– Over 80% of homeless people in the UK are men

– 95% of people in prison in the UK are men

– 60% of victims of violence in the UK are men or boys, and yet there’s no official government strategy to tackle violence against men and boys. The issue is simply swept up into the official government strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

– 3/4 of people who complete suicide each year in the UK are men

If we’re serious about addressing men’s mental health, we need to move beyond well-trodden assumptions that ‘Men don’t naturally talk’ or that ‘Men are the architects of their own problems.’ If we’re serious about addressing men’s mental health, we need to ask better questions so that truly, we can safeguard the mental wellbeing of our sons, brothers, dads, uncles, male friends, husbands and partners. We need to ask questions like:

How do we actively support men who are struggling?
What are the barriers/prejudices/stigmas within our society which might hold men back from opening up?
How do we help men to be the best version of themselves?

This keynote explores:

– Why men and boys are struggling, what the data says, and what it means for the next decade?

– The stigmas which hold men back from admitting they’re a victim in any scenario (finance, work, relationships).

– The importance of psychological safety in helping men to talk, and how to create psychological safety.

– Gender bias: what is it and why it’s bad news for both men and women.

– Modern buzzwords: allyship, intersectionality, beta bias, gamma bias. What do they mean? Why do they matter? And how do they affect men?

– How to tackle toxic masculinity, and is toxic masculinity really the most helpful phrase in engaging our men?

– Fatherhood: what are the biggest challenges facing dads today and how do we support fathers? (Including new dads, those who no longer live with their children, those caught in family court warfare, and possibly the victims of Parental Alienation).

– Testosterone: why it is misunderstood and how it impacts male physical and mental health.

– How do we redefine a masculinity which is fit for the 21st century?

Andrew Pain Keynote | How to Stop Burnout, so Work/Life Balance is a Reality, not a Utopia

Regarded by the World Health Organisation as a key driver of workplace absence, and a major challenge for professionals who are striving and copying in our complex 21st century world, there’s little doubt that burnout is a real and present danger, which poses grave consequences for people and organisations who ignore it.

But what is burnout?
What are the triggers?
Is burnout preventable, and if so, how do you stop it?

This keynote explores:

– The most common workplace triggers of burnout and how to deal with them.

– The ‘easy-win’ and ‘wider-scale’ strategies to tackle burnout.

– Why tackling burnout requires a wider focus than simply the work environment.

– How elite performers process and respond to setbacks, using T.E.S.T.

– How to manage long-term worries using The Worry Scale, so you remain proactive about tackling your worries, but without getting consumed by them.

– How to create rhythms and routines which energise in the toughest of times.

– Why boundaries are at the heart of self-mastery, how to create them, and how to adhere to them.

– How to organise your day so you remain focussed on the important things when it’s all kicking off, and make the most of the quieter days when they occasionally arrive.

– GRIT: the forgotten ingredient for developing grit and how to become grittier by nature.

Andrew Pain Keynote | How to Build Thriving Communities

– Nearly one quarter of the world population feels lonely, with the highest levels of loneliness being reported by those between the age of 19-29. 

– 15% of men say they have no close friends at all.

– The number of Kudokushi deaths, where the deceased person is not found for months after their death, is rising (according to data from Japan and the UK).

It’s been a turbulent few years for most people around the globe and given that the next 10 years are not likely to be any less challenging than the last 10 years (in terms of geo-political issues, climate change, the pace of modern life and technological change etc) the question of building thriving communities, is urgent and important for all organisations.

Without active communities, issues such as absenteeism, presenteeism, burnout, low morale, working in silos, communication issues, misunderstanding and a high turnover of staff are likely to characterise our organisations. 

Social connection is in our human DNA and it’s arguably why homo-sapiens prevailed over neanderthal people when times were tough (the brains of neanderthal people were no smaller than ours, but they were more unsociable than humans and did not form communities as easily) 

Given the importance of community, two hugely important questions need to be answered: 

– How do you create communities where people belong and can reach out for support? 

– How do you break down cliques and reduce levels of loneliness within your organisations? 

This keynote explores:

– Why community safeguards human wellbeing, fosters peak performance and supports ongoing innovation.

– Why community spirit is under pressure and what this means for our organisations?

– Cliques: What are they? How do they form? Why are they so difficult to spot? 

– How do you start meaningful conversations with someone you might be worried about and/or those people who don’t appear to be approachable? 

– Why is loneliness a vicious cycle and how do you get restarted if you’ve become isolated?

– How do you improve your own community building skills … from the small every-day habits, to the longer-term shifts in your thinking?

– What community building lessons can we learn from the very best community developers?

– Psychological safety and Allyship: what are they? And why are they so important for building thriving communities? 

Andrew Pain Keynote | Imposter Syndrome: Why it’s Toxic and How to Beat it

Imposter Syndrome: it’s where you doubt your ability, you feel like a fraud about to be exposed, and you believe your accomplishments are not worthy of attention or respect.

According to global research, 70% of us have experienced Imposter Syndrome and according to my own research of over 3,000 working UK professionals, 85% of people have experienced it (and within NHS settings, it’s 100%).