Supporting Mental Health at Work: How Executive Coaching Helps Build Resilient Teams
- Bahaa Malaeb
- May 1
- 2 min read
Updated: May 2
May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a timely reminder that mental wellbeing is not a personal matter alone; it’s a workplace priority. In high-performance cultures like those in the GCC, employees often face pressure to deliver without showing vulnerability. But as awareness grows, organizations are seeking practical, human-centered tools to support mental health. Executive Coaching is emerging as one of them.
Workplace Mental Health: A Growing Priority
Mental health challenges at work are widespread and often under-addressed. According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety cost the global economy over $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. Employees struggling with stress, burnout, or emotional fatigue are less likely to perform, collaborate, or remain engaged.
A study published in Occupational Medicine found that supportive leadership and open communication significantly reduce the risk of mental health deterioration among employees (Gayed et al., 2018): https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqy030
As a result, more organizations are integrating mental health into their leadership strategies; not just through policies, but through culture and daily practice.
How Executive Coaching Supports Mental Wellbeing
Coaching is not therapy, but it can serve as a preventative and protective space. When done ethically and skillfully, executive coaching fosters self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience which are all critical to navigating workplace demands.
Here are several ways executive coaching contributes to better mental health at work:
Creates Psychological Safety
A coaching-style conversation allows individuals to speak freely, explore challenges, and reflect without judgment—key components of mental wellbeing.
Reference: Amy Edmondson, Psychological Safety in the Workplace
Builds Emotional Regulation and Stress Awareness
Coaching encourages reflection on emotional patterns, stress triggers, and coping strategies. This can reduce reactivity and support healthier responses.
See: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01944/full
Encourages Boundary-Setting and Work-Life Integration
Through coaching, professionals can explore how to set limits, prioritize, and balance their values with their responsibilities.
Strengthens Resilience
Coaches help clients reframe setbacks, identify strengths, and build internal resources for navigating uncertainty and pressure.
Supports Managers in Supporting Others
Leaders with executive coaching skills are better equipped to notice distress, respond empathetically, and create team cultures that promote wellbeing.
Why This Matters in the GCC
Across the GCC, especially in performance-driven sectors like government, finance, and energy, the stigma around mental health is slowly giving way to awareness. Executive coaching provides a confidential, culturally sensitive, and forward-looking way to support wellbeing, without needing to label someone as “in crisis.”
Organizations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha are beginning to see executive coaching as a strategic investment in mental health, not just for individuals, but for the overall health of teams and organizations.
Brightfields: Coaching for Wellbeing and Resilience
At Brightfields, our executive coaching programs are grounded in the belief that performance and wellbeing go hand in hand. We work with organizations across the GCC to train leaders, support teams, and embed coaching practices that prioritize both excellence and human care.
To explore how coaching can support your team during Mental Health Month, and beyond:
Interested in Executive Coaching for Your Team or Yourself?
📧 Contact us at gcc@brightfields.co.uk
🌐 Visit: https://www.brightfields.co.uk
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