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Lenny Mendonca
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15 MINUTES WITH…
Lenny Mendonca
enny Mendonca is the former chief economic and business advisor to
Gov. Gavin Newsom and chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority. He is also owner of Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, managing partner of the Coastside News Group, and Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey & Co. In April of 2020 he resigned from his post with Gov. Gavin Newsom. Three months later, he penned an op-ed in Cal Matters where he openly shared his struggles with anxiety and depression. Lenny was a featured speaker at the recent 2021 CGA Leadership Summit in Santa Barbara, where he addressed attendees on mental health issues.
Nate Rose: There seems to be a growing conversation occurring in the United States about mental health – whether its someone like Simone Biles or even a broader topic like homelessness. How did you come to find yourself taking part in this conversation?
Mendonca: I have had almost zero exposure to issues of mental health challenges either personally or in my professional life until – what was a very personal experience for me – when I was in the Governor’s office and got hit with a sudden and severe case that was later diagnosed as anxiety and depression. So, my exposure and perspective was driven through that lens and, certainly, I can’t claim to be broadly knowledgeable about it, but the experience gives me a perspective on mental health. Having talked a lot about the issue recently, I have a view about some of the challenges and opportunities to deal with mental issues in our society.
You’ve written about how common mental health issues are, citing one in three Americans will deal with such a challenge. Yet, we know discussing mental health is still often considered taboo. Why is that the case? And do you think it’s changing?
Well, the statistic that I used about one in three Americans was from before the pandemic. Early indications show it’s only increased during the pandemic, understandably. Whether you’re a frontline worker or it’s the stress of dealing with working from home, and people with multiple obligations between work and family or otherwise – let alone anyone who was exposed to Covid-19 – circumstances have only broadened the perspective on it. I do think it is becoming more commonplace to lower the stigma and talk about mental health. I decided to write about it because it didn’t feel like something that should be talked about openly. My daughters and my wife encouraged me to write something. In part, it was going to be more of a private thing to send to people to explain what was going on, because I hadn’t talked about it and I kind of abruptly left my job. It was a way to have the conversation without having to repeat the story over and over again. I started to share it with family and friends, and I was encouraged to publish it. I think there are two things going on: First, you see more people talking about mental health publicly, who are of stature. Whether it is an athlete or not, you’re seeing the topic discussed more and more. Athletes such as Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps before her. There’s also Lady Gaga from the entertainment world and others. Or even Michelle Obama, saying she felt depressed during the pandemic. So that creates a conversation over time.
Secondly, what I experienced is that when it is one in three or one in four Americans who suffer from a mental health issue, everyone is one or two degrees of separation from someone who has had an experience. It then becomes something that isn’t a theoretical conversation anymore. It’s a more personal one. I’ve probably written over 100 editorials in my life, and this one had an order of magnitude more response than anything else I’ve ever written. The number of people who reached out to me, most of whom I didn’t know, and wanted to tell me their own story was touching – whether it was a family member or friend, and many of whom didn’t have good endings. That’s really heartbreaking. I think it’s essential we eliminate the stigma and recognize it’s a health issue like any other health issue. If we treat it that way and start to have real conversations to address it, we can avoid those bad outcomes, or at least reduce them.
What’s the business case for focusing on mental health?
Even before the pandemic, it was clear that it is really like other health issues in your workforce. You’re much better off having a healthy workforce that can bring the full self to the workplace to contribute. When they’re out, or not operating at full capacity, that has major implications on the ability to do the job. There’s a large number of economics studies that show that the cost of mental health on health care expenses and productivity for business is very high. It’s in the employer’s interest, if they can do something about it, to do something about it and to address it early. I do think when you look at the studies the evidence is very clear. The challenge most employers have is they will acknowledge it, they will say they are already dealing with it, or there’s nothing they can do. Which isn’t true. Employers have a really important roles to address this issue. It’s not just the right thing to do from a human standpoint, but also a business one.
In the business world praise of ideas like grit, or even hustle culture, are commonplace. How do you square up those ideas to your thoughts on mental health?
I think grit is compatible with mental health. It’s really useful to have grit and determination and a willingness to commit to what you want to do. But if you’re a professional athlete and you pull your hamstring, it’s not about grit to keep playing. It’s in their interest to help you get better. Grit helps you get better quicker, but it isn’t just about playing through. The same thing is true in mental health. I think the business world is a little bit late to this game compared to how other sectors think about performance. If you’re in the entertainment world, it’s a much more common conversation because it’s often about creativity and performing your art. It’s a natural conversation in those circles. In the sports world you see world class athletes talking all the time about having to be in the right mental frame to perform at their peak. There are athletes all the time talking about mental conditioning. If you are a world class athlete, you have physical trainers, but also mental ones to make sure you are in the condition to perform at your peak.
Business doesn’t think about mental health that way often enough. It’s something a mindset shift will help. It used to be only bad executives got coaches. Someone whose boss told them they aren’t performing the way they should so I’m going to get you a coach. Well today, if you don’t have a coach helping you, then the company isn’t investing in you, and you aren’t on the top of your game. So, it’s the same thing, perhaps even more so, in the business world where you’re using your brain, not your body. It’s completely aligned to say you want to have a top performance and have all the grit and resilience you can, so you need the support to make sure that’s the case to be in condition.
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The grocery industry has a reputation for being one that requires long hours, “paying one’s dues,” people in the industry often talk about the grind operating a store requires. What advice would you give the grocery community on mental health?
There are difficult challenges in many industries and with grocery, where that’s the culture and in many ways the history and managerial ethos, it’s that much more challenging.
I do think it’s one where both for the safety and well-being and performance of the existing people in the industry, let alone attracting new employees going forward, it’s something where you really do have to take this serious. I don’t think that happens unless senior leadership steps up and says we think this is important.
In many places it’s not the culture. That’s why it’s easier to enter the conversation with the business case I laid out earlier. Maybe bring in a speaker who can speak to their own experience, where you can have a conversation that doesn’t go straight at the culture and individuals behavior. And I do think it’s going to be challenging. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. If you really do want to alter it, you have to be serious about it. Culture change is hard and it starts at the top with commitment to do something about it. I think it’s also why the issue is more severe in these high stress, high performance macho cultures, whether that’s grocery, investment banking, law firms or other things. They have that culture, and mental health needs to be part of the conversation if they want to do something about it.
So how can industry leaders do more on the mental health front?
I think the most important thing from a senior business leader standpoint is the stigma one we’ve been talking about. You can’t have this conversation really and
address it if you aren’t prepared to openly discuss mental health. So that’s the first thing to do. The second thing you’re going to immediately get into is what is your benefit package and how adequate is it for issues of mental health. And adequacy not meaning is it theoretically available, but how good is it and is it practically available. In my circumstances I had the privilege of having a very generous healthcare plan, and because of that and networks and things, I had quick and immediate access to really quality support. But I’m not delusional enough to think that wasn’t a function of privilege as opposed to typical circumstance. For mental health issues, especially if they’re more pronounced, it’s just not helpful to say dial this number and we’ll get back to you or sure we have access to a therapist or support but it’s going to take three months to get help. You know, when you break your leg, you get sent to the emergency room and they treat you right there. Mental health challenges, especially if they are in severe circumstances, it is not only unhelpful, it is worse to not get help when you think you’re getting help. So you have to stress test your program, and I would encourage leaders to not do that theoretically. Have someone, or if you can do it yourself, call it and find out what support you get and how quality is. I’m pretty sure most will find out it’s not adequate. That’s partly a function of the fact we are dramatically under-resourced in our mental health capacity in our healthcare system. Like a lot of other things, we have a system for treating things when they are severe as opposed to preventing them or catching the early and that’s got to shift in this world too.
Okay, last question: What are some simple changes you recommend at an individual level? What about smartphone apps like Calm or Headspace?
There are increasingly good articles in business press on both the business case and resources. I do think there are nonpharmaceutical interventions that can be
really helpful. Everything from mindfulness support and the apps you were describing to monitors like Fitbit. You can look into things that monitor your sleep patterns and use technological ways to start the conversation. I said before, the doctor that’s treating me, I’ve never met in person. It’s all been on video and that would have been unthinkable before a little while ago and is practical for many. A couple of things that, certainly for me, have helped and are good things generally: Really take sleep seriously. Get enough of it and take the time to recharge when you’re burnt out. Vacations matter, take them. There are reasons why there are people insistent that people take them. And turn your social media and email off when you’re doing it. Exercise and healthy eating are important too. Just being able to clear your head and get out into nature or in a gym, however you do it, developing health habits are good ideas. All those things are just kind of common sense things that are important to do. The last thing I’ll say is this is really a human issue. We need to be able to recognize we are all human beings and there are stresses, many that aren’t related to work. Be aware and be a human being to your fellow workers and family members. It makes a big difference if someone says something and is paying attention. And if you’re the person going through a mental health challenge, you often don’t know you are. If it’s the first time you’re having a substantial episode, as it was in my case, I had no idea what was going on. It took my family and a couple close friends to really insist I get some help. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known what was going on. ■
