While building my professional career, and climbing the corporate ladder, I noticed very early that there were not many trainings provided in getting individuals ready for this role and definitely no preparation on how to deal with various types of crisis that may show up once in this space. From a mental health perspective it became more evident that a high level of expectation was placed on leaders to always maintain and keep a “brave face,” with sometimes limited or no outlet to deak with their own fears or concerns before being asked to go out and lead their teams forward. 

As I eventually ventured into private practice, offering mental health services to individuals as well as providing training/consultation to for-profit and non-profit entities, I further noticed the continued neglect of this core group of workers and the struggles that showed up in one-on-one meeting or questions posed during trainings and consultations.  

During or after a layoff, a company focuses on getting their employees back to work, with leaders tasked with this mandate. There are many books and articles focused on getting  line staff back to work and through the layoff process and what leaders should do to aid in this process. But  little, if any focus has been placed on getting these same leaders ready for this undertaking. 

 There are tremendous costs at stake for a company, such as; underperformance of employees and a continued downturn of the company if they do not align their efforts strategically towards improving performance of remaining employees, increasing morale and ensuring improved work productivity.

 As a leader and a mental health provider, I am energized around equipping other leaders to better handle various crisis situations, including how to better rebound after a layoff has taken place in order to get their teams and the company back to a place of high productivity.