I believe that a flourishing workplace stems from a thriving team. It’s hard for an organization to flourish if its people are floundering. And what’s more, the evidence supports this. Many studies have been done over the years that reveal the necessity and importance of having psychologically healthy people in an organization. As a result, we at Flourishing have made it our mission to support organizations and people in their mental and emotional well-being.

The Importance of Workplace Culture

As a leader and manager, I began noticing early in my career that the mental health of our team had an incredible impact on their overall productivity and performance. And it makes sense when you think about it. If someone is highly stressed, has anxiety, or suffers from depression, then that will inevitably spill over into the workplace and the team dynamic. 

And my own journey (personally with family and professionally in business) really showed me that no matter how skilled or competent you are, mental health impacts us all. And because we spend so much time on the job, the workplace can either support or diminish our mental health. So, my ethos has always been to do what we can to support it rather than diminish it. 

Defining a Flourishing Workplace 

We collaborated with a PhD psychologist who has created a tool called the Flourishing Life Questionnaire. 

This tool has been used on over 1 million individuals in over 20 countries around the world. And the resulting data is high and clear, which gives us a real opportunity to scientifically measure whether someone is truly flourishing or not. We can then pinpoint the areas that are working well, as it is a strengths-based approach. 

It’s not about finding what’s wrong; it’s about finding what’s strong. 

But, of course, like any assessment tool, it also reveals areas that may need improvement. So, imagine you have a small team of, let’s say 50 people. And each one of them goes through this process (it’s all online and only takes 15 or 20 minutes). It allows each team member to see where they’re flourishing and how they’re contributing to the overall team environment. 

This allows you to use that data to see the overall health and well-being of the team as a whole.

Tools for Assessing Workplace Culture

One of our clients is in the restaurant business. And this is often a stressful and high-pressure industry to get into, especially as a business owner or entrepreneur. So, the ownership, when they had one location, said that they wanted to not only invest in leadership development, but also in creating a healthy workplace culture for their team. 

In other words, they wanted to foster the kind of environment that supports people’s mental health and wellness. They wanted to be proactive, not reactive. And after working with them for about 3 and a half, 4 years now, they now have 10 locations in a few different provinces. And I’ll tell you what: It’s been amazing to see (and to help contribute to) that ownership vision coming to life. 

Real-Life Impact of Cultural Shifts

A lot of what we do is about creating a psychologically safe environment. And the reason this is so crucial is that it allows people to feel secure so that they can grow and become all that they’re capable of becoming within the context of the workplace. When you don’t create this kind of workplace environment, everyone retreats into this protective and defensive shell. 

Then, we start focusing on our differences, what’s wrong with each other, and things slowly begin to fall apart from there. 

Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment

Now that we know the importance of a psychologically safe workplace, you may wonder what you can do (as a leader or owner) to facilitate that kind of environment. I have 3 simple steps that can help. They are what I call the 3 C’s, and they are as follows:

• Compassion: This is all about empathy and understanding. And it starts within. I need to first be compassionate with myself, and then that extends to other members of the team. And that then allows for the next C of the sequence to take shape.

• Chemistry: Every leader and executive knows the power of chemistry. This is when the whole team likes and supports each other, which leads to cohesion in the workplace.

• Competence: When chemistry is present, competence begins to flow. And that’s when the team truly becomes a unified whole from the inside out. This is the place we all want to get to. It’s where the workplace is filled with passion rather than passiveness. 

These 3 steps are intimately linked. They function together as each one leads seamlessly into the next. And that is what causes organizations and workplace environments to flourish. 

Final Thoughts

Workplace productivity is directly correlated to workplace mental health. The former takes care of it when the ladder is properly managed. And that’s when cohesion and synergy will come in and take your workplace culture to the next level of productivity and success. 

We at Certified Flourishing Coach can help facilitate this process for your organization. So, if you’re ready to finally see your organization flourish, contact us today to learn more.

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About the Author

Abe Brown, MBA, CMCT, CPHSA is the Coach’s Coach and is an Entrepreneur, Professional Speaker, International Best-Selling Author, and High-Performance Leadership Coach. He is the founder of Certified Flourishing Coaching™ and the Flourishing Coaching Program™, and the CEO of Wellness Innovate Corporation. Abe is also the author of the Certified Flourishing Coaching™ Programs, which is an accredited ICF Coach Training Provider.

Abe is known as the Coach’s Coach and is people-first. He is passionate about supporting people, entrepreneurs, businesses, and non-profits to thrive. Flourishing people produce flourishing relationships, businesses, and workplaces, along with high performance and profound positive impact. Abe is also passionate about workplace mental health and changing the world by changing the workplace. Along with the team at Wellness Innovate,

Abe is the creator of Flourishing Workplace™.

Abe has started or led several businesses and non-profits into the tens of millions of dollars and has worked in the entrepreneur space, corporate space, and non-profit space at Senior Executive levels. As President of one of the largest Life & Executive Coach Training and Certification organizations in the world for 13 years, Abe trained and certified thousands of Life and Executive Coaches in over 20 different countries.

Abe is focused on coaching leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs towards high-performance, resilience, and over-the-top results in both life and business. Abe has also been a professional speaker for over two decades, having spoken in 4 continents and over 20 countries, to audiences of tens of thousands. Abe and the global team are pioneering the very first evidence-based coaching model that taps into the psychology of flourishing with a certified coaching practitioner lens.

Abe earned a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Calgary Haskayne School of Business and a Master in Education and Counselling. Abe is also a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (https://coachingfederation.org/) and was a registered therapist for 9 years.