18 views

Blog, IP related, Leadership, Mental Health, Mental health support, Wellbeing, Workplace

Relational Leadership in the IP Profession

When listening to lived experience leads to real change

Written by Gemma Fieldsend for World Mental Health Day 2026

The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change.”

Those words invite us to think carefully about what it means to feel genuinely heard, rather than simply encouraged to speak.

Across the intellectual property profession, colleagues have different experiences of workload, training, examinations, leadership, hybrid working and professional identity. Their experiences are also shaped by factors including career stage, disability, neurodivergence, identity, caring responsibilities and whether they feel included and valued at work.

But inviting people to share their experiences is only the beginning.

Many organisations have an open-door policy. Leaders reassure colleagues that they can ask for support, raise concerns or talk if they are struggling.

These invitations matter. But an open door does not automatically make walking through it feel safe. Nor does listening automatically mean that someone has felt heard.

For someone working in the IP profession, speaking honestly might mean admitting that they feel overwhelmed by their workload, are uncertain about an instruction, need something explaining again or are worried that they may have made a mistake.

In a profession where accuracy, expertise and responsiveness carry significant weight, those conversations can feel risky. A person may wonder:

Will this change how I am seen? Will people question my competence? Could it affect the opportunities I receive? And will anything actually change as a result of speaking?

These concerns are reflected in the 2022 IP Inclusive and Jonathan’s Voice survey. Among respondents to the main professional survey, 59.5% reported that high stress had adversely affected their work during the previous 12 months, while 56% reported anxiety.

This is where relational leadership matters.

Leadership is experienced in everyday moments

Leadership is often discussed in terms of strategy, decision-making and results. For the people being led, however, leadership is also experienced relationally.

It is felt in the tone of an email, the response to a question and the way a mistake is handled. It can be seen in whether change is communicated clearly, whether workloads can be discussed honestly and whether someone feels able to disagree with a more senior colleague.

These may appear to be small moments, but collectively they tell people something important about the culture around them.

They tell people whether it is safe to be honest.

In high-pressure professional environments, that safety is particularly important. A colleague who does not feel able to raise a concern early may remain silent until the problem becomes more difficult to resolve. Someone who believes they must always appear capable may continue taking on work long after their capacity has become stretched.

LawCare’s Life in the Law 2025 research found that 59.1% of respondents recorded poor mental wellbeing, while 43.4% said their mental health and wellbeing was very significantly influenced by work. Although this research covers the wider legal sector, it reinforces the importance of addressing workload, psychological safety and management practices rather than relying solely on individual resilience.

These findings illustrate how workload can become intertwined with professional expectations and beliefs about personal capability.

Workplace mental health cannot be addressed solely through support offered after someone has become unwell. Attention must also be paid to how work is designed, managed and experienced.

Psychological safety does not mean lowering professional standards, overlooking mistakes or avoiding difficult conversations. It means creating an environment in which questions, concerns and uncertainty can be voiced without humiliation or fear of unfair consequences.

In fact, making it safer to speak can support the very standards an organisation wants to protect.

Creating that safety is a shared responsibility. Individuals can take helpful steps to protect their wellbeing and seek support, but leaders and organisations must also create conditions in which people can work sustainably, raise concerns and recover from periods of high demand.

What does relational leadership look like?

Relational leadership is informed by many of the same principles that underpin trauma-aware practice, but it does not require leaders to become therapists. Nor is it about asking colleagues to disclose personal experiences or trying to work out what may have happened in someone’s life.

It begins with recognising that people arrive at work with different histories, experiences, strengths and sensitivities. We may never know what another person is carrying, and we do not need to know in order to lead with care.

A relational approach pays attention to the conditions that help people feel safer: consistency, clarity, trust, collaboration and meaningful choice.

This might mean explaining why a decision has been made rather than simply announcing it. It could involve giving someone time to process significant feedback, being clear about expectations or reducing unnecessary uncertainty when changes are taking place.

This is especially relevant as AI and other technological developments reshape professional roles. Change can generate opportunity and excitement, but it can also create uncertainty about competence, expectations, professional identity and future security.

People need realistic time to learn, clarity about how new tools will be used and opportunities to raise questions or challenge aspects of implementation without being perceived as resistant or incapable.

Relational leadership also requires us to recognise the influence of power.

A senior leader may experience a conversation as informal and approachable, while a trainee, paralegal, administrator or newly qualified professional may experience the same interaction very differently.

The 2025 CIPA Informals survey provides an important early-career perspective. Among those who responded, imposter feelings and fear of mistakes were commonly reported, with several mental-health and work-related concerns appearing to peak at around the fourth year of work.

The greater the difference in power, the harder it can be for the other person to say:

“I don’t understand.”

“I disagree.”

“I think something may have gone wrong.”

Or:

“I’m not coping.”

Power is not shaped by seniority alone. Career stage, health, disability or neurodivergence, identity, caring responsibilities, financial circumstances and previous experiences of inclusion or exclusion may all affect how safe someone feels to ask for help or challenge a decision.

People may also communicate and process information differently. A delayed response, a need for written clarification, reduced eye contact or difficulty answering an unexpected question should not automatically be interpreted as disengagement, avoidance or a lack of capability.

Relational leaders remain curious about what helps different people participate, communicate and work at their best.

They do not assume that silence means agreement, that a lack of questions means everything is understood or that continuing to produce work means someone is well.

Looking beyond behaviour

When people are under sustained pressure, this may show itself in different ways.

Some people withdraw. Others become irritable or unusually quiet. Some struggle to concentrate or make decisions. Others work harder, stay later and become increasingly perfectionistic.

It is important not to diagnose colleagues or assume that every change in behaviour is connected to trauma or mental ill health. However, we can notice changes and approach them with curiosity rather than judgement.

Instead of immediately asking:

“Why are they being difficult?”

We might pause and consider:

“What might be making things difficult for them at the moment?”

That small shift does not remove accountability, but it can change the way we begin a conversation.

A relational leader might say:

“I’ve noticed you don’t seem quite yourself recently. How are things for you?”

Or:

“You have a lot on at the moment. Can we look together at what feels manageable and what may need to change?”

That conversation might explore more than the volume of work. Is the person clear about their role and priorities? Do they have sufficient control, support and resources? Are working relationships contributing to the difficulty? Has change been communicated clearly?

These questions help move the conversation beyond:

“How can you cope better?”

Towards:

“What is contributing to this, and what can we influence?”

The leader does not need to have an immediate solution. Listening without rushing to fix, minimise or compare can be valuable in itself.

When someone walks through the open door

The real test of an open-door policy is not whether the invitation has been made. It is how someone is received when they respond to it.

If a colleague says they are struggling, are we curious or do we become uncomfortable?

Do we listen or move too quickly to reassurance?

Do we work collaboratively with them or immediately take control?

Even well-intentioned responses such as “Everyone is under pressure” or “But you’re doing so well” can unintentionally close down the conversation. They may leave someone feeling that their experience has been dismissed or that they need to become visibly more unwell before support is justified.

A more relational response might be:

“Thank you for telling me. What would be most helpful for us to think about together?”

The quality of this first response matters, but so does what happens afterwards.

A conversation can feel supportive in the moment but lose its meaning if agreed actions are forgotten or the person has to repeatedly explain what they need. Where action has been agreed, it helps to be clear about what will happen next, who will take responsibility and when the conversation will be revisited.

Not every request can be met exactly as someone hopes, and leaders sometimes need to hold boundaries or have challenging conversations. Relational leadership is not about saying yes to everything. It is about being honest and respectful, explaining decisions and remaining connected even when the answer is difficult.

It is also important to recognise that a manager’s door may not feel like the safest door for everyone. If the manager is involved in the difficulty, or there is a significant difference in power, the person may need an alternative route through which to seek support.

Healthy organisations provide several clearly communicated options. These might include another senior colleague, HR, occupational health, an employee assistance programme, a professional body or a confidential external service.

Listening is not the same as hearing

The 2026 theme asks us to go further than creating opportunities for people to talk. It asks whether lived experience is genuinely heard and whether what is heard is allowed to influence practice.

Listening may describe an interaction. Whether someone has felt genuinely heard is reflected in what happens next.

People are more likely to believe that their voices matter when leaders:

Listen with curiosity rather than becoming defensive or immediately explaining.
Acknowledge what has been shared and ask what would help.
Agree what will happen next and return to the conversation.
Look for patterns and communicate what has changed as a result.

Real change does not mean that every request can be met or that every individual experience must lead directly to a new policy. It means that people’s experiences are treated as valuable information rather than inconvenient interruptions.

Creating space without expecting disclosure

Valuing lived experience does not mean expecting colleagues to tell personal stories or disclose mental health difficulties in order to influence change.

No one should have to reveal painful or private experiences to prove that a workplace issue matters. People should have meaningful choice about whether, when and how they contribute.

Organisations can create different ways for people to share their experiences, including confidential conversations, anonymous feedback, staff networks, facilitated discussions and representative groups.

They should also consider whose voices may be less likely to be heard through conventional meetings, surveys or invitations to speak openly.

Inclusive listening therefore involves more than opening a conversation. It means considering accessibility, confidentiality, communication, power and what different people may need in order to participate safely.

Supporting does not mean fixing

Relational leadership does not require managers to be mental health professionals or to have all the answers.

Their role is to notice, ask, listen and help the person consider an appropriate next step. This might involve exploring a workplace adjustment, reviewing workload and priorities, encouraging the colleague to access professional support or signposting them towards relevant services.

Sometimes the most helpful response is not an immediate solution but a calm, compassionate conversation in which the person feels understood and is supported to identify what they need.

Managers also need to recognise the limits of their role. Supporting someone should not mean becoming their only source of help or carrying responsibility for their mental health alone. Clear boundaries, appropriate signposting and knowing where to seek advice are all part of confident and compassionate management.

Looking beyond the individual

Compassionate conversations matter, but they cannot compensate indefinitely for working conditions that are causing harm.

If several people describe excessive workloads, unclear priorities, insufficient resources or constant urgency, these experiences should not be treated only as separate individual difficulties. Together, they may be telling the organisation something important about how work is designed and managed.

A prioritisation tool may help someone organise their work, but it cannot make an objectively unmanageable workload manageable. Sometimes the most compassionate response is not helping someone tolerate an unsustainable situation. It is recognising what may need to change around them.

Leaders help to set the emotional weather

Relational leadership is not only about what a leader says. It is also about how they arrive in a conversation.

When pressure is high, people often look towards those with greater authority for cues about how safe or unsafe the situation might be.

A leader who responds to difficulty with visible frustration, urgency or blame can unintentionally heighten anxiety across a team. A leader who remains calm, clear and emotionally present can help others pause, think and respond more effectively.

This does not mean leaders must remain endlessly calm or conceal that they are human. It means developing enough awareness to notice when their own stress may be entering the room.

Before beginning a sensitive conversation, it may be helpful for a manager to pause and ask:

Am I settled enough to be fully present?
Am I approaching this person with curiosity or with a conclusion already formed?
Is there sufficient privacy and time for this conversation?
What might my tone, pace or body language be communicating?
Does this person need another way to contribute, such as time to reflect or an opportunity to respond in writing?

Sometimes the most relationally supportive thing a leader can do is slow the interaction down. A calmer conversation creates more room for reflection, honesty and collaborative thinking.

Small relational practices with significant impact

Relational leadership is built through repeated, everyday experiences. Leaders can create accessible opportunities for people to contribute, listen for patterns that may indicate wider issues with workload, leadership or culture, follow up what they hear and communicate honestly about what can and cannot change.

These practices move an organisation beyond inviting people to speak towards demonstrating that their voices have genuinely been heard.

From an open door to real change

The theme of World Mental Health Day 2026 reminds us that voice alone is not the destination.

Perhaps the question is not simply:

“Is my door open?”

A more useful set of questions may be:

“What happens when someone walks through it?”

“Do they feel genuinely heard?”

“Would they feel safe enough to return?”

“And what are we willing to change as a result?”

For organisations across the IP community, creating cultures where people can ask questions, challenge appropriately, share when they are experiencing difficulties and raise concerns early is not separate from professional excellence.

It helps protect accuracy, learning, ethical decision-making and the wellbeing of the people on whom that excellence depends.

Relational leadership asks us to stay curious about the person’s experience while also remaining curious about the conditions around them.

It asks us not only to welcome real voices, but to allow those voices to deepen understanding, influence decisions and shape healthier ways of working.

Sometimes the most meaningful expression of leadership is not having all the answers. It is creating the relational safety in which an honest conversation can begin and demonstrating, through what happens next, that the conversation mattered.

Confident Conversations

These are some of the skills explored in Jonathan’s Voice’s Confident Conversations workshop, developed specifically to help line managers in the IP profession listen and respond with greater confidence.

Through practical, preventative training, managers can become more confident in noticing changes, opening conversations, listening without judgement, responding appropriately and signposting people towards support.

If you would like to explore how the Confident Conversations workshop could support your organisation, Jonathan’s Voice would be delighted to have a conversation with you.

Visit jonathansvoice.org.uk or contact info@jonathansvoice.org.uk.

Further reading and evidence

Further reading