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How to be a CEO

Heathrow CFO: How my breakdown changed the way the airport works

Season 1, Ep. 59

In this frank interview, Heathrow’s Chief Financial Officer Javier Echave talks about the addiction to exercise and his mobile phone that contributed to a breakdown in 2016. Since then, he’s been pioneering efforts not just at the airport but across companies in the UK to improve workplace wellbeing policies. He’s on the Business in the Community group which represents around 600 companies and employs around 5.5 million people, and is working on raising issues like dealing with stress in offices. In this episode we talk about: 

 

  • The factors that led to “the darkest moments” of his mental health 
  • Why 51 percent of BiC members don’t feel comfortable talking about mental health 
  • 12 percent say they can be demoted or disciplined if they talk about mental health problems 
  • Why everyone in the C-suite of a company should prioritise mental health wellbeing 
  • The four things companies need to do when changing workplace culture 
  • Why there shouldn’t be a “conflict between money and health” 
  • What the “mood lift” scale is, and how Heathrow uses it to check-in with manager’s health 

 

Javier’s going to be appearing at the Watercooler event, which is taking place at the same time and the same location as our SME XPO – on the 25th and 26th of April at ExCel London. It’s going to feature more than 100 speakers on how to deliver a healthy workplace culture. For more info and free tickets go to watercoolevent.com 

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