The resilient leader

 Alyson Meister, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD, explains how today’s leaders should demonstrate humanity, agility, and the ability to bounce back from adversity as they seek to strengthen their workforces in turbulent times.

The statistics make for grim reading. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that instances of depression and anxiety have increased by 25% in the past few years; suicide is now the second-leading cause of death among 15-to-29-year-olds in the US; and, already prior to COVID-19, nearly half of all chronic sick leave at work was due to mental-health-related issues. In the UK, stress, depression, or anxiety account for 44% of all work-related ill health cases and 54% of all working days lost due to ill health.

Moreover, mental illness makes no distinction on grounds of age or seniority in respect of whom it affects. Research from Deloitte has found that more than three-quarters of C-suite executives (76%) feel that…