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Business management People before profit
Business leaders have long been expected to be lions of the boardroom – and lions don’t typically have psychological crises. But spurred on by the pandemic, these outdated views are changing. Andrea Valentino talks to Matthew Cooper, who publicly left his role as CEO of EarnUp on mental health grounds, and Jen Fisher, Deloitte’s fi rst chief well-being offi cer, on how attitudes towards c-suite mental health are shifting, the role of the pandemic in prodding them along – and how the line between actual and superfi cial change is easy to forget.
hortly into his latest residential stay, Matthew Cooper realised something had to give. Worried he was a danger to himself, he rushed to ER, a move that ultimately led to in-patient care. That was certainly an important step towards getting better – but given Cooper had spent time in hospital three times already, a more drastic intervention was needed. “I felt at this point that I wanted to give myself more space to heal, rest, and stay healthy,” Cooper remembers. “I did not see a path to stay healthy and show up for my job in the ways I wanted to.” So it was that late last year, as the pandemic raged and nerves frayed the world over, Cooper took a remarkable step. Writing online, he announced he was stepping down as CEO of EarnUp, a fintech start-up he’d founded, and one that has lately secured $25m in new funding. Clearly, Cooper’s decision was personally momentous, especially for someone who’d spent so long paddling Silicon Valley’s fevered waters. After graduating from Princeton in 2005, Cooper worked at a number of private equity firms, before establishing
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EarnUp, a loan payments automation platform, in 2014. No wonder Cooper admits he felt “doubt and confusion” relinquishing EarnUp’s top job. Cooper’s actions are certainly brave, and were justifiably praised by colleagues across tech. The question, of course, is why taking a work break for your own mental health should be considered so special. The answer, equally clear, is how unusual it is. Long pushed into adopting the Gordon Gekko attitude to work – act tough, get results – business leaders have shied away from giving their feelings space. According to recent work by Stanford University, nearly three in four CEOs claim they’d worried about their own mental health over the past six months, even though around 60% of people with diagnosable conditions don’t discuss them at work. Yet honesty is worthwhile, and not just for people like Cooper. On the contrary, a sympathetic mental health culture, shadowed by practical policies to support staff, can transform corporate living for everyone. Beyond the stark ethical reasons for taking
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Chief Executive Offi cer /
www.the-chiefexecutive.com
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