Navigating Today's Workplace Polarization
Over the years I’ve worked with many professionals in high-pressure situations. They’re accustomed to stress, responsibility, and to being pulled in several directions at once.
They’re also accustomed to going it alone. They’re not the types who ask for help, and they tend to denigrate the whole notion of asking for help. There’s a deep American tradition behind that, where the “lone wolf” makes it from “rags to riches” all alone. Men and women internalize this ethic early in life and suffer from it for decades.
Often they come to me in private, without anyone knowing, and they think of our sessions as something that they need to keep secret. Powerful people in influential positions don’t want to seem weak, and pursuing mental health is often seen as a sign of weakness. This is also a deep American tradition, although this one has been in transition for a while now. Sometimes, people will acknowledge that they pursue mental health. They are more likely to acknowledge that they use ketamine or microdose psilocybin than anything else, but at least that does help de-stigmatize the simple fact that the human animal in the modern workplace usually needs a lot of help adapting.
As you probably know from my previous articles, I am highly skeptical of drug use as a solution to mental health issues. Generally speaking, drugs should be a last resort and should be used only for extreme cases. Getting high requires progressively higher doses which inevitably lead to a crash and a crisis.
Most of the time, the “optimal performance” people seek with prescription drugs or with whatever hallucinogen is trending at the moment can be achieved without any drugs at all.
When performance goals are met through therapy, the impact is lasting, profound, real change.
Managers who want that from their team often wonder how to make it happen. It’s easier than most believe. All a manager needs to do is tweak a few things about their workplace culture.
The Perfect Time Is Now
Before I summarize what to do, let me give you a little more about why now is the time to do it. As you certainly know, social polarization is peaking. We haven’t seen this level of discontent since the Vietnam war. Focus efficiency has plunged, as has focus time. Social media causes most of this, and social media thrives on divisive content that makes people nervous, suspicious, and fearful.
Another major impact that I’m seeing arise, anecdotally within my client base, is anxiety from the one-two punch of Trump’s confrontational trade policies and the arrival of artificial intelligence. One seems to threaten the economy, while the other seems to threaten knowledge workers as a group.
In tandem, they create profound uncertainty which causes people to lose focus, to hide from reality in their social media feed, and to work in manic, uneven bursts.
Recent surveys show that over 80% of employees would leave an employer who doesn't prioritize their wellbeing. At the same time, almost half of those employees believe that discussing mental health in the workplace will negatively impact their careers.
That means that almost no one tells management that they are suffering, even as they contemplate leaving because they are suffering.
Even sadder, while many of these people have access to mental health assistance through their health plans, the majority of them don’t know that, don’t look, and therefore believe that there’s nothing they can do – except suffer and/or take drugs.
Two Powerful Levers for Managers to Pull
Here are two key ways that managers can make an immediate and meaningful difference:
1. Highlight Access to Mental Wellbeing Resources
Tell people that they have access to talk therapy through their insurance or EAP program. Weave mentions of this into the fabric of workplace culture:
Normalize and Reorient: Regularly communicate about available mental health support. Emphasize confidentiality. Make it clear that seeking help is a sign of strength, not an admission of weakness. It’s not being a crybaby; it’s seeking wisdom.
Proactive Workshops: Equip employees with practical coping strategies and mindfulness techniques. This reduces stigma and empowers people, encouraging them to seek further development.
Time for Recharge: Explicitly encourage the use of mental health days as a vital tool for decompression. Lead by example.
2. Cultivate Focus by Emphasizing Control
Managers can further empower employees by directing them to focus on what they can influence:
Identify: Pinpoint specific stressors and brainstorm actionable steps they can take to improve their situation. This shifts perceptions to taking ownership, a far more powerful stance.
Ground: Teach mindfulness practices that help employees stay present when anxiety threatens their composure.
Set Boundaries: Show employees how to protect their mental wellbeing by limiting their exposure to distressing external discourses.
The Manager's Mandate
Managers are no longer just taskmasters. Management has evolved along with the nature of work. Getting the most out of people requires attention to their psychological well being. Today, that means giving them the tools to deal with pressures beyond the workplace - without ever dictating beliefs.
What practical steps are you taking to support your team's wellbeing and focus? Please share your insights!
#EmployeeWellbeing #MentalHealth #Leadership #Management #WorkplaceCulture #TherapyWorks
