Media and advertising leaders are increasingly ready to welcome therapy as a means of dealing with the stresses of the job, according to a new study.
The 2016 ‘Shipping Forecast’ survey of over 600 C-suite leaders, by London and New York-based executive search firm The Lighthouse Company, said that a drive towards greater ‘mind mastery’ is one of the major trends in talent management today.
When professionally challenged, 51% of respondents said it provides them with ‘greater drive’, but 45% confessed to feeling ‘more anxious’, while 40% complained of ‘sleeplessness’ and 16% said it causes them to ‘drink heavier’.
Four-fifths of respondents said they would consider psycho-education and therapeutic programmes to aid professional development.
The report states: “Given 25% of our industry’s top talent have already had some form of therapy to develop themselves, with another quarter actively considering it, it seems we may be ready to welcome the concept of developing ourselves from the inside – building a greater connection to our instincts and internal processes.”
The Lighthouse Company said that the survey pointed towards a “broadly buoyant” talent picture, with 68% of respondents feeling “fulfilled” in their current position, compared with 41% in 2015.
Personal factors such as a need to ‘broaden experience’ (up nine percentage points on 2015 to 53%) and a desire for a greater work/life balance (up six percentage points to 23%) are also becoming more important to media and advertising leaders.
“It’s really refreshing to see hyper-growth businesses, such as Snapchat and Spotify, offering greater levels of personal flexibility to attract top talent,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the majority of respondents (25%) said they would most like to lead a media owner, followed by 18% with the urge to get involved with a start-up – down from 30% in 2015 – and 17% desiring to lead an agency.
The report added: “Perhaps unsurprisingly, greater remuneration parity across the board and a desire for increased work/life balance has seen many shun the potential start up millions.”
