The increase in suicide cases has sparked growing concern, with many discussions highlighting mental health challenges as a significant contributing factor.
While much attention has been given to personal struggles, one area often overlooked is how workplace environments, particularly leadership styles and work culture, can influence an individual’s mental health.
This issue often goes unnoticed, despite its direct impact on productivity, relationships and overall organisational health. In many workplaces, leadership is often judged by results, strategies and bottom lines. Yet, a crucial aspect remains dangerously neglected: the mental and emotional well-being of employees.
Wellness and mental health should not just be slogans or statements on paper.
They must be fundamental to effective leadership.“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another” – John C. Maxwell
Workplace mental health is not a soft issue. It is a core leadership responsibility.
People often criticise certain institutions as toxic. In such environments, employees are constantly walking on eggshells.
This is toxic leadership.
No one should be forced to resign because the environment has become unbearable.
No leader should be the reason someone can no longer provide for their family because they cannot handle workplace pressures. No leader should contribute to mental breakdowns, anxiety or depression struggles that, if left unaddressed, may lead to tragic outcomes such as suicide.
As a leader, have you ever asked yourself how effective your organisation’s mental health initiatives truly are compared to the reality on the ground?
Are these initiatives leading to real, visible change or are they merely tick-the-box exercises? Are you actively ensuring that positive changes take hold?
After team-building events or wellness programs, do employees return feeling renewed and supported, or more anxious and damaged? Mental health challenges at are often dismissed as stress or personal issues, but leadership behaviours frequently lie at the root.
How leaders treat others, how they communicate and how they handle conflict directly shape workplace culture and employee well-being. Leaders who focus solely on their titles and positions risk creating rigid and fearful environments.
Authentic leadership leaves no room for favouritism. It thrives on inclusivity and fairness. True leaders reject gossip and scheming, recognising that such behaviours breed division and toxic office politics.
They do not surround themselves with a small circle of favourites who escape accountability due to proximity to power.
Such practices undermine equity and weaken team performance. Instead, true leaders surround themselves with talented minds, serve as servant leaders and prioritise the needs of their team members.
Likewise, leaders who avoid collaboration with other departments to protect their own status hinder innovation and problem-solving, which can ultimately lead to organisational decline.
A healthy workplace begins with leaders who lead with passion, empathy, humility and accountability. They create spaces where people feel heard, valued and safe to contribute without fear of retaliation or humiliation. This does not mean avoiding difficult conversations or lowering standards. Rather, it involves addressing challenges constructively, recognising individual contributions and ensuring that policies are applied fairly to everyone.
When leadership genuinely embraces mental health as a core value, the benefits ripple throughout the organisation boosting productivity, enhancing teamwork, improving service delivery, developing future leaders, reducing turnover and attracting talent. Leadership is more than just driving results. It is about creating conditions where people can thrive.
While a title grants authority, it is integrity, compassion and fairness that earn genuine respect. The most impactful leaders are remembered not for the positions they held, but for the positive difference they made in the lives of those they led.
* Victoria Shikongo holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in marketing, along with over 10 years of media experience. She writes in her personal capacity.