Men’s Mental Health
How to Build Thriving Communities
Nearly one quarter of the world population feels lonely, with the highest levels of loneliness being reported by those between the age of 19-29.
15% of men say they have no close friends at all.
The number of Kudokushi deaths, where the deceased person is not found for months after their death, is quickly rising (according to data from Japan and the UK).
It’s been a turbulent few years for most people around the globe and given that the next 10 years are not likely to be any less challenging than the last 10 years (in terms of geo-political issues, climate change, the pace of modern life and technological change etc) the question of building thriving communities, is urgent and important for all organisations.
Without active communities, issues such as absenteeism, presenteeism, burnout, low morale, working in silos, communication issues, misunderstanding and a high turnover of staff are likely to characterise our organisations.
Social connection is in our human DNA and it’s arguably why homo-sapiens prevailed over neanderthal people when times were tough (the brains of neanderthal people were no smaller than ours, but they were more unsociable than us and did not form communities as easily)
Given the importance of community, two hugely important questions need to be answered:
How do you create communities where people belong and can reach out for support?
How do you break down cliques and reduce levels of loneliness within your organisations?
In this talk, we will explore:
Why community safeguards human wellbeing, fosters peak performance and supports ongoing innovation.
Why community spirit is under pressure and what that means for our organisations.
Cliques? What are they? How do they form? Why are they so difficult to spot?
How do you start meaningful conversations with someone you might be worried about and/or those who don’t easily interact with others?
Why is loneliness a vicious cycle and how do you get restarted if you’ve become isolated?
How do you improve your own community building skills … from the small every-day habits, to the longer term shifts in your thinking?
What community building lessons can we learn from the very best community developers?
Psychological safety and Allyship: what are they? And why are they so important for building thriving communities?