Episode 135: Mental Health, Impostor Syndrome and Making Partner, with Chris Southwell

Welcome to the latest episode of Climb In Consulting! This time around, we were delighted to welcome Chris Southwell, Partner at The Berkeley Partnership, the consultancy that helps organisations transform under the most complex, challenging, and high-stakes circumstances to achieve their ambitions. This thought-provoking episode of Climb in Consulting focuses primarily on a topic that’s incredibly close to Chris’s heart – mental health and wellbeing. In this one, Chris talks openly and honestly about his struggles with mental health, and how his difficult upbringing led to a hugely challenging period in his life, when he first became a father. It was this that led him to seek professional help and focus on getting himself mentally well. Chris worked hard to overcome his challenges and return to health, although as he points out himself, we are all a work in progress. After returning to work, Chris went on to make Partner (with a small detour along the way), and has since seen Berkeley go from strength-to-strength. As well as talking candidly about his own mental health struggles, Chris and Nick cover a host of fascinating topics in this episode, including: - Chris’s challenging start in life, and how he came to see his upbringing as a strength and motivating force - The three things Chris swears by to protect his mental and physical health - Why Chris recommends talking therapies for everyone - Why it’s vital to normalise and remove the taboo around mental health …and much more! If you’re currently wrestling with your own mental health challenges, or maybe you just want to keep your mental health as good as it can be, you’re going to find this episode invaluable. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-southwell/ Learn more about The Berkeley Partnership: https://www.berkeleypartnership.com/ Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show: Atomic Habits by James Clear https://www.helloself.com/ https://www.createengage.co.uk/podcasts/michael-mahony-the-berkeley-partnership/