Let’s resolve to support each other through another year of change
Opinion
Our collective intent this year should be to turn up the dial on mental wellness support, says NABS CEO, Sue Todd.
As the new year gets underway, you may have set yourself some goals or more likely some intentions – to achieve or follow, both personally and professionally.
I know it feels a bit more woo-woo to talk about intentions than goals. But the reason I’m such a fan of intentions is that they’re about today. In an increasingly uncertain world, it feels more realistic to focus effort on intentions than on goals that are likely to need adaptation and amendment as we get closer to them.
So, I’d like you to consider the vital role you play in achieving our industry’s collective intention this year.
As the CEO of NABS, the industry charity, I see the incredible energy, creativity, and passion that fuels advertising, marketing, and media.
But I also see (and feel) the pressure – pressure that’s been ramping up over the past few years and looks set to continue.
That’s why our collective resolution this year should be to turn up the dial on mental wellness support and put a clearer intent around the effective deployment of our collective energy.
Effectiveness at work
Our people are remarkable. They make our brilliant industry what it is. But we have, for a good few years now, been in a different rhythm with regard to work and performing. The idea of rethinking how we sustain long-term performance, rather than a burst of peak performance, feels like a turning point in how we talk about effectiveness at work (and life, actually).
We’ve made some great strides so far when it comes to our industry’s mental wellness, but I don’t think we’ve shifted or learnt enough yet about how important our individual energy management is, and what we get from one another that makes burnout less likely, and fun at work (remember that?) more likely. These are themes we need to explore together this year.
Last year, NABS supported thousands of people. People in times of crisis, and people looking to top up their reserves to prevent one. People looking to make connections and build skills; people in need of financial help and redundancy advice.
We help people with an astounding range of issues and challenges. We are in the industry’s corner, whatever they’re dealing with.
And the industry was instrumental in working with us to help everybody who came to us. Without the organisations that donated to us, attended or sponsored our events or the individuals who donated, raised funds for us through their own events or by taking on a challenge, we couldn’t have helped anybody.
This year looks set to be the same, yet different.
Setting out our stall for the year ahead
As the world continues its complex path, we expect demand for our services to keep rising, as it has for the past few years. The difference lies in our collective approach. How can we be more collaborative and more creative in order to help everybody in our industry, no matter what their role is or the issues that they are facing?
Let me set out our stall for the year briefly before inviting you to come along with us on the journey.
We’ll be working with more resolve and creativity than ever before to support our industry.
We will be unafraid to state the simple fact: NABS cannot exist without industry donations. We’ll find new ways to engage old and new donors so that we can continue to exist.
We’ll be building on the success of our Yay List campaign, where we celebrated our fantastic donors.
Did you appear on the Yay List last year? If so, let’s talk about how you can make the list again this year. And if you missed your opportunity last year, let’s chat about getting you on the list. Now is the time to be loud and proud about your support for the industry’s mental wellness.
We’ll work with the industry to figure out how to address shared issues, with a focus on building a community where we can learn together.
We’ll also be here to support you, as business leaders and team leaders.
Leadership in a time of constant change can be challenging. It’s absolutely OK to say to your team that you don’t have all the answers. I must have at least a meeting a month where I genuinely don’t know what the right answer or decision is.
Admitting that you don’t know all the answers can open up better conversations and collaboration – who knows where that elusive solution might come from?
I would also strongly encourage all leaders and managers to discuss with their teams how they’re supporting their own mental wellness this year. By role modelling your self-care and support systems, you’ll empower your teams to reach out for help too. Taking care of yourself enables you to take care of others.
As an example, we’ve had a super response to our NABS Podcast, where industry leaders share a mental wellness challenge that they’ve faced and how they’ve overcome it. These stories inspire our listeners and also remind them that nobody has to face problems alone – and that it’s not just OK, but a good idea, to reach out for help.
As you can see, this all involves working, thinking and learning together: a collective task where we’ll be stronger together.
So happy New Year to you. Let’s make it our year of mental wellness, where together, we keep our industry moving forward.
Sue Todd is the CEO of NABS