Compassion and Mindfulness at Work with Scott Shute

S02 | E12 Compassion and Mindfulness at Work with Scott Shute

Compassion and mindfulness aren’t two words that are typically associated with the corporate world. But as we break into an era where employees are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, compassion and success go hand in hand.

Scott Shute joins me on the podcast today to discuss how compassion and mindfulness programs can fit into the corporate landscape, and why they’re so necessary for long term success. From changing the stigma around the language to operationalizing compassion in your organizations, Scott breaks it down in a way that’s easy to understand and implement. Not only will this change benefit your employees, but it will benefit your customers, your business, and your leadership journey.

As people leaders, it starts with us. Tune in.

Listen on your favourite podcast player

About Scott Shute:

Scott Shute is at the intersection of the workplace and ancient wisdom traditions. He blends his experience as a Silicon Valley executive with his lifelong practice and passion as a wisdom seeker and teacher. In his most recent role at LinkedIn, Scott was the Head of Mindfulness and Compassion programs. He has been a pioneer in creating workplace mindfulness programs and advancing the discussion around compassion in the work context. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book The Full Body Yes.

To learn more, you can find Scott on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

Mentioned In This Episode:

Transcription:

Lindsay Recknell  0:07

Welcome to Mental Health in Minutes, where we open the door to conversations about workplace mental health, and help leaders and HR professionals create safe and innovative organizations where our employees and our companies thrive. I’m your host, Lindsay Recknell, psychological health and safety advisor, a workplace mental health consultant, speaker, facilitator and an expert in help.

Lindsay Recknell  0:28

Each episode of the show has three objectives:to discuss the future of mental health in the workplace. To identify the best, most successful strategies for opening the door to mental health conversations at work, and to share the top ways we can engage our leadership in the workplace mental health conversation, and have them endorse and pay for a positive culture shift within our organizations.

Lindsay Recknell  0:49

If you’re listening to this podcast, you know that our people need us more than ever, but most of our organizations have a long way to go until supporting employee wellness is embedded in the culture of our workplaces. This episode is a resource you can use to start and continue workplace mental health conversations, and my guests will share their experiences and what’s worked for them. excited to get going. So let’s dig in.

Lindsay Recknell  1:11

Today’s guest is Scott Shute, former head of mindfulness and compassion at the big corporate organization called Linked In. Scott is at the intersection of the workplace and ancient wisdom traditions. He blends his experiences as a Silicon Valley executive with his lifelong practice and passion as a wisdom seeker and teacher. In his most recent role at LinkedIn. Scott was the head of mindfulness and compassion programming. He has been a pioneer in creating workplace mindfulness programs, and advancing the discussion around compassion in the work context. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book, the Full Body Yes.

Lindsay Recknell  1:48

Welcome to this show, Scott. Hello, Scott, welcome to the show. Very excited to have you here with us today.

Scott Shute  1:55

Oh, thanks very much. Glad to be here.

Lindsay Recknell  1:58

Let’s start off with you sharing a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Scott Shute  2:02

Sure. Well, until recently, like until the last 10 days, I was the head of mindfulness compassion programs at LinkedIn. And before that, I was an executive at LinkedIn for a long time, I was the VP of global customer operations. So the headline is, I have had two tracks, I blend, you know, my executive expertise, but also a lifelong practice, you know, kind of a spiritual practice to now my essentially, my job is to blend these two worlds together.

Lindsay Recknell  2:34

Love it, and you are doing that on your own, which we’ll talk about a little bit. Yeah, yeah. So LinkedIn is kind of a big deal, kind of a big company around here. And traditionally, I’m using air quotes that nobody else can see. But corporate, right. You know, it’s a corporate networking.

Scott Shute  2:53

Sure.

Lindsay Recknell  2:53

Company. How did you bring a seemingly, again with the air quotes fluffy topic of mindfulness and compassion to LinkedIn?

Scott Shute  3:03

Sure. Well, so about seven years ago, I had been in my ops role for a couple of years, I just looked around and noticed that LinkedIn was such an open place, like the CEO was talking about his own mindfulness, practice his own meditation practice using headspace, and are CEOs out in the world talking about compassion.

Scott Shute  3:21

And I thought, maybe just maybe this is a place where I can bring my full self, right, because I had never talked about my practice in a work environment before. And so I talked to my friend who runs wellness globally. And we were talking about meditation, if we ever did anything, and he’s like, What, and he sees this look on my face. He’s like, wait a minute, do you do something? And like, yeah, I could do something. And he got excited, because I got excited. And because here’s this VP who’s going to lead a wellness program, right? Awesome.

Scott Shute  3:49

And both got excited. I went back to my desk, and I did nothing about it for three or four months, because I was terrified. Like, I grew up on a farm in Kansas. And when my brother and sister and I found this practice, my parents wanted to have us deprogram, they thought that we joined a cult, right?

Scott Shute  4:06

So it’s a part of my life that I’ve hidden for a lot of life, especially at work. But I finally kind of got over myself, because there was all this fear, like, what are people gonna think of me? What is this going to do for my brand? Like, I’m a leader here, can I even do this? And I got over all that. And I finally led one session, you know, on a Thursday afternoon at 430 in the get this in the heavenly conference room, which I thought was quite auspicious.

Lindsay Recknell  4:32

Yeah.

Scott Shute  4:32

And that first time, there was one dude there. And I’m sure he was just as terrified as I was because he never came back. Or I never remembered seeing him. But the second week, there was three people and the third week there was five and it became a regular thing. And then people knew I did it.

Scott Shute  4:48

So I got invited to bigger things like the CFO would have an off site or a summit with three or 400 people and invite me to kick it off with a meditation and things like that. And I got comfortable in my own skin and it became identity, which is really what I wanted, because that was my identity outside of work, I became a whole person finally at work after all those years, and I raised my hand to be the executive sponsor of our mindfulness program, still, while I’m in my office job.

Scott Shute  5:14

And I did that for three or four years, you know, just with a bunch of other volunteers, we created what I think is the world’s leading or one of the world’s leading mindfulness programs in the workplace. But for me, the tipping point was three years ago, our CEO, Jeff Wiener gave the commencement address at Wharton and talked about compassion. He basically said, Look, if you’re going to be successful at work successful in life, you got to be compassionate. And he told his own story.

Scott Shute  5:39

And then the next day, he’s on TV, and Good Morning, America, and this is all the reporters want to talk about. And I was thinking, Okay, it’s time like, it’s time for me, because I’ve been in my ops role for six years, I was ready for something new. But more than that, it’s time for LinkedIn, because essentially, our CEO just told our 16,000 employees that compassion was the most important thing that they could do.

Scott Shute  5:59

But we weren’t really talking about it in terms of what does it really mean. And so I made a pitch to Jeff and to our head of HR and essentially created this role, head of mindfulness compassion programs.

Lindsay Recknell  6:10

Like he just gives me shivers to hear you speak about it, because anybody who’s listening to either of my podcasts for any length of time knows that I talk about compassion a lot. And how can we, to your point, live our whole lives, the way we live, outside of work inside of work, because if we can be open minded and curious and have compassion for our lived experience, think about how much better our work will be just how bad our work will be. I mean,

Scott Shute  6:42

For sure, it’s interesting, I think that we’re on this evolutionary path, both as individuals, but then as organizations, because organizations is the collection of the individuals. So just like as individuals, we know that there are some things in our life that are difficult to do, but over the long term, they’re better for us. Right?

Scott Shute  7:02

Like when we get more hydration, or we get sleep, or we have some sort of contemplative practice, you know, if we just know or if we eat broccoli instead of chips, right? We know really like chips. I know. This is why it’s so hard is because the short term things are often easier, and they’re often tempting, right? It’s so you, we’re all familiar with those things.

Scott Shute  7:28

And so we teach about mindfulness at work, but still, not everybody does it, right, we try to mainstream it, we try to make it just as commonplace as physical exercise, is this mental exercise.

Scott Shute  7:39

And, and in the same way, that it’s hard for humans, to have these long term habits like hydration or sleep or, you know, eating the right things, or having a meditation practice in the same way, it’s hard for us to be compassionate, it’s so much easier just to act like we want to act or to respond. React is really react like we want to react. And so it’s this evolution that we’re on, because the science is way beyond what we need it to be to prove to ourselves, that meditation is great for us in almost every aspect of our lives.

Scott Shute  8:15

In the same way. Acting compassionately is great for us, even as a business not just as an individual. But as a business. There’s lots of science that shows you can actually be more successful as a business if you operate this way. But still, it’s a journey. So I’m happy to talk about where we’re headed.

Lindsay Recknell  8:31

Well, and I absolutely want to talk about where we’re headed, because as you’re speaking, I’m listening to the skeptics in the audience going, Really, how can this possibly be good for my business? How can this be good for my bottom line?

Scott Shute  8:45

Sure.

Lindsay Recknell  8:45

But you’ve proved out the model. So tell us more about that?

Scott Shute  8:48

Sure. Well, let’s, let’s come at it from a couple different directions. And first, let me define compassion. And we’ll talk about operationalizing, then we’ll actually go back and talk about why because it’ll make so much more sense.

Lindsay Recknell  9:00

Awesome.

Scott Shute  9:01

So first, the definition, I define compassion this way. First, it’s about capacity. Because every day our capacity ebbs and flows, right. There’s some days where we are full, and we can give and there’s some days like, No, we’re just trying to survive. So capacity is three ways. First, it’s having an awareness of others. It’s having a mindset of wishing the best for them.

Scott Shute  9:21

And then the courage to take action, right? That’s easier to see on a human level, right? If something bad is happening to another person, I do something good for them. Okay, we see that, but at the company level, it still works this way. So think about your customers. Do we really have an awareness of them? Do we know what they want? And who they are? And what will make them more successful? Do we really want what’s best for them?

Scott Shute  9:46

Because remember, short term versus long term, and then there’s the courage to take action. Sometimes we have to do what’s right for them in the short term, because we know it’ll be good for us in the long term, just like our habits of chips and broccoli.

Scott Shute  9:59

So Here’s an example. at LinkedIn, the head of sales will stand in front of 6000. Salespeople at kickoff and say, Look, our job as salespeople is to provide long term value. So don’t sell something our customers don’t need at the end of the quarter just so you can hit your quota. Right? That’s compassion, or it happens in product review.

Scott Shute  10:21

Every week at LinkedIn, there’s 568 product reviews, it’s kind of like a no shark tank without the attitude. In other words, a product manager is coming to the product executive team with their latest idea, hey, here’s the changes that we’re going to make in this product. And then here’s the results. You know, so it’s gonna result in 14%, more engagement, or 14% more clicks? And the first question, if the product manager doesn’t already answer it themselves is okay, I get to 14% more clicks.

Scott Shute  10:50

But what’s the member experience like? And if the answer is, well, it’s not great. But did I mention it was 14%, you know, the meeting stops, like, that’s it, we’re done. And it becomes a discussion about our number one value, which is members first. And I guarantee you after 30 minutes of that, that product manager never comes back with a complete solution that has thought about the balance of needs, right?

Scott Shute  11:17

It’s a balance of needs of all the stakeholders, meaning the needs of the customer, and the needs of the business, the shareholders, but also the needs of the employees. So these are just a couple ways that we can operationalize compassion for our customers.

Scott Shute  11:34

Now to the math behind it says the folks who wrote Firms of Endearment, and maybe 12 years ago or so, and also went on to write cat conscious capitalism. They did research that shows that companies who on purpose take care of all of their stakeholders, meaning their customers, their employees, and the shareholders are 14 100% 14 times more profitable than the s&p average. So crazy, this is not some do gooder thing that you have to like.

Scott Shute  12:10

Like, for me eating raw tofu. Like you have to plug your nose because it’s good for you. Like, this is how you build a successful business. Like this is how you build a successful business to be crass, that makes more money. The trouble is, it’s harder to do. Just like having a healthy eating habit or healthy workout habit is harder to do. But it’s not rocket science. It just takes some intentionality.

Lindsay Recknell  12:35

Yeah. And that idea of the of that longer term value to all of your stakeholders and your employees and all the people, right, not taking the easy way. But actually having that longer term view.

Scott Shute  12:49

Yes,

Lindsay Recknell  12:50

yeah. Brilliant,

Scott Shute  12:50

It takes real, really, truly courage. Like, most leaders are not up for it. Right? It takes real courage to act this way. Because if you’re the CEO or the CFO, you have to be able to stand up to shareholders and say, Look, we are really, really proud of the actions we took this quarter. It may not reflect right now in our results. But over the long term, I am confident we are confident that this is going to be great for you, it’s going to be great for the company.

Lindsay Recknell  13:18

So for functional leaders, maybe department heads who are hearing you speak they know this, they believe in the power of the science, but the ones above them don’t quite aren’t quite there yet.

Scott Shute  13:32

Yeah,

Lindsay Recknell  13:33

Do you have any ideas on like, door openers to that conversations that they could use? The tactics here,

Scott Shute  13:42

It’s kind of a given analogy first, and then some door openers. It’s kind of like, you know, I lead workshops on things like mindfulness or building resilience. And there’s always somebody who comes up at the end, and they’re like, oh, this was amazing. But my husband or my wife really needs to do this. Like they, they really need this, like, how do I get them to meditate? I’m like, at some level you don’t. Like they will be ready when they are ready.

Scott Shute  14:08

Now in the same way, it’s not exactly the same. But think of it as a habit. It starts with you telling about how it works for you. Right? Here’s how this management practice works for me, or, or how this has worked for others, you can share the research that I just shared. And we can, you know, we can point to some of that Firms of Endearment and conscious capitalism are are a couple of great books that share. And then it’s just being it’s being strong, right? Like I said, sometimes it’s harder.

Scott Shute  14:39

So you have to be the one that stands up and says, Hey, I think over the long term, this will be better for our customers. If we got that done, or long term. This would be better for our employees if we got that data. And for what it’s worth, I think coming up with a phrase that fits your values for both employees and customers that everything can get into is really powerful.

Scott Shute  15:01

So as an example, for employees, I like the phrase, we’re gonna treat employees beautifully. And then every single policy or every action or every management practice we take, does it match that phrase? And if it doesn’t, that’s an opportunity for us to look in the mirror and go really like why is there another way, or something like members first, or customers first, or whatever that is for your firm for your company. And then everything we do can tie back to it. It’s like, what is this really members first, like, it doesn’t feel like we’re doing the right thing.

Scott Shute  15:36

But like I said, it takes real courage to stand up to the people that are above you. But long term, you will be a happier employee. Right? If this is important to you, you will be happier employee if you can be your full self and fight for this world.

Lindsay Recknell  15:54

And work in a place that also supports those values. And if they don’t, then you get to choose to find a place that’s going to fulfill you as well.

Scott Shute  16:02

Exactly, exactly. Because we all have choice. Whether we believe it or not, it’s a choice. Right? There are very few people who don’t have choice. But when it comes right down to it, whether it’s a relationship or a job, or a staff meeting, we all have a choice. Yes, there are consequences to every choice, but it is a choice.

Lindsay Recknell  16:22

And they’re not. There’s not always a hard choice and an easy choice. Lots of times, they’re both hard choices, but we still have the right choice to make. It seems like an impossible choice. But we do have one. And so you’ve conquered mindfulness and compassion at LinkedIn.

Scott Shute  16:39

I would never use that word. Okay, maybe

Lindsay Recknell  16:41

a little bit verbose about that. You have started to change the world and mindfulness, compassionate LinkedIn. There you go. And I know that you’re making waves and influencing elsewhere out there. Tell me more about the transition that you have just made into your new world.

Scott Shute  17:00

Well, my COVID project was to write a book, my first book called The full body, yes, came out in May of 20. But here we are 2021. This is the COVID time when you have to ask yourself, what year are we in? Because it’s all a blur. And so I’m spending time, you know, kind of getting the word out about the book. But then because the book is really about, if you divide mindfulness and compassion, it’s really about the mindful side. It’s about the development of self. And so I think that’s part of it.

Scott Shute  17:29

But where I want to spend kind of the next 10 years of my career is really around helping companies operationalize compassion. And maybe that’s the second book, who knows? But it’s really about how do you codify these behaviors, right. And so I’ve taken as an example, I’ve taken the behaviors of a compassionate leader and broken it into 12 pieces, that anybody can see. And, and you might play this out, like, wow, it could be a, it could be a 12 questions in a leadership 360. Or it could be a 12 steps in a in a workshop or etc, etc.

Scott Shute  18:02

So this is the work I want to do is to help individuals and companies be more self aware as individuals and companies, but also then be more compassionate, because this is how we serve the world. And this is really how we want to change the world from the inside out.

Lindsay Recknell  18:17

Yeah, we absolutely do. Compassion has the power to change the world. And I love that perspective of operationalizing compassion. And part of the work that I do is in positive psychology and the science of hope. And I put the word hope in the language of hope, with in the same kind of bucket as the language of compassion. And I believe that hope has a PR problem. And I am on a mission to solve hopes PR problem.

Lindsay Recknell  18:46

But put another way, I can operationalize the power of hope and hope in our, you know, in, in my work in personal empowerment, but also in organizations, and it feels similar to the work you’re doing in compassion. And I love how that perspective operationalizing compassion, like I could operationalize hope. And making because mainstream Yes, sorry. That’s right.

Scott Shute  19:12

When we take these big concepts, people get lost in the big concept, right? It’s like, everybody’s gonna make the world a better place. And we all kind of, even in relate, roll our eyes, it’s like, Okay, fine. But when you break it down into behaviors, then it’s not so weird.

Scott Shute  19:28

So as an example, one of the behaviors in compassion is being a good listener, right? Because the first step is being aware of the other person, we can’t be aware if you’re not a good listener. And that works as an individual, but it also works as a company. So as an example, in my job as VP of global customer operations, part of what I did, my team did was build a listening system for customers. And it was helpful that you know, we had 10,000 customer support cases every day. And so that’s a pretty powerful signal, but At what our customers are thinking and feeling. And you combine that with some listening systems from marketing and some listening systems from other places, and you can develop a really clear sense of who our customers are and what they think and what they need.

Scott Shute  20:13

Just like every other business can do in its own unique way. So breaking these concepts down, like from hope and compassion into really detailed like, okay, just tell me, what do I need to do next? Alright, starts with listening. Oh, okay.

Lindsay Recknell  20:29

I can do that I’m comfortable with that language. That’s right. And I think it does come down to the language that we use and the stigma around these kinds of words. What thoughts do you have around the stigma of this language?

Scott Shute  20:43

Oh, absolutely. Let’s talk about mindfulness for a second. Yeah. So I equate mindfulness in a super high level way to mental exercise, and mental exercise as a correlation to physical exercise. Now, physical exercise is on a journey.

Scott Shute  21:00

So 50 years ago, and I didn’t know this until recently, but 50 years ago, we didn’t exercise our grandparents, our great grandparents, they did not exercise, they didn’t join a gym, they didn’t use peloton, they weren’t lifting weights. They worked hard. It’s only in the last 50 years that Nike started or that with the science is so overwhelmingly positive that now companies have gyms at work. Because we know that if an employee is physically fit, that they’re going to be a better employee. And we have tons of research behind it.

Scott Shute  21:32

Now, mindfulness or meditation is on that same journey. And because there’s tons of research, six 6000, peer reviewed papers that show the benefits of meditation, but still, we’re not there. And part of the reason we’re not there is we can, like you said, we as a PR problem, part of it is because many people think, Oh, this is a religious thing. This is a spiritual thing. And truth be told, a lot of us came from the spiritual part.

Scott Shute  21:59

But what we do at work, what is relevant and appropriate for work is completely secular. Right? It’s about breathing, it’s about a practice of going inward, it’s about regulating your body, in your emotions. And once we can separate, once, we can say that this is not a spiritual thing, it doesn’t have to be a spiritual thing.

Scott Shute  22:18

And we can get in the science, then it will have an adaption just like physical exercise has had for the last 50 years. Hopefully, it won’t take as long as physical exercise took.

Lindsay Recknell  22:29

I like to say, you know, COVID has helped with these kinds of journeys, you know, nothing like a global pandemic to help us spread our message. Because I feel like people are more open to these kinds of conversations. And and, and it’s so personal to us now to all of us, that it becomes a way to open a door to a conversation because we’ve got this universal experience.

Scott Shute  22:53

Yes, that’s right. Yeah, the State of the Union of our mental well being is, you know, a little roughed up, let’s just say over the last 18 months, CDC will say that a third of us in America are suffering from symptoms of anxiety or depression. 83% are feeling some sort of emotional burnout, feeling emotionally drained. And for me, the most frightening is one in nine or 11% of Americans have seriously thought about suicide in the last 30 days.

Scott Shute  23:24

So for me, you know, you share those statistics with the head of HR or with each other, like, we all know it as people like, and the head of HR is a person to she knows it, or he knows it as well. It’s not a hard sell right now. Because we have all been pushed to our limits. And everybody’s re evaluating their life. And when I ask people what they’re most grateful for what’s most important to them, to a person, they say one of two things, they will say their connections, in other words, they’re their heart connections, their relationships, and two is their health.

Scott Shute  23:58

And mental health is a big part of that. And the mental health of the people they have relationships with is a big part of that. And that, for sure is bleeding into our workplace. Because it’s not like we’re just working from home. We are now living at work.

Lindsay Recknell  24:13

Yes, yes, we are.

Scott Shute  24:17

So the ground is ripe for let’s just say that the demand, the demand for my work has gone up dramatically. You know, more people are going within and saying, I don’t know how to handle this, like I will try anything. So yeah, sure. I will try this whole meditation thing. Or this whole I need a workshop on building resilience or whatever it is, more people are there.

Lindsay Recknell  24:40

And it feels super overwhelming. Like I think of this, this conference of HR leaders I had the opportunity to speak to in July, there was 500 HR leaders in this room and the biggest thing that came out of there was we’re exhausted. You know, we’re They are managing their people, they are managing their leaders, they are managing themselves and their family members. It is super overwhelming.

Lindsay Recknell  25:10

Do you have an idea of where they can start? picking up the phone and going Scott come in here and do a mindfulness workshop? Maybe?

Scott Shute  25:20

Sure.

Lindsay Recknell  25:20

Where do they start?

Scott Shute  25:22

Well, I think it starts in a couple places. One is it starts in how we talk about it. Right. So if the highest level leader or leaders, if that CHRO, and especially the CEO, and then every leader below them are talking about how valuable employees are and how much the company cares about each employee, it starts with like that. It’s like, Look, our employees are our most valuable resource.

Scott Shute  25:48

And so we want you to be at your best, which means, you know, there are some days when you just need to take the day off to take care of your mental health, you should do that. And be really clear about what that means. But then it has to tie it to the practices down at the ground level. Right? So if that employee can’t really take the day off, well, then that doesn’t work. And it becomes hollow. And it’s actually worse that you said it, right.

Scott Shute  26:11

So it starts at the top about our like, why are we doing this? Why are we in business? Well, part of the reason we’re in business is to take care of the needs of our employees. Because if we take care of the needs of employees, they’ll take care of the needs of customers and customers will take care of the needs of our shareholders.

Scott Shute  26:28

So then it goes down to Okay, yeah, we got all that. But then what does it mean on the ground? Okay, well, then every practice we put in place follows under this treat people beautifully. And if you really want to invest deeply in your most precious asset your employees, then ask yourself, How much am I investing dollars, like not just lip service, but dollars into their mental well being? And I think of it kind of in a spectrum from like green to red or vitamins to emergency room. Right?

Scott Shute  27:01

If all we’re doing is saying, Oh, here’s the EAP hotline, or the suicide prevention hotline, okay, that’s something but it’s too late. Or, you know, we can provide access to scalable resources like ginger or lira or talkspace. So people can get therapy at scale. That’s also good, but people are already in the red. So then it’s before that what preventative programs are we offering? And yes, it is workshops on building resilience, workshops, on leading compassionately workshops on, you know, growth mindset.

Scott Shute  27:36

It’s things like community programs, where people get together and have meditation sessions, or talk about things that are relevant to them. And there are vendors that offer all of these things. And the truth is mindfulness programs and the associated things that go with them don’t have to cost a lot.

Scott Shute  27:52

Because here’s the deal, just like I was a volunteer at four years at my shop before it became a full time gig. I guarantee you no matter where you are there, somebody who would be excited, ecstatic, to volunteer and help you bring mindfulness to your place as well. So these things, they’re not rocket science, but like eating broccoli instead of chips. It does take a little bit more effort,

Lindsay Recknell  28:16

because they are hard. But they are totally worth it. Because all of the broccoli in the world will absolutely make you feel better about yourself than the, you know, bloating.

Scott Shute  28:27

Exactly. I do admit chips tastes better in the short term, but Oh, heck yes.

Lindsay Recknell  28:31

Maybe you know, maybe broccoli and the chips together? Yeah, we’re gonna move into one right, move out the other. Scott, this has been such an amazing conversation, I have so loved all of the things you shared with us. Can you please tell the listeners how they can continue the conversation with you get in touch with you all of those things?

Scott Shute  28:54

Absolutely. So the book I wrote is called the Full Body Yes, it’s fun. I guarantee you. It’s fun. It’s story driven. It’s not one of those boring, you know, modeling business books, it’s a good time. And if you want to get the first two chapters download for free, you can go to my website, sign up for my newsletter, you get the first two chapters, Scottshute.com is where you can find it.

Scott Shute  29:15

And from there, you can engage me if you’re interested in having me as a speaker at your company, or I work with a limited number of executives to really bring this work to life for them personally, but also with their organizations. And then you know, myself and my friends, we do workshops and meditation sessions, and we can even consult you on how to bring up a mindfulness program at your shop. So that’s kind of stuff I do.

Lindsay Recknell  29:40

Well, and I will tell you that I am on your email list. I have your book and I will second everything he’s talking about. It is a good time. It’s a very good time. Just before we go, I know that there is an orange Rhino on your website. Would you like to quickly share the secret or do they have to join us newsletter to get there.

Scott Shute  30:01

If you join the newsletter, you get the story about the orange Rhino. So I’m gonna, I think I’m gonna leave it there. Yes, and it has so many different meanings like you’ll uncover at least one meaning if you read the story, but then there’s so many more if you just spend time with it.

Lindsay Recknell  30:15

Amazing, amazing. Well, we will absolutely link to the book to your website, all of those things in the show notes of this podcast. Scott, I so appreciate you spending your time with us. Thank you very, very much. I know you have so many better things to do. But it’s been a real pleasure speaking with you today,

Scott Shute  30:30

I have nothing better to do than to talk about compassion, and for and so thank you for having me. And for everybody out there. Please go out there and be an ambassador for compassion today, because the world needs you.

Lindsay Recknell  30:41

Amazing. Enjoy the rest of your evening, and we’ll catch up again soon.

Scott Shute  30:45

Thanks very much.

Lindsay Recknell  30:46

Take care.

Lindsay Recknell  30:49

Thank you for listening to another episode of Mental Health in Minutes. Scott’s interview was one I’d anticipated for such a long time, and I’m so pleased that it turned out exactly as I’d hoped. I loved how Scott talked about operationalizing compassion, helping to reduce the stigma associated with even just using the language of compassion and mindfulness at work.

Lindsay Recknell  31:07

He also shared how leaders can grow in their roles by leveraging the skills that these practices teach. I was also super encouraged by hearing Scott’s story of the slow but steady progress he made while implementing mindfulness at LinkedIn. If it seems like your workplace mental health programs are slow to gain traction, stick with it, it’ll come.

Lindsay Recknell  31:25

Scott and I both believe in the power of our leaders to create psychologically safe workplaces. And I know you do too, or you wouldn’t be listening to this. The thing we do best at mental health in minutes is open the door to conversations about mental health at work. And episodes like this give us real things we can try to truly make a difference.

Lindsay Recknell  31:42

I know you’re making a difference at your workplace, or you’d really like to be or you wouldn’t be listening to podcast episodes like these ones. I’d love to help accelerate your impact at work, help you really move the needle on mental health maturity in your workplace, and get people to a place where they’re feeling less stressed, more fulfilled, and able to integrate work and life in a way that works for them and your organization. Being a people leader is especially hard right now, you might feel like you’re managing both up and down the corporate ladder. And if the thought of figuring out how to best support your people and yourself feels overwhelming and impossibly hard, let’s talk.

Lindsay Recknell  32:17

Let me help you by doing the heavy lifting with resources and materials, along with the training and facilitation. And you can get back to doing what you do best, engaging with and supporting your people. I have many ways to support you from full service hands on to guidance and support from afar. So let’s chat about what works best for you and your people.

Lindsay Recknell  32:35

As always, I’m here if you need me

Transcribed by https://otter.ai


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