Beyond Empathy: Mental Health as Your Organization's Strategic Imperative

“When we're feeling anxious or depressed, we're not doing our best work. We're not our best selves. We're not as engaged and productive, and the being able to be your best yourself means you're doing your best in the workplace and in life.”

Highlights the direct correlation between employee mental health and business outcomes like engagement and productivity.

“The power of hearing from senior leaders is game-changing, right? Because there is a perception of senior leaders, you have to be you know, always in check and not necessarily show vulnerability, but there's so much power, so much power in connection when senior leaders talk about their mental health journey, their challenges, and their, they, they show vulnerability.”

Emphasizes how leadership vulnerability builds connection and transforms company culture around mental health.

“The heart of change management is understanding what does it mean for the person who's impacted by that change? And that starts with empathy, right? Putting yourself in the shoes of that person and understanding people may not agree with the change, but they need to understand why. They need to understand the purpose and they need to understand how they're impacted.”

Defines empathy as the foundational principle for effective and human-centered change management.

“I think the very first thing that AI can do is help optimize care by empowering the provider. Even things as basic as notes, right? And being more efficient and being able to capture exactly the most critical points in a therapy session to optimize the care and the intervention that comes from it. Personalized matching, right?”

Outlines specific, practical applications of AI to improve efficiency and personalization in mental health care delivery.

“It's never one size fits all. That is so understanding that it's not just the here's the benefit, let's drop it in. We did our part. Every employee has this many sessions. It's really thinking about holistic care. And so 20% of the workforce is neurodivergent. We have 14 million people who need more complex support and specialty care.”

Advocates for a holistic, tailored approach to mental health benefits that recognizes and addresses diverse employee needs beyond generic offerings.

“I strongly believe it's less about hours that you're working, right, in an exempt population, hours that you're working, but performance and How are you delivering? And so it has to be flexibility and compatibility. So flex— offering that flexibility of when you're going to work or when you might need a few hours off in the afternoon to pick up the kids from school or to support your parents.”

Proposes a performance-driven, flexible work model as a key strategy to support employees balancing work with family responsibilities, especially the 'sandwich generation'.