Culture Is the CEO's Job: Ego, Trust and Loss

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Michael Alexander, CEO of JAANUU, a fashionable yet functional medical apparel company founded in 2013 by a female paediatrician.

Michael's core belief is simple: a CEO's number one job is to drive culture, and culture is what protects the mental health of everyone in the organisation. We talk about what that looks like day to day, from letting people "shoot the ball" and miss without fear, to keeping ego out of decisions, to picking up the phone instead of firing off another Slack.

It's also an honest conversation about the harder side of leadership. Michael shares the sudden loss of a young, much-loved colleague, and how crying in front of the whole company became a moment of connection rather than weakness. We look at grief at work, why people's responses differ, and how a workplace can hold that together.

🔑 Key Topics

• Why the CEO's first job is culture, and how culture shapes mental health
• Psychological safety, and creating a workplace where it's safe to "shoot the ball" and miss
• How ego gets organisations stuck, and why "be humble" is the leadership habit that matters
• Owning mistakes as a sign of strength, not weakness
• Keeping relationships close, treating small issues before they drift too far apart
• Communication, consistency and coaching, and why the phone still beats the endless Slack thread
• Values that are lived versus values written on a wall
• Grief in the workplace, and respecting that everyone responds differently
• AI as a job enhancer, not a job replacement

💡 Did You Know?

JAANUU surveyed 1,000 healthcare professionals for its "Scrub Effect" study, testing the idea that when people look good and feel good, they give better care at the bedside. Read the Scrub Effect study:

📝 Actionable Takeaways

• Make it safe to fail: people who fear mistakes stop taking the shots that move things forward
• Keep ego out of decisions, aim for the business to win, not for you to be right
• Treat "asking for help" as a strength your team is allowed to show
• Make micro-adjustments early, before a small tension becomes a hard-to-repair rift
• Pick up the phone or walk over, you notice how someone really is when you're face to face
• Check in again weeks and months after a loss, grief often surfaces on a delay
• Use AI to enhance people's thinking, not to replace it

🗣️ Join the Conversation

What does your workplace do when someone makes a mistake, punish it, or learn from it? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media.

Connect with Michael: LinkedIn | JAANUU

1. Michael's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelevanalexander/
2. JAANUU website: https://www.jaanuu.com
3. Scrub Effect study: https://www.jaanuu.com/blogs/stories/the-scrubs-effect-what-you-wear-shapes-how-you-care