Men’s Health Week, from 15 to 21 June, is an opportunity to address the risks of ‘pushing through’. Many tradies and small-business owners consider getting on with the job is a fundamental part of work culture. But the majority do not realise, often until it is too late, the impact this stoic attitude is having on their mental health.
Today, more than ever before, they are navigating relentless pressure from rising costs. They are dealing with workforce challenges. And constant market shifts and business uncertainty give them no space to step back. They bear the responsibility of keeping their businesses above water, which becomes all-consuming. The commitment to leading their teams these tough times becomes their daily routine. As leaders they consider themselves as the problem-solver. They feel they need to support others, without recognising that they need support themselves.
A case in point
Mat Wilk owns Ballast Point Architecture and Construction, a design-to-completion firm in Balmain in Sydney’s inner west. For a long time, Mat kept his head down and ‘got on with the job’. “I was in a pattern where I dealt with everything – I didn’t complain, I just got on with it.
“I signed up for Beyond Blue’s New Access for Small Business Owners (NASBO) program because I intended to share it through my network and I thought I should try it first, Mat adds. He didn’t think he needed any support himself, he thought he was doing ‘fine’.
However, the experience revealed deeply ingrained ways of thinking that were shaping how Mat dealt with pressure. “I used to say I was never anxious, yet anxiety was there, just in ways I didn’t recognise,” Mat admits. “I constantly worried about reaching my own potential and not letting people down.”
This realisation – that the pressure on small-business owners can be constant, and invisible – was a turning point.
“I found some blind spots,” Mat says. “Things weren’t obvious to me, but they were still there.” In a year he describes as ‘everything flipping on its head’ he’s learning that resilience isn’t about pushing through alone. “Sometimes, it starts with making space to recognise that you might benefit from sharing the load,” he explains.
Help is at hand
To that end, Mat founded Buttress, a tech platform that mentors small construction business owners. Through Buttress, Mat shares the learnings he took from the NASBO program with other SME owners in construction. Business owners who, like himself, don’t realise that they might need support, and that it is available. The free, confidential mental-health coaching program is designed specifically for small-business owners. It offers practical tools to manage stress, problem solve and build coping strategies. Its coaches understand the realities of running a business and provide guidance tailored to each person’s circumstances. The program has shown great results – 95 per cent of participants say that the program helped them better understand and address their challenges.
Men less open to seeking support than women
While Beyond Blue see encouraging signs that more men are now seeking support, the gap remains significant. The organisation’s research reveals that only 28 per cent of men reach out to a professional, support service or someone they know. On the other hand, 50 per cent of women seek support. Only 19 per cent of men seek professional help alone, compared with 34 per cent of women.
“While more men are seeking support, they are still far less likely than women to do so,” Beyond Blue’s CEO, Georgie Harman AO, laments. “That doesn’t mean men aren’t experiencing distress, it means support that feels right is harder to find.
Georgie stresses that in work environments defined by change, that matters. She points out that financial stress doesn’t just affect the bottom line, but can also shape how business owners feel about themselves and their ability to keep going.
Beyond Blue’s research reveals that even when support could help, many aren’t sure where to start. The data shows that the biggest drivers of seeking help aren’t willingness. They are clarity and access. Over half of respondents (52 per cent) say they don’t know what to do to get help. Almost half (46 per cent) say that they don’t have a trusted professional or service to turn to. And 41 per cent cite questions over affordability of support as barriers to getting the help they need.
Georgie and the team at Beyond Blue will be working hard next week to raise awareness about NASBO and other initiatives they have in place to support small-business owners.
