When we talk about mental health in the workplace, it’s often through the lens of problems and prevention: burnout, anxiety, stress management, and crisis support. Organising a ‘Wellness Week’ usually focuses on conditions like depression or burnout, rather than how to actively build mental strength.
As Shawn Achor jokes about in my favourite TEDx talk (The Happy Secret to Better Work), “that’s not a wellness week, that’s a sickness week.”
But what if we took the same approach to mental fitness as we do to physical fitness? Instead of only reacting to issues, what if we trained our teams to be more resilient and high-performing? Much like athletes train their bodies.
In recent years, mental fitness has taken centre stage, mainly thanks to thought leaders like Jody Michael, Shirzad Chamine, Mark Luckey and Maya Raichoora. Even Prince Harry spoke about mental fitness at the UN last year!
There’s no denying it’s rising in popularity, but what does that mean for our teams? This week I’ll be looking at:
- What mental fitness actually means (and how it differs from mental health)
- Why it’s rising in the workplace
- Why we need mentally fit teams
- Practical ways leaders can build mental fitness, including common mistakes and some quick wins to try this week
- An important note to finish
What Mental Fitness Actually Means (And How It Differs from Mental Health)
We often frame mental health as something we need to protect from conditions like stress, anxiety, depression or burnout. Whilst this is important, it only really tells half the story of our brains.
Mental fitness is the other half. It’s about actively training our brains to perform at their very best. After all, we don’t just sit at home hoping to avoid injury when it comes to our physical health – and so we shouldn’t for our mental health either.
Mental fitness is about developing the cognitive strength, emotional resilience, and psychological flexibility to handle challenges, adapt to change, and sustain focus under pressure.
Why Mental Fitness Is Rising in the Workplace
The shift towards mental fitness isn’t just a trend, it’s a response to the changing nature of work.
- More pressure, faster pace
In a world of constant deadlines, digital overload, and rapid change, employees need mental resilience just as much as technical skills.
The ability to stay calm, focused, and adaptable under pressure is becoming a competitive advantage.
- Proactive vs. reactive approaches
Companies have spent years investing in mental health support, but often only as a reactive measure.
The move toward mental fitness is about shifting from fixing problems to preventing them in the first place.
- High-performance thinking
Business leaders, athletes, and elite performers have long understood the importance of mental conditioning.
Now, that same mindset is making its way into everyday workplaces, with companies recognising that resilient, mentally strong teams drive better results.
- A workforce demanding change
Employees today aren’t just looking for work-life balance, they’re looking for work-life sustainability. They want workplaces that don’t just help them cope, but help them thrive.
They want to work somewhere they can develop skills to manage stress, focus, and energy in a way that’s sustainable long-term.
This shift is changing how organisations think about leadership, performance, and team culture.
It’s no longer just about offering resources to prevent poor mental health, it’s about embedding mental fitness into the way teams work every day.
Why We Need Mentally Fit Teams
One thing I preach often is that preventing issues like burnout is far easier (and more cost-effective) for businesses than trying to cure it.
Instead of fighting fires when it’s all become too much, mental fitness allows you to make your business fireproof.
Here are some of the key reasons we need to be focusing on mental fitness at work in 2025 and beyond:
- Sharper thinking, better decisions
A strong mental fitness foundation enhances focus, creativity, and cognitive endurance.
Research from the World Economic Forum found that resilience, emotional intelligence, and adaptability are among the top skills for the future of work.
- Higher productivity and efficiency
Mentally fit teams manage their energy effectively. They prioritise deep work, avoid burnout, and sustain high performance over time.
A study by AON has shown that employees are nearly twice as motivated and productive when they are resilient.
- Adaptability under pressure
Change is constant (even more so in the age of AI) and the best teams don’t just react; they pivot, reframe, and take action.
Mentally fit teams handle uncertainty better, making faster, more confident decisions in high-pressure situations.
- Creativity and strategic thinking
High mental fitness allows teams to step back, evaluate problems objectively, and generate innovative solutions rather than getting stuck in reactivity and stress cycles.
Studies show that chronic stress reduces cognitive flexibility, making problem-solving harder. On the other hand, mentally fit teams avoid this trap.
Better retention, lower staff turnover
Employees who feel mentally strong, supported, and in control of their work environment are far more likely to stay engaged and committed to their organisation.
Disengaged, stressed out employees don’t stick around. Mentally unfit teams have higher absenteeism, higher stress levels, and greater job dissatisfaction, creating a revolving door of talent loss.
Practical Ways to Build Mentally Fit Teams
“Okay Bex, I’m sold, let’s build more mentally fit teams!”
I’m glad you agree. As always, at the end of each newsletter, I want to provide you with some practical steps you can start implementing today/this week/as soon as possible. So, here are ways we can build more mentally fit teams.
1. Create a Culture of Psychological Safety
🔹Why It Matters: Teams thrive when people feel safe to share ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes without fear of blame. Psychological safety fuels learning, innovation, and trust. Without it, teams hold back and disengage.
✅ Encourage open discussions about challenges and failures without judgment.
✅ Set the tone as a leader. Admit when you don’t have all the answers and model vulnerability.
✅ Reward curiosity and problem-solving over perfection.
🚫 Common Mistake: Saying you have an “open-door policy” but dismissing or penalising feedback when employees actually speak up.
2. Strengthen Emotional Regulation & Stress Resilience
🔹 Why It Matters: High-performance teams stay composed under pressure. Stress is inevitable, but how teams respond to it determines whether they burn out or bounce back.
✅ Teach practical stress management techniques and how to integrate them into the workday (I can always help with this if you’re stuck)
✅ Recognise emotional triggers in the team and create space for de-escalation.
✅ Check in with employees and their stress levels often. Wellness Action Plans (WAPs) can also help with this.
🚫 Common Mistake: Encouraging employees to “manage their stress” while overloading them with unrealistic deadlines and pressure.
3. Encourage Growth Mindset & Constructive Feedback
🔹 Why It Matters: A mentally fit team sees mistakes as learning opportunities, not failures. The best teams actively seek feedback and use challenges to grow.
✅ Normalise feedback as a regular part of team culture, not just something for annual reviews.
✅ Encourage experimentation and iteration. “What did we learn?” should be a common question.
✅ Reframe failure as a stepping stone to improvement, not a reason for punishment.
🚫 Common Mistake: Treating feedback as criticism rather than as a tool for learning.
4. Train Teams in Cognitive Agility & Adaptability
🔹 Why It Matters: The ability to shift perspectives, embrace change, and problem-solve under uncertainty is a defining trait of mentally strong teams.
✅ Help teams develop flexibility. Practice scenario planning and adaptive decision-making.
✅ Reframe change as an opportunity, not a threat.
✅ Encourage cross-functional learning and knowledge-sharing to build a broad skill set.
🚫 Common Mistake: Expecting teams to adapt quickly without giving them the tools or skills to process change.
5. Prioritise Focus & Sustainable Performance
🔹 Why It Matters: Mentally fit teams don’t just push through exhaustion; they know how to balance intensity with recovery to maintain peak performance over time.
✅ Set clear priorities to avoid constant context-switching and overload.
✅ Encourage deep work: structured time for high-focus, uninterrupted work.
✅ Promote rest and recovery as a performance strategy. Mental fitness is about longevity, not just short-term productivity.
🚫 Common Mistake: Rewarding overwork instead of smart work, leading to burnout and disengagement.
6. Foster Team Connection & Support
🔹 Why It Matters: Mentally fit teams support each other, celebrate wins together, and lift each other up when challenges arise. Strong teams face stress as a unit.
✅ Build peer-to-peer support systems. Mentorship, buddy-up programmes, or informal check-ins all work well.
✅ Create the time and space for employees to get together in a way that works for them (no forced fun)!
✅ Reinforce collective responsibility. When one person struggles, the team finds ways to help.
🚫 Common Mistake: Assuming team culture will develop organically. Connection needs to be actively nurtured.
BONUS: Quick Wins to Try This Week
🔹 If you only have 5 minutes, do one of these today:
✅ Replace one “How are you?” with “What’s been the biggest challenge for you this week?” – This creates space for real conversations around resilience and problem-solving.
✅ Ask everyone to join you in a 60-second reset before your next meeting. Whether that’s a quick breathing exercise, standing up and stretching, or getting everyone to close their eyes for a minute. Your energy and focus on stress relief sets the tone for the team – and trust me, you’ll feel ‘less silly’ doing it as time goes on.
✅ Spot and acknowledge one moment of mental fitness in action (e.g. problem-solving under pressure or showing resilience) to reinforce positive behaviours and promote connection.
✅ Pay attention to your next stressful situation… Did you react or respond? Can you turn this into a teaching moment for the team?
🔹 If you have an hour, do one of these this week:
✅ Introduce a ‘Tough Talk’ session: Encourage your team to share a recent challenge and what they learned from it.
✅ Introduce a mental fitness challenge. It could be all working together on 90-minute focus blocks (no distractions) or ask team members to provide one positive and one constructive piece of feedback to each other.
✅ Audit your team’s work rhythms and hidden stressors. Are they structured for long-term performance or short-term hustle? Are there any frustrations or inefficiencies draining their energy?
✅ Give your team the option for ‘recovery time’ this week: Let them start later, take an extended break, or finish early once, guilt-free. Train your team to balance intensity with recovery – just like an athlete!
One Final Note and Wrap Up
Teaching your team to be mentally fit and resilient is an extremely important skill, but it does not mean putting all of the onus on them to avoid burnout. Mental fitness should complement, not replace, strong mental health support, ensuring teams have both the resources to cope AND the skills to thrive.
What do you think of mental fitness? Is it something you’re working on in your organisation?
