Mental Health and Leadership – Why They Actually Fit Together

When people think about leadership and mental health, they often put these two things on opposite sides: Leaders are supposed to be strong, reliable, untouchable – while people with mental health issues are often seen as weak or unstable.

That’s not true. I’ve lived with depression, anxiety, and OCD for more than ten years now – and in that time, I co-founded companies and led teams of different sizes in various roles. What I learned: leaders with mental health issues are not a liability. They are a huge value for a company.

Let’s Look at the Numbers

Mental health struggles are far from rare:

Around 5% of people in western countries suffer from depression¹.
Up to 9% live with anxiety disorders².
In total, every 4th to 5th person deals with some kind of mental health condition³.

So if we (consciously or not) exclude people with such conditions from leadership, we throw away a big part of the talent pool. That’s not only unfair, it’s stupid. In this article, I want to show you why.

Empathy and a Culture of Openness

When I came out about my own condition as a leader, something changed. People told me that it made our workplace feel safer. Others who were affected reached out to me. Managers became more sensitive. It was okay to call in sick for mental health reasons. People were open about what they were struggling with and what helped them.

And guess what: people seemed more motivated, more focused — it really felt like a boost in productivity. One colleague, for example, had recurring phases where he was clearly struggling, and his performance dropped. After we started talking more openly about mental health, he began taking short, intentional breaks to deal with his situation instead of pushing through. As a result, he recovered faster and came back to full productivity much sooner.

Hidden Issues Come to the Surface

Because mental diseases have been stigmatized for so long, many sufferers don’t even realize what’s going on with them. They just keep pushing, using an enormous amount of energy to keep up the appearance of “everything is fine.”

By talking openly about my own condition – symptoms, medication, coping – I helped others notice similar patterns in themselves. Some went for therapy, some tried out self-care routines. And even those who weren’t affected learned useful tools for handling stress better.

Learning for the Non-Sufferers

Before my own condition started, I couldn’t imagine what it actually feels like to have depression or anxiety. I just didn’t get it. So I totally understand everyone who’s mentally healthy and simply can’t put themselves in the shoes of someone who isn’t. But that misunderstanding creates a big gap between these two groups.

I see it as my duty to talk about it – to explain what helped, what made it worse, and what kind of support actually works. The feedback from colleagues was great, also from those who never experienced it themselves. They just didn’t know before. It helps a lot when people inside the team talk about such topics – but when a leader does it, it hits differently. It gives permission.

Real Resilience (a.k.a. the Bus Factor)

People sometimes ask: What if a leader drops out because of a mental health phase? Isn’t that risky?

Honestly – if your team can’t work without one person, you already have a problem. A good company doesn’t depend on a single leader. Anyone can drop out for a while: accident, sickness, family issues.

Having a leader who is open about their condition makes this reality visible. It reminds everyone that humans can fail – and that structures need to be resilient enough to handle it. That mindset builds stronger teams, not weaker ones.

Safe Spaces Grow Beyond One Group

Making the space safer for one marginalized group automatically makes it safer for others too. Once people experience that differences are accepted and not punished, the whole atmosphere changes. It doesn’t matter which group you start with — every step toward openness and acceptance benefits everyone.

In the end, diversity wins – and diverse teams are proven to be more creative, more productive, and more successful. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s also smart business.

There Is Help and There Are Ways to Cope

Living with a mental health condition doesn’t mean you’re stuck in a dark hole forever. There are treatments, medication, routines, and support systems that work.

So keeping people with mental health issues away from leadership positions is just wrong. It’s discrimination, and it wastes potential. When we support sufferers properly, we gain strong, empathic, and realistic leaders who know what struggle means – and who lead from that understanding.

Roundup

I’m convinced that leaders with mental health issues are a huge enrichment for any company. They bring empathy, resilience, and honesty. They make workplaces more human. They turn “weakness” into connection and growth.

The real risk is not having such leaders at all.