Prince Harry gave an exclusive interview to Fast Company to support his role as Chief Impact Officer for BetterUp. In the year since Harry has joined BetterUp, the company’s valuation has risen to $4.7 billion. It’s a rapidly-growing coaching and mental health app and Harry is now a big part of it. Harry did this interview to highlight Pledge 1%, meaning companies need to begin pledging 1% of their time and resources to charity, the community and mental health. Some highlights:
His focus since March: “When I first started with BetterUp, there were [some] key areas I was focused on: driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness, guiding BetterUp’s social mission and impact, influencing the vision of BetterUp’s platform, community, and member experience, [and] expanding BetterUp’s global community of thought leadership, coaches, customers, and members through outreach and strategic planning. The goals and mission of my work have not changed, but on the day-to-day, at BetterUp we’ve been able to be louder about the mission, reach more people, and generally share with more of the world why doing the work associated with mental fitness is so important, and how helping others reach their peak performance positively impacts the whole world.
On the Great Resignation & how technology needs to change with the times: “While on the surface it looks like these last couple of years brought all these issues to the foreground, the reality is these struggles and issues have been brewing for quite some time. We’re just at the beginning of the mental health awakening. This work has never been more important because people are finally paying attention, and a big component of this mission is building awareness and continuing to pioneer the conversation. I’ve actually discovered recently, courtesy of a chat with [BetterUp science board member] Adam Grant, that a lot of the job resignations you mention aren’t all bad. In fact, it is a sign that with self-awareness comes the need for change. Many people around the world have been stuck in jobs that didn’t bring them joy, and now they’re putting their mental health and happiness first. This is something to be celebrated.
On Pledge 1%: “Our commitment to Pledge 1% is just one of many initiatives we’re taking as an organization to generate positive social change. In the spirit of creating real and lasting impact, BetterUp will continue to focus on proactively building mental fitness into various communities in the areas of education and employability training, to name [two]. We know the impact of our mission on a global scale. We saw it, for example, in our partnership with the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust earlier this year, when young leaders across the Commonwealth gained tools for resilience and mental fitness that will be with them for life, and will help them to accelerate their impact on the world, by making their ideas a reality.
Future projects: “We’ll be working more with service members, veterans and their families. I can’t share the specifics just yet, but we’ll be working with a collection of government and nonprofit groups, offering resources to service personnel who are struggling [by] addressing them [issues] at the root cause. The work includes building support systems they need to build the mental fitness practices and psychological resources to face new challenges, build resilience, and unlock their own potential—both during active service and once they transition to civilian life.
The British media is attacking him for saying that in many cases, the Great Resignation is a good thing, that people are walking away from jobs they hate, jobs where they’re treated like sh-t, etc. And I agree – the pandemic completely shifted how people think about work and work culture. Many people who telecommuted for the first time don’t want to go back to an office, or they want more freedom to work from home some days and come into work some days. And while they forced Harry to give up his royal patronages, look at him, still doing work with veterans and commonwealth organizations. *giggle* You know someone is punching a wall right now.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Instagram.
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