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For many agency owners, running the business can feel all-consuming: late nights, customer calls, and constant pressure to grow. That dedication is what builds a great agency. But leaders who build the strongest cultures also meaningfully invest in life outside the office. They make time for what they value—family, faith, exercise, whatever recharges them.
The values you embody as a leader trickle down to your team and shape your company culture. And when an acquisition is on the table, culture matters more than you might think. The right buyer will want to know how you prioritize your own mental wellness and that of your team. Why? Because a healthy leader promotes a healthy culture, which leads to a healthy transition and integration.
With approximately 25% of teammates reporting a decline in mental health and 50% having trouble staying focused at work, Mental Health Awareness Month is the perfect time to evaluate whether you are embodying balance as a leader and prioritizing your team's wellness.
Here are a few ways to do both:
1. Lead by example
Check your leadership style.
Practice self-awareness and recognize whether you're doing anything that contributes to a stressful working environment. Ask yourself: Is there anything I can change in my delivery or in the office dynamics that will alleviate stress rather than create more?
Take time off.
As a leader, you likely enjoy more flexibility than most of your team, so be mindful of how you utilize it. If you're checked out of the office for five weeks at a time and no one else has the right to do that, morale will sink as hostility rises. Demonstrate how to take time away from the office in a way that's positive and consistent with what you expect of your teammates. Show your team that it's OK to disconnect and promote an environment where teammates are encouraged to take time off.
Listen to your team.
Be genuinely curious about how your team is doing and stay open to hearing their feedback. Learn about their personal lives, what's bothering them, and how challenges are affecting their work. Look for opportunities to help them find a healthy, sustainable balance.
Get outside.
Model the importance of stepping away from your desk to get some sunshine and fresh air. Take a brisk walk after your morning meeting or during lunch, and you'll likely see teammates follow suit.
2. Make the right resources available to your team
Offer accessible mental health resources.
Encourage your team to use the resources available to them. It's one thing to offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), but it's another level to provide and market strong, valuable, convenient benefits in a way that encourages teammates to use them. Brown & Brown's EAP program includes free virtual and in-person counseling and coaching sessions for teammates and their dependents, as well as workshops and webinars for stress, anxiety, sleep improvement, burnout prevention, and more. Pay attention to your team's work demands and cater offerings to their availability so they can take full advantage of the benefits.
Build out team resource groups.
Create opportunities for teammates to connect with and support one another regarding life circumstances beyond work.
Establish a reasonable, flexible time-off program.
Start by considering the responsibilities, demands, and stress associated with different positions and how these factors may influence different types of PTO plans. Build in flexible options for teammates who need to take personal time during their regular workweek. Track PTO utilization to gain clarity into which teammates aren't using the time they've been given and then take the time to understand why.
Don't lose sight of what matters
At Brown & Brown, we seek out leaders and teams who have interests and passions beyond their office doors. If you share this perspective, we'd love to explore what your acquisition story with Brown & Brown could look like.
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