Yeah, but times are tough! 

I know. This is never the time to question yourself. You have fires to extinguish. Budgets are not up to par and you promise to tackle the mental health of your employees as soon as you have solved these problems of staff retention, customer satisfaction, or staff turnover. But could it be that you put the cart before the horse and that if you embarked on a positive leadership campaign, your other problems would be solved much faster?

First, let me reduce your apprehensions: There is no money you will need to put forward to get these benefits. It’s simply discipline and effort. And it is quite possible that many of your other problems will solve themselves when you have taken up the challenges I offer you here.

Very often, burnout is more a symptom of a leadership problem than proof of employee weakness. There can be no physical and mental health without real organizational health. This is the one I will encourage you to develop throughout this book.

Is it necessary to mention that by committing to it, you will also benefit from it? It is so much more exciting and rewarding to mentor people who are full of energy, who are committed to contributing to the achievement of results and who enjoy it every time a goal is achieved. In such environments, leadership is an everyday celebration.

This does not mean that you will never have to deal with mental illness again. Like the flu, it is a disease that occurs from time to time. Let’s just say that if you have a positive leadership philosophy, these episodes will be rarer because your workplace will promote the physical and mental health of all its members.

Welcome to a new green leadership, a leadership where we do not waste the people who make our success.