Are we all good?

I was on a Clubhouse call yesterday with Kaleem Clarkson about mental health for remote workers. I was expecting the typical: "Mental health is important. You should check in with folks."

I didn’t expect how emotional the call would get. Or how emotional I would feel.

Someone told a story of the building anxiety around her ever-growing task list. She suddenly wasn’t sure if her task list was making her anxious, or if her anxiety was giving her an unhealthy view of her tasks. She immediately called a doctor.

Another person talked about coping with the loss of a job by playing a lot of video games and gaining a lot of weight. He recently found a remote job, but has to deal with a new reality of motivation and health.

My limited experience in poor mental health keeps me super scared of being in that vortex. Up is down, all the doors are locked, and you can’t convince yourself to do what you should.

Most people on that call yesterday had a turning point.

But many people out there are still waiting for theirs.

If you lead a team of more than one person, this is an issue for you. Like a pandemic, it’s either something you are currently dealing with, something you will soon deal with, or something you are pretending doesn’t exist.

Be proactive about the mental health of your team. Don’t wait until it’s an issue. The person struggling with anxiety knew when to seek help; most people don’t. Make sure the humans on your team know when they should reach out to someone. Demonstrate safety by talking about your own up and down struggles.

Be vigilant. Employee wellness is never something you check off a list. Just because everyone on your team said they were good today doesn’t mean things won’t change soon. Or that they just aren’t ready to talk about it yet. Telling you I’m good doesn’t give you a pass not to check in for the next month.

We're not only bringing our whole selves to work these days. We're bringing our tiny apartments, our partners, our kids, our grandparents, our weight, our food, our emotions. All of it.

A leader’s primary purpose in the digital age is to learn what it means to be a human and help others in that journey.

If you aren’t up for that challenge as a leader, you might want to start looking for a time machine.