February Top 5 LinkedIn Recap

By The Mindful Leader Team

This month, as we settled into 2023, we had the opportunity to read many thought-provoking articles about leadership and mindfulness in the workplace, and to then share those articles with our community. And the community spoke—as we approach the end of the month, we want to share some of the most popular articles from the past three weeks with you. We based our picks on our LinkedIn engagement, which includes reactions, shares, clicks, and comments. If you want to join us on LinkedIn, click here. For each article, we’ve shared a summary and key points, as well as a link to the full article.

This month, we saw a focus on the ways leaders impact their employees’ mental health, how to be more empathetic in the workplace, and burnout among managers. Take a look and let us know what you think of the articles in the comments below.

Managers Have Major Impact on Mental Health: How to Lead for Wellbeing

LinkedIn engagement number: 7,181

According to a new study from the Workforce Institute at UKG, 69% of respondents, out of 3,400 people surveyed, reported that their manager had the most impact on their mental health. This was similar to the impact partners had and higher than either doctors, at 51%, or therapists, at 41%. Stress has a major effect on people’s personal lives, and also impacts how well they perform in the workplace. 

Here are some ways leaders can be positively impactful with their teams:

• Manage yourself
• Recognize your impact
• Give people a reason to care
• Connect people
• Provide challenge
• Give people choices
• Stay healthy

Read the full article from Forbes here.

How to be an empathetic boss, even when you’re completely burned out

LinkedIn engagement number: 2,113

Empathetic managers can help increase people’s satisfaction with their jobs and cultivate their loyalty, but what happens when they start feeling burnt out? In an early 2022 study, Gartner found that only 29% of the employees they surveyed believed their boss as a “human leader”—which means they showed authenticity, adaptability, and empathy. 

Managers themselves are also feeling high levels of stress, especially as people in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world are attempting to find a new normal. Additionally, the uncertain economy has led many companies to scale back their previous efforts to help workers. 

How to cultivate an empathetic mindset: 

• Exhibit grace both to others and to yourself
• Recognize that everyone is doing their best under the circumstances
• Tell your own boss when you need help
• Reflect on your own experiences and times when you felt you weren’t treated with compassion

Read the full article from Business Insider here.

Leadership fatigue is real. Here’s how to build up your resilience.

LinkedIn engagement number: 1,201

Being a leader is never easy, and the uncertainty and struggle of the past several years has not helped matters. Recently, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister through the pandemic, announced she would be stepping down from office. Like many senior executives in the corporate world, she had leadership fatigue. A recent survey found that approximately 70% of senior executives were considering leaving their job in favor of one that would better support their well-being. A leader’s energy has an enormous impact on the lives of their employees. Leaders must make sure they are prioritizing their own resilience and energy to be the best they can be for themselves and their team.

Here are some ways leaders can build up their resilience:

• Have a daily reset ritual
• Share the emotional load
• Set boundaries
• Know your warning signs
• Connect with your greater purpose

Read the full article from Fast Company here.

When Your Emotions and Responsibilities Clash: Navigating a Leadership Role with Compassion

LinkedIn engagement number: 1,155

Leaders may be the head of their team, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still human, with emotions and feelings to navigate at work. Feeling emotionally connected to some team members may begin to impact professional decisions. A leader must make decisions that are in the company’s best interest, which sometimes means having to hurt people they feel close to at work. Leaders must make decisions based on facts, not feelings, be open to feedback and criticism from others, and have a strong support system.

Ways to make responsible workplace decisions with compassion: 

• Always communicate clearly and openly
• Be honest with those affected by your decisions
• Offer resources to those affected by your decisions
• Follow up

Read the full article from Forbes here.

New Outlook on Burnout for 2023: Limitations on What Managers Can Do

LinkedIn engagement number: 1,074

Burnout has been on the rise globally, but has been worryingly high amongst middle managers in the US. One theory suggests it could be due to the stress of balancing emotional intelligence with assuring worker performance. Job burnout is a medical diagnosis according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which means it is more than just job stress and should not be brushed off. Attempting to push through burnout can be dangerous. Once burnout takes hold of a person, it is too late for preventative measures like resting or taking time off. Getting ahead of burnout and taking care of employees is the best strategy to avoiding it. However, leaders can also burn out while trying to get ahead of burnout for their employees, so it is important to make sure to take care of yourself. A leader does not need to know the reasons why someone is burnt out to help them mitigate its effects. Rather than being a therapist, a leader must continue to be a boss.

How leaders can help prevent burnout:

• Make sure everyone in the organization knows their strengths.
• Remove abusive managers.
• Up-skill managers to move from boss to coach.
• Make well-being part of career development conversations.
• Working less doesn’t mean happier work.

Read the full article from Forbes here.

Were any of these your favorite articles of the month? Have another one you think we should look at? Let us know in the comments!