Mental health should be spoken about as freely as we talk about our physical health, said Rishad Premji. Pic: X/@RishadPremji
It's ok to not be ok: Wipro's Rishad Premji makes strong pitch for mental health
After Narayana Murthy's 70-week hour week drew flak, Wipro chairman Premji's post urging people to relentlessly break barriers to talk freely about mental health is picking up likes
Not all head honchos of corporate India pontificate on productivity and urge young people to work 70 hours a week.
After Narayana Murthy's suggestion in a podcast that India must improve its productivity and the youth need to shoulder that responsibility by working 70 hours a week, kicked up a huge row online, another IT czar has come forward to offer some well-meaning advice on X (formerly Twitter).
However, this suggestion is unlikely to ruffle any feathers as the post is picking up many likes.
Instead of lecturing people on work culture, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji on Monday (October 30) took to X to post about the "taboo" topic of mental health. In his post, he stressed on the importance of speaking up openly about mental health. It should be spoken about as freely as we talk about our physical health, he said.
The Wipro chairman, who in his X profile says he is "fascinated and a big believer in the softer aspects of business and leadership", said that it is ok to admit not feeling in the best mental space at times. It's ok to not be ok at times, he said in his post, which also featured a cartoon. This is his post:
"We should relentlessly break barriers so that we talk about mental health with the same comfort we talk about our physical health. It’s ok to not be ok at times."
Earlier, in October 2020 too, he posted about mental health and depression being like any other disease. :"It is incredibly important that we be there for our friends, family and colleagues especially in these difficult, isolating times," he said.
In another post on X, he also talks about how in leadership, emotional Intelligence is far more important than other traditional forms of intelligence.
Premj made news when he took a voluntary cut in his salary for the fiscal year 2023. In FY23, Premji received $951,353 (Rs 7.9 crore) in salary, compared with nearly $1.82 million the year before, around 50 per cent lesser than the previous year. This comes as the company posted earnings, which lagged estimates amid a global slowdown.
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