Welcome back to another episode of HR Insights: The Podcast. Today Stuart Elliott is joined by Andy Brown, Leadership coach and Author of best-selling book ‘The Emotional Overdraft: 10 simple changes for balancing business success and wellbeing’ focused on the often overlooked mental and physical costs of leadership.

In this episode Stuart and Andy discuss how his love for problem-solving led him to help businesses, especially marketing agencies, optimise their structures for success. He shares his key insights on the concept of the "emotional overdraft” explained as the practice of sacrificing one’s mental and physical well-being to support business or personal success, often born from an inability to disconnect from work. He highlights the need to address the issue to avoid burnout, offering strategies like tracking behaviours, setting boundaries, and promoting awareness. Throughout the podcast, Andy emphasizes self-reflection, recognising emotional overdraft signs, and the value of coaching to foster curiosity about behaviour patterns. He concludes by advising empathy and kindness when helping someone experiencing emotional overdraft, encouraging them to seek change.

Andy Brown has over 30 years' experience as an award-winning adviser and coach for people-based businesses. He's also a podcast host and the author of Amazon #1 best seller, ‘The Emotional Overdraft: 10 simple changes for balancing business success and wellbeing' a book for entrepreneurs, leaders and founders that articulates the often overlooked mental and physical costs of leadership.

Take the Cosmo Quiz and get the book here. 

Key Timestamps:  

• 02:38 – Intro into Andy 
• 06:25 – The idea for the book
• 10:25 – Summary of the book 
• 12:50 – Causes of an emotional overdraft 
• 18:45 – Recognising you are in an emotional overdraft 
• 36:50 – Paying off an emotional overdraft 
• 44:40 – How to help someone in an emotional overdraft 

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