Mental Health Awareness Week

10th May, 2021

Magnus Group Ltd is a second-generation family business in warehousing, freight forwarding, road haulage and pallet distribution. Based in Suffolk, located in Ipswich and Felixstowe, the logistics company serves a global and local market.  Olly became CEO in 2019 and has made some dramatic changes to the company, as well as encouraging entrepreneurs and business owners to think differently about how they present themselves.

Making a Change

Olly Magnus isn’t your normal CEO of a family-run company. He may be second-generation but he didn’t inherit: he had to buy in after his Dad passed away.  He may have been in the logistics sector for over 25 years, but he knows he needs a strong team of experts around him.  He may be a CEO but he is honest and willing to talk about his mental health struggles, specifically imposter syndrome, letting the past go and learning to believe in himself.

His posts on LinkedIn quote Charlie Mackesy “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse” with messages of the importance of self-care. He shares motivational quotes every day, accompanied by a note of his journey and experiences.

This Man Is

One Friday morning in January 2021, at 6 am, after another sleepless night, with a head full of self-doubt and worry about the future, Olly wrote a post on LinkedIn. It went viral. Over 1.3 million views, 25k reactions and 1,800 comments.  The post talked about his challenges, his journey and his vulnerabilities.  Others followed his lead, posting their own stories in the same style using Olly’s hashtags of #thismanis, #backyourself and #believeinyourself.

Such behaviour on LinkedIn, certainly pre-pandemic, was rare. The response has been mixed: he has received many messages of support and people wanting to share their stories. He has also received messages telling him to “man up” and to stop sharing personal issues on a business social media platform. Overall, he has been supported and is told it is refreshing for a CEO to share doubts and worries, instead of smiling and pretending everything is shiny and good.

He promotes the need to be honest and share his struggles within the business community.  Olly has been invited to speak on several podcasts (links below) all with the common theme of being a successful CEO whilst not being scared of acknowledging self-doubt, the pressure and his Black Dog chipping away at his self-belief.

Mental Health Awareness Week

This week, 10 – 16 May 2021, the Mental Health Foundation is promoting a Mental Health Awareness week. This year their theme is nature. After a year when we relied on our allowed daily walks to leave the house and connect with our environment, the importance of nature to improve our mental health has never been so obvious to so many.  They are asking people to use the hashtags #ConnectWithNature and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek to encourage people to take a moment out and connect with nature.

In Olly’s podcasts you will hear him talking about how he has missed his mates, time on the golf course and being down the pub. Life is slowly returning to normal and those social connections are now possible once more but during the pandemic, Olly had to find different ways to relax and take time out.

#ConnectWithNature

There is no doubt that nature, and being outside, is what sometimes gets Olly through his days. Those who follow Magnus Group on social media will be familiar with the pond at the head office at Great Blakenham, just outside Ipswich. Olly is well known for his early mornings at the office and his visit to his “friends” in the pond!  LinkedIn followers even voted for the name of the new occupier of the pond this month!

Already an advocate of #ConnectWithNature to support emotional wellbeing and mental health, he has now taken steps to give his whole team a place to be able to get fresh air, take time out and be with nature. Olly has recently moved a bench from his late Dad’s house to be next to the Magnus pond, giving him, and his team, a place to sit and take a moment out.  An outdoor rest area with seating is also under construction to provide staff with an outdoor break area. There even now radio-controlled speed boats for a bit of competitive racing on the pond at break time! For some months, Emma, the Head of HR (and Olly’s sister) has been organising team walks at lunchtime to get people out and moving. There is no doubt that fresh air, nature and exercise are the best ways to rebalance life.

Follow Olly on LinkedIn to read how he is learning to manage his mental health and find out more about Magnus Group.

Magnus Group is based just outside Ipswich, Suffolk, ideally placed to serve the Port of Felixstowe with direct road links to the Midlands, the North and London. If you would like to know more about our warehousing, transport or global forwarding teams call us on +44 (0) 1473836600 or email commercial@magnusgroup.com

The links to the podcasts that Olly has recently done are below:

Martin Miller The Truth Coach https://weareovertheedge.com/welcome-to-over-the-edge-coaching-2/

Paul McGregor – The Power of Vulnerability as a CEO https://shows.acast.com/the-everymind-podcast/episodes/the-power-of-vulnerability-as-a-ceo-with-olly-magnus

Peter Rushmer https://ahalfdozenthings.podbean.com/e/ep-39-the-journey-so-far-with-olly-magnus/

Kevin Rogers https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717810455022198785/

 

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