The Future of Media conference, held on 8-9th October in London, brought together over 700 senior and future media leaders to discuss best practices, changing business models, and growth opportunities.
Our Managing Director, Cameron Swan, led a panel discussion on ‘Making future-ready leaders: adopting new mindsets for the modern manager.’ Alongside Michelle Sarpong, commercial lead at the7Stars, Future 100 leader and NABS mentor, and Lorraine Jennings-Creed, Director of Wellbeing Services and Culture Change at NABS, the discussion addressed the mental wellness skills gap among managers.
The role of managers has evolved; many are being promoted younger, but expectations are higher, and time is more squeezed than ever, so traditional training methods are no longer sufficient. The newly launched NABS’ Mindsets for Managers Programme aims to empower upcoming, new, and middle managers to build resilient, healthy teams. The programme is crucial as early career managers often feel overwhelmed and unprepared for their responsibilities, despite being the go-to for mental wellness issues.
Last year, NABS ran the community consultation ALL EARS. The data has been used to inform the design of their Mindsets for the Managers training program.
Cameron, Michelle and Lorraine discussed NABS All Ears research:
- 42% of people experiencing mental wellness issues would approach their line manager first, even though managers are not always prepared for these responsibilities.
- 23% of people feel that mental wellness is not taken seriously within the industry
- 35% feel unable to discuss their mental wellness challenges at work. This is particularly concerning as those who need support the most often feel least able to seek help.
- Workers who rate their manager as ineffective are significantly more likely to plan to leave their organisation within the next 12 months.
- LGBTQ+ respondents are 23% less likely to feel they can be themselves at work, impacting their willingness to discuss and seek help for mental health issues.
Two main streams of thought emerged in their discussion: what companies can do to support future leaders and current managers and what individuals can do to support their own development if company resources fall short.
The newly launched NABS Mindset for Managers Programme is designed specifically to tackle these issues. It equips managers with essential skills to support themselves and their teams. The programme focuses on mental wellness, self-care, personal growth, and fostering supportive and inclusive work environments.
The programme includes workshops on mental wellness conversations, coaching skills, managing team pressure, leading through change, and inclusive leadership. Additionally, there are sessions on feedback, holding safe spaces, and navigating challenging conversations. Lastly, the program offers speed mentoring opportunities for managers to engage in meaningful exchanges with industry leaders.
As new and middle managers are more squeezed and overwhelmed than ever before and as we increasingly diversify our teams, the group agreed that we all need to be better versed in how to spot mental wellness challenges and how to handle them when they arise.
NABS resource exists to help.
Learn more about NABS ALL EARS here: NABS All Ears Community Consultation Report
Learn more about Managers’ Mindsets training here: Managers’ Mindsets – Mental Wellness Conversations – NABS
