wales. 

“We have great respect for the McWilliam family and the impact they have had on the Australian wine industry,” said Andrew Calabria, sales & marketing manager at Calabria. “We are committed to honouring the McWilliam’s legacy as we bring their portfolio of outstanding wines into our very own.” 

The number of jobs advertised in Australia has hit a 12-year high and is now 23 per cent higher than before COVID-19 struck, highlighting expectations that the labour market will improve further over the coming months despite the end of JobKeeper.

ANZ Australian job ads rose 7.4 per cent in March, following an upwardly revised 8.8 per cent jump in February. Job ads are now at the highest level since November 2008.

The growth in job ads is similar to job vacancy data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which recorded a 13.7 per cent increase in February, to be 26.8 per cent higher than pre-COVID-19 levels.

While Treasury has forecast that the end of JobKeeper could result in between 100,000 and 150,000 jobs being lost, ANZ’s Catherine Birch said the strength of the labour market would return later in the year.

“While we expect a temporary rise in the unemployment rate in the June quarter, we think it will resume its rapid downward trajectory in the second half of 2021,” Ms Birch said.

“But we think net employment losses will be smaller, as growing labour demand elsewhere should mean many workers find a new job relatively quickly.”

The unemployment rate has fallen from a pandemic high of 7.5 per cent to its present 5.8 per cent after more than 870,000 jobs were added in the past nine months.

There were 89,000 jobs added to the economy in February, more than three times the number economists had expected.

The Reserve Bank and Treasury have also been surprised at how fast the labour market has recovered. The RBA expected the official unemployment rate to be 6.5 per cent in June, while Treasury had forecast it to peak at 7.5 per cent in the March quarter of this year.

Both have said unemployment needs to be much lower – somewhere between 4.5 per cent and 4 per cent – for there to be wage growth and a return to inflation.

The RBA said on Tuesday that despite the rapid recovery in employment, much greater progress still needed to be made to achieve wage growth and return inflation to target.

“Wage and price pressures are subdued and are expected to remain so for some years,” RBA governor Philip Lowe said in a statement.

“The economy is operating with considerable spare capacity and unemployment is still too high. It will take some time to reduce this spare capacity and for the labour market to be tight enough to generate wage increases that are consistent with achieving the inflation target.”

Economists are upgrading their December quarter GDP estimates after job ads, house prices and demand for borrowing continued to surge higher, while company profits and inventories showed greater resilience to the wind down in fiscal stimulus than first thought.

Job advertisements jumped 7.2 per cent in February, and have now hit their highest level since October 2018, while housing finance approvals were up 10.5 per cent in January and residential property prices rose 2.1 per cent.

The Productivity Commission’ mental health inquiry report recommends stronger WHS guidelines and changes to workers compensation.

Warning: this article discusses mental illness and suicide. 

$220 billion. That is what mental illness and suicide costs the Australian economy every year according to the Productivity Commission’s recent mental health inquiry report.

To put some context around that, $220 billion is more than what the federal government pledged for COVID-19 recovery. It’s more than Bill Gates’ net worth. 

The report estimates the direct cost to the economy is between $43 and $70 billion with an additional $151 billion due to disability and premature death. However, the commission’s recommendations to tackle the issue would cost around $4.2 billion and are estimated to save the government $1.7 billion annually. 

Many of the Productivity Commission’s recommendations involve engaging those beyond the health sector, including employers. One recommendation is to “equip workplaces to be mentally healthy”. 

Mental health has been forced to the forefront for many workplaces this year as employees have struggled through the stress of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Employment Assistance Programs (EAPs) have played a particularly important role, something which was recognised in the commission’s report. 

The report’s recommendations

The report estimates 2.8 million Australians have a mental illness, while a further 440,000 care for someone with a mental illness. This has a huge cost, with the resulting absenteeism costing workplaces an estimated $17 billion a year. Employees with mental illness take on average 10 to 12 days off a year due to psychological distress. 

When it comes to workplaces, the report’s priority recommendations place the onus back on governments and workers compensation schemes. The report suggests federal, state and territory governments promote psychological workplace health and safety as important as physical health and safety. It also recommends updating compensation schemes to fund clinical mental health treatment for all work claims for up to six months, regardless of liability.

The additional reforms are where workplaces will play a greater role.

The first asks WHS authorities to develop codes of practice to help employers identify, eliminate and manage psychological risks. Currently workplaces must provide psychologically safe work environments. According to Safework this means designing work, systems and workplaces to eliminate or minimise risks to their mental health.

However, many employers are still unclear on exactly what that means since identifying psychological risks is much harder than physical ones. The report suggests demystifying this for employers and providing clear guidance on eliminating workplace mental health risks, particularly now employers need to assess psychological risks to remote workers. 

This crosses over with another recommendation to provide flexible workers compensation for workplaces which implement initiatives to reduce psychological risks. The report suggests this would increase the number of employers implementing effective initiatives. Which initiatives are appropriate would be decided by WHS authorities.

One initiative most employers consider essential is EAP services. However, the report suggests greater regulation of EAPs since there is currently little external evaluation or benchmarking. The report recommends a minimum standard be developed to help organisations understand the value EAPs provide to employees and what level of service they require to suit their workforce. The report noted that EAPs are often the initial point of contact for employees with mental health problems so their importance in the long-term management of mental health cannot be understated. 

Good leadership can build a mentally healthy workplace

All of the report’s workplace recommendations boil down to creating mentally healthy workplaces. Mental health organisation Heads Up gives nine key attributes of a mentally healthy workplace. They include:

1. Prioritise mental health – this includes having open discussions about mental health and educating staff about mental health issues.
2. Create a trusting, fair and respectful culture – cultivate a culture of trust among employees and ensure everyone is treated fairly.
3. Open and honest leadership – good culture comes from the top down.
4. Good job design – ensure roles suit employees’ abilities and skills. Job crafting is a good example of this.
5. Workload management – make sure employees’ tasks are achievable and that they have the resources to complete them.
6. Employee development – regular development training and feedback can help employees feel more secure in their role.
7. Inclusion and influence – encourage employee input in business decisions.
8. Work/life balance – encourage employees to take breaks and offer opportunities to balance their personal life with work.
9. Mental health support – ensure employees have access to EAPs or other mental health  services when needed.

Margo Lydon, CEO of mental health organisation SuperFriend, points to attribute number three – open and honest leadership – as vital to the success of any mentally healthy workplace.

Lydon and her team have just completed a study into workplace mental health and she says leadership comes up time and time again as the most important factor. 

“If we’re educated in the signs and symptoms of mental illness and have the tools and resources to support people early on in their struggles, we have a much better chance of improving their outcomes,” she says.

The productivity commission’s report also noted the importance of good leadership. The report’s authors noted that improving workplace mental health was intrinsically linked to how interested leadership was in mental wellbeing and their willingness to increase the visibility of mental illness in the workplace. 

Lydon agrees. 

“Any workplace that is committed to the mental health and wellbeing of its people should be ensuring its leaders have at least basic competencies in workplace mental health. We spend most of our waking hours at work, so workplaces have a huge part to play in keeping people mentally healthy,” she says.

If you or anyone you know needs mental health support you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636

You've likely walked past your kitchen counter and seen near-rotten bananas and thought to yourself, Oh, I'll make a smoothie tomorrow with those. Then the next day you see the same bananas and think, Guess it's time to make banana bread! On the third day, the bananas are collecting flies, and there's not a smoothie or banana bread in sight.

We do this exact same thing in our businesses, often without even noticing.

We set mile-high goals, to-do lists for days and have ideas that constantly sit at the back of our minds. I think of it like this: When you first think of an idea, it's green like an un-ripe banana. It's natural for an idea to mature for a few days — and ripen like a banana. But after awhile, if you don't act upon those ideas, they begin to rot and take up mental and physical space.

If we don't throw out the ideas that never came to be — or the rotten bananas — our business will start to attract flies, rot and slow down. 

Your business might have old bananas like unfinished courses, unpaid invoices and unwritten articles. I call these unclosed loops, but for the purpose of this article, we will continue to call them rotten bananas. Let's clean them up before we enter into the new year.

Identifying your old bananas

Ask yourself these four questions:

1. How many unfinished projects do you currently have floating around? Of these projects, would you rate them a somewhat-rotten smoothie banana or a nearly unusable banana bread banana?
2. Of these projects, which ones give you energy, and which ones are weighing you down? If you're not sure, imagine you didn't have to do one, and see how you feel. If you feel free, it might be OK to sell this idea to someone else or to send it to the graveyard. If you feel passionate, it's time to add time to the calendar to act on it.
3. How many unpaid invoices do you have out for your business? Of these invoices, how past due are they? Smoothie or banana bread? Block time to address these today.
4. How many other unclosed loops are floating around? Contractors to hire, websites to upgrade, office space to purchase, YouTube channel to start? Take about 10 minutes to rate each in order of importance and how long you've been sitting on the idea. Then get some time on your schedule with your team to finish these actions so they don't drag you down.

When that's done, give yourself some credit. Taking some of these items out to the trash is creating serious mental space and room for new (non-fly-like) clients to head your way.

Make a vow to the countertops

Before we move forward, let's make a vow to eat the bananas when they're ripe or give them away moving forward. Entrepreneurs are flooded with ideas daily, and some of them are right for us and should be acted on right away, while others are great ideas but not right for the moment. A mentor of mine had a mantra: "Good idea; stay on plan." It might be wise to hire a coach or an office manager who can keep you on track when these ideas pop up to see if they're worth adjusting the plan or if you need to stay on course. 

Moving forward for 2021

Now, take a look at your list and decide which items you'll actually move forward with and which items you'll toss. Make the smoothie and the banana bread. You'll want to come up with a detailed plan — including some outsourcing ― to complete these items now. I would suggest one project per quarter and tossing all the other ideas into 2022 land for now. 

You'll be amazed at how free you feel having chosen two to four big projects to actually focus on and complete next year. For example, next year I plan to launch an author mastermind, run a publishing firm and create journals and content. That's it! Ahhhh.

Chopping up your bananas

Now for our final step, let's chop up our banana for the rest of 2020. Yes, I'm serious about this metaphor.

You get three slices to dump into your business cereal bowl. Pick the three most important things that will move your business forward by January 1, 2021. No. 1 should be something relatively vital, no. 2 should trail close behind and no. 3 should be something that can be completed in 2021 if necessary.

My three slices include:

1. Processes for operations

2. Finishing my manifestation journal and mini course

3. Launching my my author mastermind in February 2021

When you're determining your three goals, think about who you'll need to become to move them forward. You will likely automatically become more responsible, more leadership-driven and be more patient as you eliminate the need for hundreds of micro goals. Resistance is natural here, but this process is essential to help your progress speed up — even if it requires slowing down for the moment. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make a smoothie.