327. Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams with Graeme Cowan

What if the leadership skill your team needs most is not sharper strategy or faster execution, but a leader who genuinely cares and knows what to do when things get hard? I sit down with Graeme Cowan, a leading voice on workplace mental health, resilience, and leadership, and a founding director of R U OK Day. Graeme also shares his own lived experience of depression and the long road back, plus the purpose that came from turning struggle into service. We dig into why caring leadership is not soft and not in conflict with performance. It is how you create sustainable results without losing good people to burnout. We talk about “mood contagion” and why your energy sets the tone, then get practical with Graeme’s moodometer framework so you can notice early warning signs while you are still in the amber zone. If you lead a team, support leaders, or work in HR, you will hear clear ways to protect your own wellbeing while still showing up for others. From there, we move into crew care: belonging, psychological safety, and growing together. Graeme shares simple rituals that build trust fast, including a powerful approach used in elite teams. We also cover red zone care and Graeme’s I CARE framework so you can support someone in distress with empathy, without trying to be their therapist, and know when to guide them toward EAP, a GP, or helplines like Lifeline and Beyond Blue. If you want practical tools for burnout prevention, employee wellbeing, and building resilient teams, hit play. Then share this with a leader who needs it, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave a review so more people find these conversations. What is one small act of care you will practice this week?🌐 Connect with Graeme:• Website: https://graemecowan.com.au/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graemecowan1/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graemecowan/📚 You can purchase Graeme's book on Amazon:• Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394389337/Send us Fan MailThe Thrive Careers Podcast My career wasn’t a straight line—it was a series of pivots, survival jobs, and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Support the show✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week!📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XVIf you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too.If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade:👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBzGet extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral LinkWise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434Strea...