Stress Response: The Business Impact of Mindfulness with Sean Tolram (2/2‪)‬ Nerd Journey: Career Advice for the Technology Professional

Sean Tolram, our guest this week in episode 266, became a people manager because he truly enjoys helping others. In this episode, Sean will describe the gaps he needed to fill after taking on the role of managing technical people, the mindset shifts he adopted, and the impact of mindfulness principles on his team’s performance which eventually led to becoming head of mindfulness. We will also discuss the human stress response, business cases for wellbeing programs, and practical tips for using mindfulness to lower stress levels.

Original Recording Date: 02-10-2024

Sean Tolram is Head of Mindfulness at HSBC. If you missed the first part of our discussion with Sean, check out Episode 265.

Topics – Transition to People Management, Mindset Shifts and Becoming Less Technical, Defining Mindfulness, Shifting to Full-Time Work on Mindfulness and Wellbeing, A Business Case for Wellbeing, Stress Reduction Tips

2:38 – Transition to People Management



* Nick suggests the act of clarifying and simplifying your message is part of working with higher level leaders.

* People management isn’t something Sean went looking for. He left IBM after no longer enjoying it there.

* Sean started working for British Home Stores as a developer focused on building an e-commerce site.



* “I wasn’t looking to be a manager or to manage a team. I was just looking to do my job. But then, as time went on, I found that I was really enjoying helping other people…. And it was from doing that that I then became known as somebody who is able to make other people better.” – Sean Tolram, on transitioning to people management

* Sean spent time with some of the younger people on the team who were struggling. As a result those people were able to perform better, and their managers noticed. The people Sean had helped had told their managers he helped them.

* For example, Sean taught one member of the team HTML after work in multiple short sessions. Putting him into a team became associated with people becoming better at certain things.

* “When I think back now I realize that that was the point where I stopped chasing the money and chasing the promotions and I just stopped thinking about it. Prior to that when I was at IBM it was all about how to do I get rich…. At that point when I stopped thinking about that and I just started enjoying my work and enjoying the people that I was with, I realized that I enjoyed helping other people. That then led me into management roles…. I didn’t really go after it, but it was through the behaviors that I was showing that I put myself in that position.” – Sean Tolram



* As the organization grew and restructured, people knew Sean was able to do the work of a people manager and put him in that role.





* Are helping others to build technical as well as not technical skills looked upon equally as relatable experience or evidence that we are capable of being people leaders?



* Sean would say yes and feels he was not good in his earlier career at managing up but good at working with his team. In fact managing up is still something he finds difficult to do well. Sean sought improvement in this area by forcing himself into areas of discomfort.

* Sean eventually became a bridge between his team and senior management and would relay messages from senior management to his team.

* “So it was all those little things that added up where it was kind of management type behaviors even though I wasn’t called a manager that then led to me being given that role.” – Sean Tolram





* How is the way you manage up different for a front-line people manager compared to an individual contributor?