Exclusive

By Scott Wright

A PROMINENT business figure has revealed his fears for the mental health of the entrepreneurial community, declaring that the problems facing leaders are not confined to having enough financial strength to navigate the pandemic.

Alan Mahon, founder of the Brewgooder Scottish social enterprise, emphasised that entrepreneurs are equally susceptible to the stresses of the health crisis as other citizens, noting that “people are under enormous pressure at every level”.

But he feels particular attention should be paid to the strain it is placing on company leaders, whom people have been turning to for reassurance on jobs and to steer businesses through the pandemic.

Mr Mahon, who is a trustee of the Tiny Changes charity set up to support the mental health of young people in Scotland, said there is an expectation that entrepreneurs are “super-self-reliant” and that “they have the answers to big problems and questions.”

While entrepreneurs are viewed as “problem solvers”, and there are many examples of business leaders showing creativity and adaptability amid the pandemic, Mr Mahon said: “Where I think there is a massive falling down is that there isn’t a readily signposted, how do you look after yourself in this, rather than how do you look after your business. That, for me, is a big thing.”

Mr Mahon, whose firm pours the profits from its beer sales into clean water projects in Malawi, said it is wrong to assume all problems currently facing businesses can be solved with financial support, such as the furlough scheme.

“From my own experience, I don’t think that is necessarily true,” he said.

READ MORE: Opinion: Scott Wright: As lockdown conditions become part of life again, are employers doing enough to protect mental health?

Observing that entrepreneurs tend to judge themselves on how their businesses are performing, he said: “If you admit that you are struggling, or that you need help or that things are not going well, even though it is almost entirely outside of your ability to influence it, then that may be perceived as a personal failure.

“I do think it is akin to a taboo. That is not to say there are not people who break the taboo and do talk about it. But it is not as common as you would think. I think that is the very special pressure that is on entrepreneurs that makes it a little bit different from the normal population, albeit I am acutely aware that this pandemic is causing acute mental stress at all levels of society.”

Asked for his thoughts on how this “taboo” could be broken, Mr Mahon said he believes action is needed at government level. He noted that, whereas there is no shortage of courses at public agency level on growing businesses, leadership and skills, he has been unable to find any advice on “how to build a resilient, mentally healthy team”.

He said: “That would unlock so much. That would benefit the teams and entrepreneurs so much that it could only have a really positive impact on the economy at large.”

READ MORE: Scottish investment giant cuts dividend for first time since float in 2006

Laura Gordon, a chief executive coach and chair of the Vistage International networking group, agreed that company leaders have been “carrying the additional weight of responsibility” throughout the crisis. She said: “There has been so much focus on the wellbeing of employees and mental health issues amongst employees that it is almost expected for leaders to be bigger than that. But they are not, they are just humans too.”

Ms Gordon said in these circumstances it is vital that leaders can access the support of peers who understand the pressures and are going through similar experiences.

“It is having a peer group that you can go to, and that you can be vulnerable in front of, that is the key,” she said. “Leaders often think that they cannot show vulnerability.

“If you think about the emotional burden of being invulnerable at all times, that is incredibly debilitating. Being able to be yourself, and be vulnerable and just be honest in front of people that you trust, that have no hidden agenda, that have no vested interest in your success is a really, really powerful support network.”

Although the pandemic has meant traditional networking events have not been taking place, Ms Gordon said her group has replaced physical gatherings with digital meetings, which have brought in guest speakers from around the world. She said it has been important to maintain a social element to the networking, such as quiz nights or gin tastings, in order to keep people’s spirits up.

READ MORE: Saturday Interview: Beer firm making good on clean water pledge, entrepreneur Mahon declares

Ms Gordon said: “My members have come up with some really novel ideas, and they are putting together all sorts of packages for their teams. They think about it all the time because they do put people first. And that helps them too: looking after others helps yourself. A key part of wellbeing is giving and being kind. The kindness has to work both ways, though. Looking upwards at your leader, and recognising that they are just doing the best job that they can right now with the cards that they are dealt, and not being too hard on them for making some of the decisions that they need to make.”

She added: “Having to make redundancies, of people you have worked with for years who you really treasure and cherish, because if you don’t you will lose the business and everybody else will lose their jobs… how hard a decision is that to make?”

Brewgooder has responded to the pressures arising from the pandemic by introducing specific first-aid courses. These are designed to help people identify mental health conditions and “how to begin a conversation with somebody in need”.

The hope is that by encouraging people to alter their routines, be that by taking regular walks or practising mindfulness, it can ward off the need for a “big intervention”.

Mr Mahon said: “If we are to look at Covid as a chance to build a new entrepreneurial culture, I would want a priority of that at a government level, at a policy level, to focus on building resilient, mental health-aware entrepreneurs, so they can build that into the values of their company, as well as how they interact with their team and look after themselves.”