The voice of business in the Tees region | 81
Business leaders reveal stress-relieving tips
By Joanne Barrett
Sitting on a panel at the Tees Business Leaders event, organised by Tees Business, left to right Tees Valley mayor
Ben Houchen, PD Ports chief Frans Calje, SABIC’S Daren Smith, Nomi Ahmad of SembCorp and Sharon Lane,
MD of Tees Components shared their own coping mechanisms with more than 100 gathered delegates.
W
hen Russ Devereux took his own
life last year, the devastatingly
sad news sent shockwaves right
around the Teesside business community.
The 41-year-old boss of family-owned
Billingham firm Devereux Transport and
Distribution left behind a loving family
including wife Catherine and three young
daughters.
He was, said Catherine, the last person
anyone would have expected to end his
own life and it led her to launch a special
project in his name to talk about the issue.
It is undoubtedly a difficult topic to
broach, especially in the world of industry
and commerce, but that’s just what some
of Teesside’s leading business lights did
recently.
Sitting on a panel at the Tees Business
Leaders event, organised by Tees Business,
SABIC’S Daren Smith, Nomi Ahmad of
SembCorp, Tees Components MD Sharon
Lane, PD Ports chief Frans Calje and Tees
Valley mayor Ben Houchen shared their own
coping mechanisms with more than 100
gathered delegates.
Talking, being more open, sharing the
load with family, friends or colleagues and
even a good old dose of switching off in
front of reality TV were just some of the
things thrown in to the mix by the panel.
“People in our position are at risk,” said
Sharon. “You are that person who carries
everything at work and at home, and for
that kind of person it is difficult to say we
are not managing.
“We are all under similar pressures and I
think coping with it is just about awareness
of your own resilience and what defines it.
“You’ve got to understand yourself, we
can all only cope with so much.”
The subject can be a moot area,
said Nomi. For him the key lies in
communication, sharing and getting that
work-life balance right.
“There’s always pressures at work - that
comes with being on a senior leadership
team,” he said.
“It is about that work-life balance.
Recognise it is your career, it is your job, but
there’s a whole other thing too. Take more
time but we do need that division.”
For Daren, it is about having the courage
to stand up and ask for help if you need to.
He said: “High profile, high pressure,
constant demands, the requirement to
succeed, to improve - terms that get
bandied around to succeed in business.
“But nobody ever talks about head space.
None of the business courses or books
cover that. How to deal with it? When the
crash comes, how do you recover?
“It is about having the courage to stand
up and ask for help. Look around you, look
to your loved ones - they are there for you.”
Frans echoed the sentiment. “You have
to talk about it,” he said. “Don’t internalise
things. We need to be open.”
And for Ben? He’s a reality TV fan - this
summer he recorded every episode of Love
Island and hitting the play button on an
evening is his little bit of down time.
“I try and take it all on the chin, I
internalise everything. The position that I am
in, you’re the person that people look to and
that can be quite stressful,” said Ben.
“I love this job, it’s my life.
“My wife helps me balance - she doesn’t
care at all about politics so I’ll go home
and she’ll talk about something completely
different to what I’ve been doing with my
day. It is good to keep that perspective.
“The other thing we do is pre-record
Love Island - we sit in front of the telly
whatever time I get in on an evening and
just completely turn everything else off. You
kind of need that bypass, it just allows you
to switch off.”
The Russ Devereux Headlight project delivers emotional resilience programmes in
schools, the project also offers counselling and play therapy sessions. One of its long
term aims is to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the triggers that lead to
someone ending their life.
teessidecharity.org.uk/2019/02/guiding-light-memory-russ for more information.