Daily Leadership Tip #31

"We are all broken. That's how the light gets in." Ernest Hemingway

Despite his brilliance as a writer, winning a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, Ernest Hemingway knew what it meant to be broken. His inner battle with depression manifested externally as a brawler, big game hunter and alcoholic. Ultimately he took his life at just 61, as his father had many years earlier.

Every day in Australia 6 men and 2 women take their lives. Suicide is the leading cause of death for people between 15 and 44. This is a national crisis.

Leaders everywhere can help. According to BeyondBlue CEO Georgie Harman leaders can make a huge difference by being more open about their own lives. Everyone is touched in some way by mental illness: a friend, a family member, themselves. Leaders talking about their own experience gives others permission to do so, and may just turn something dark into light.

It's time for leaders to get their brave on! It could save a life.