How To Help Someone In Their Darkest Moments | Graeme Cowan | S2E17

UNSTOPPABLE with Kerwin Rae

In this episode of Unstoppable, I had the opportunity to speak with Graeme Cowan, Board Director of R U OK? and the host of The Caring CEO podcast.

Graeme is a speaker, author and resilience expert and specialises in preventing and treating work related fatigue, stress and poor innovation. In his earlier career he worked in senior leadership positions with Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and AT Kearney. In 2000 he went through a 5-year episode of depression that his psychiatrist described as the worst he had ever treated, yet he is here today, inspiring thousands and helping many people along the way.

In this podcast, Graeme and I discuss the stigma of mental health in the workplace, how to train your resilience and grit, and lastly advice on how to best support someone to get through a dark place in their life.

This was a powerful conversation that I think many of you will benefit from especially if you know someone right now who needs support during this time.

Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 1:23 Graeme's career & his 5 years of severe depression 6:20 How can workplaces better support mental health? 11:32 The 4 H's of Leadership from Bunnings CEO Michael Schneider 12:26 What does 'CARE' look like in the workplace? 13:38 The 5 norms of Google's best teams 14:38 How to create 'psychological safety' 17:56 Why you need the skill of resilience 25:22 The simplest 3 step model for developing resilience 27:19 Biggest mistakes people make when developing resilience/grit 31:44 Kerwin giving the gift of presence 33:23 Graeme's purpose 34:30 Advice to help someone get through a dark place 40:11 Advice for the support people of individuals struggling 41:59 How important is nutrition to your mental health? 43:42 BEST PIECE OF ADVICE Graeme's received