Therapy for leaders: preserving performance whilst prioritizing mental health

Therapy Designed For Leaders

Aside from the odd writer, rock star or military personnel, most of my clients are executives, C-suite, or entrepreneurs. Whilst I have specialist training in several therapeutic approaches and issues, my real specialism is in the type of clients I work with- leaders.

No one gets less support than leaders, no one needs more support, stigma can be a real challenge when leadership is often about perception, and therapy for leaders is different in so many ways.

Wasting Time And Resources

Most people only contact a therapist when they have tried to solve the issue first, with their own resources, and without success. This is normal, but not terribly efficient because you’ve already lost some ground before you even get in front of the therapist.

Counter-intuitively, executives and leaders don’t wait. They don’t have time or resources to waste on uninformed inexpert solutions. They don’t wait until the issue becomes overwhelming; they assign expert resources to solve problems. This is usually because leadership thinking doesn’t shy away from making decisions and allocating external resources to solutions.

Entrepreneurs learn this the hard way. How many start-ups do their own tax returns at first? Terrible waste of resources! The relief you feel when you finally yield and get an accountant is incredible. One very senior corporate client of mine once said to me ‘never employ anyone who can’t do the job better than you can, or more willingly’. Which of course means hire people who are more willing and capable of doing the job than you are. This applies doubly to therapy.

Willingness is an important factor here. Yes, you can focus on your mental and emotional health by yourself (and should), but having someone dedicated to it, working for you, is far more effective. It’s no different from having a personal trainer. I’m more likely to go to the gym three times a week if the fourth time I have someone assessing me, developing the plan, and focused on my outcomes with expert knowledge of how to get there. And yes, accountability is a factor too.

Pro-Active Mental Health

A Strategic Investment

For many executives therapy is a strategic investment- a fence at the top of the cliff, rather than an ambulance at the bottom. Interventions can be precise, relevant and focused on reducing the impact of issues, and recovery is faster because we don’t fall so far.

Organisations and individuals who are aiming to protect performance through professional support often engage with therapists to gain the real-world benefits of improved confidence and decision-making, greater resilience to stress, and to become better leaders of people, but they are also aware that the ‘life happens’ derailers that blindside you on a random Tuesday can also occur in their own lives, and if it impacts a leader, it impacts the whole organisation.

So getting support is a business decision. It’s not just an EAP benefit for those who are struggling, but a pro-active approach to better performance in spite of what’s going on in your world.

The same things happen in executives lives as in everyone else's: maybe your relationship isn’t working, or you’re using rubbish coping strategies (alcohol, drugs, collapsing instead of revitalising), or a life event like health issues, extreme career expectations, or bereavement has affected you.

Whatever the challenge, a therapist who is specifically experienced with working with business people is rare: not every therapist understands or appreciates the journey of the leader or the priorities of business, but those that truly do are worth their weight in gold because we accept that you aren’t going to stop everything to fix your issue, so we will work alongside you, supporting you to change whilst still in motion, still running a team, still delivering, whilst also facing an enormous personal challenge. A deep understanding of the demands of leadership, business, and the mindset of high-performing individuals is essential to working with our key client group.

Support

The Support You Deserve

The main advantage of a confidential, safeguarded, and discrete remote therapy option is that busy executives can access the support they deserve through a videocall anywhere in the world, with the therapist they’re familiar with, even if travelling: your therapist is where you need them to be. The privacy and discretion of working remotely can’t be understated when everyone is relying on you to appear to be in charge of yourself, whatever you’re facing.