Leading with Well-being: Spotlight on Mental Health Champions – Interview with Claus Rose

May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to breaking the stigma, sparking conversations, and spotlighting leaders reshaping how we think about well-being in the workplace. This article is the first in a new series exploring how leaders across industries prioritize mental health and create healthier, more human-centered cultures.

In this opening feature, Margaret Jaouadi sits down with Claus Rose, a seasoned leader in Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS), whose global career spans the military, Siemens, GE Renewable Energy, and GE Vernova. Claus shares how his unconventional journey, from combat zones to leading HSE operations, shaped his leadership style and unwavering belief in the power of people-first cultures.

Readers can expect a candid, no-nonsense look at what it really takes to lead with well-being: from building psychological safety and empowering teams through trust and autonomy, to challenging outdated KPIs and taking bold, measurable steps to reduce harm. Claus offers hard-earned insights into fostering a resilient, values-driven culture and why meaningful change can’t be rushed, budget-boxed, or left to chance.

Special thanks go to David Howells, CEO of Pacific International Executive Search, for introducing Claus Rose to Margaret Jaouadi.

Margaret Jaouadi
Can you start by sharing your professional journey and what drew you to the field of health and safety and employee well-being?

Claus Rose
So, how did I end up in the EHS space? That’s probably the best place to start.

It was a bit of a Sherlock Holmes moment, being in the right place at the right time. Let me explain.

I spent 20 years in the armed forces. I was stationed abroad, saw combat, and eventually reached a point where I knew I wanted to do something different with my life. So, I started my own business, focusing on risk management in building structures, essentially trying to design safety solutions beyond existing legislation.

During that time, I was involved in a project to support a rather unique building concept for a major Danish company. I did my part, and at some point, I bumped into a manager at Siemens Wind Power during the project. He looked at me and said, “You understand risk, right?” I said, “To a point, yes.” He said, “I need to build an EHS organization, and I have no idea how. Can you help?”

I didn’t come from an EHS background, so I hesitated, but a month and a half later, I called him and said, “Let’s talk.” Multiple conversations led to my joining Siemens Wind Power to build their EHS Service function from the ground up.

When I started, there were about 240 employees in the service organization. Two and a half years later, that number had grown to around 2,900. I had built a team of about 10 people, and we developed the EHS program from scratch. That was the beginning of my EHS journey.

With Siemens, I moved to work in Orlando, Hamburg, and Munich. Eventually, I became responsible for occupational health and safety across the Siemens corporation.
Later, GE Renewable Energy handpicked me to take on a more operational EHS role. That included responsibilities I’d never tackled before, like managing liabilities. Suddenly, I was deciding what to retain and let go of, which was challenging and exciting.

After that, I took on a leadership role with GE Vernova, which emerged when GE split into three businesses. I led the Separation Management Office for EHS and liabilities. It was an exciting role. Going in, I knew it was temporary and it would either lead to a permanent position or I’d move on.

People often ask if I’d do anything differently, and my answer is always no. One of the highlights of my career was helping a company prepare for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. We created thousands of new legal entities, ensured they were properly permitted, and reduced a potential $700 million in liabilities to about $135 million.

It was a massive effort. The only fixed date in the process was April 2nd, the day we were to announce the company’s independence. Everything else was flexible, but that date wasn’t. During the last months, we worked seven days a week to ensure everything was ready for U.S. regulatory approval.

It was tough, but it was amazing. Now, I’m working as an independent contractor, supporting businesses wherever possible.

What’s next for me? I am open to suggestions, but I enjoy the possibility of helping others become better within the quality and EHS space. You never know what the future could bring. Continuing with what I do, maybe another long-term interim role or something permanent. But I know one thing: I’m always up for a new challenge.

I’m not interested in businesses that want to maintain the status quo. That’s not me. Throughout my career, I’ve created a lot of unique solutions, sometimes even inventions. I love building teams that tackle challenges others think are impossible.

I don’t buy into “it can’t be done.” Everything is possible. That’s where humans still have an edge over AI—we make things happen. And let’s not forget, we’re the ones who created AI in the first place.

Margaret Jaouadi
How can you describe the impact of employee well-being on health and safety, and the connection between the two?

Claus Rose
I can, and I think it comes down to how I was raised.

As mentioned, I spent 20 years in the armed forces as a career officer. One moment that has always stayed with me came from a senior officer who once said, “There’s one crucial thing you must never forget, no matter what rank you hold. In a combat situation, rank means absolutely nothing.”

People don’t trust rank. They trust the person. If you don’t know what it’s like to be in a challenging situation, no one will seek guidance when things go wrong. So no matter what role I’ve had, I’ve always made a point of stepping forward, of leading from the front.

That same thinking applies directly to employee well-being. They will leave if you don’t understand what your people are experiencing and don’t know when things are going well and when they’re not. People don’t leave companies; they leave bad or poorly trained managers. And that’s something I’ve always taken seriously.

The challenge is this: how do you create a culture where people are trusted to make good decisions? Because that’s what it comes down to. People aren’t stupid. They know what the right thing is. What they need is freedom, the freedom to act. For instance, regarding health and safety, nobody comes to work planning to get hurt or sick.

But humans do make mistakes. In fact, on average, every person makes 6.5 mistakes per hour. You can’t remove that from the equation. So the real question is: what happens to that number when working in a bad or unhealthy environment?

It multiplies by a factor of 10.

That’s when things go downhill. You end up in a sick culture that gets even sicker. And people reach a point where they have to choose: either get out or stay and live with the consequences. And that’s the unfortunate reality, especially for the younger generations who are no longer willing to sacrifice their well-being for poor leadership and leave.

So, as a leader, you need to drive your team and give them that freedom. But freedom doesn’t mean chaos. It means clear boundaries. Define the limits, then trust your people to operate within those parameters.

That’s why I’m a big believer in Holacracy. It’s a management system with no managers. Sounds odd, I know, but it works. You set a fundamental agreement, define the boundaries, and let the team operate.

You don’t do one-on-ones. You don’t do standard team meetings, you have check-ins instead. These are structured moments where employees bring forward what they need help with, but only if they can answer three questions: What do I need? When do I need it? And who do I need it from?

If it can be solved during check-in, we will solve it. If not, we sort it right after. You’re training people to be self-reliant. There’s only one rule: if it violates the original agreement and undermines the team’s overarching goals, you bring it forward. If not, you own it.

Here’s an example. Everyone has a travel budget, let’s say €2,500. Each person chooses where to go and how to spend it. No approval needed. But they can ask teammates for their spare budget if they need more. You may receive the funds if the purpose aligns with our shared goals. If not, you stick with what you have; there is no need to ask the manager.

That’s why I always make myself available and expect the same from the team. It creates a modern culture where people feel empowered and valued. That’s what well-being looks like.

And this goes even deeper when we look at organisational change. According to studies from Gallup, Forbes, and McKinsey in 2019, 2020, 2023, and 2024, around 70 percent of companies fail when they try to improve culture or put well-being at the top of the agenda. That’s scary. And it hasn’t changed in years.

The real problem is that many leaders have never actually gone through transformational change themselves. They’ve never asked, “Do I know what it’s like to change?”

Because real change is hard, it’s the same every year: people make resolutions in January, which are already fading by February. That’s human nature. We’re flawed. We like shortcuts. At work, that plays out the same way, even with safety. People don’t come to work wanting to get hurt. But they’ll choose a quicker way to do the job, even if it’s not in the instructions.

Now, if you want to drive cultural change, it takes time. On average, it takes 66 days to form a new habit. And it’s hard. You fail if you don’t have the right tools and mindset. That’s why organisations fall short. They think communication is enough. But it’s not.

As a leader, you have to lead the change. People follow people they trust. If they don’t trust you, they won’t follow. They’ll go the extra mile and achieve amazing things if they do.

Take what we did in 2020. I had this wild idea to build an AI and machine learning tool for EHS. I wanted it to be unsupervised and free from human bias. Everyone told me it couldn’t be done. But I’m stubborn. I found people who thought differently and started building the team. We spoke with companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM. None of them could do it. But a year later, we built the world’s first version. Now there’s a 2.0.

We won two awards for it because no one else had done it before. That shows what people can achieve when they’re given space and trust. When they feel safe and empowered, they do incredible things. They’re loyal. They stay. But if you’re not consistent, it all disappears quickly.

That’s what leadership is. You’re just a humble servant, and some leaders forget that. I always tell my EHS team: your job is to get out of the job.

Because financially, you’re just an overhead cost allocation. You don’t add any value to the business’s bottom line. So the best sign you’re making a difference is when no one talks about cutting your team in cost reviews. If that happens, it means you’re delivering value. If not, you’re just a cost. And that’s precisely where you don’t want to be.

Margaret Jaouadi
What does lead with well-being mean in practice, and how does this philosophy shape the workplace culture?

Claus Rose
You have to lead by example. But before you can do that, you must understand something many senior leaders don’t discuss.

There’s a fear, especially at the top, of showing vulnerability. A fear of admitting, “I don’t know.” Very few leaders will raise their hand and say, “I have no idea how to do this.” But that’s the first step.

To create real change, you must prepare your leadership team for it. Not just mentally, but practically. You have to train for it. You need to experience what change feels like, because if you don’t, how will you ever drive it within your part of the organisation?

The truth is, you won’t. You can’t lead what you don’t understand.

That’s why humility, openness, and vulnerability are not weaknesses. They are leadership qualities. And they’re critical if you want to build a well-being culture that goes beyond paper policies and puts people first.

When leading an employee-based organisation, your biggest asset isn’t the machines. It’s not the product. It’s the people who create the product and generate the revenue. If you don’t truly understand that, you’ll never be successful.

Leaders talk about change, well-being, and culture, but don’t show it. And if you don’t show it, it doesn’t stick. This is the reason most organisations fail.

Leaders often forget to recognise when people do something good. They overlook the moments when someone finds a better way to work or does the right thing without being asked, and don’t highlight such contributions. And that’s a missed opportunity, every single time.

Leadership isn’t about being the most intelligent person in the room. It’s about surrounding yourself with people smarter than you, and having the courage to let them lead in their own right.

That’s what builds trust. That’s what drives progress. And that’s what creates a culture where people want to be.

Margaret Jaouadi
What are some of the biggest challenges you faced in fostering a mentally healthy workplace, and what strategies have helped you to navigate them?

Claus Rose
The biggest problem in driving a lasting culture transformation, especially around well-being or mental well-being, is that most people don’t understand one basic thing: it takes time.

You can’t put this kind of change into a box and slap a deadline. You can’t say, “By Q3, we’ll have changed.” That’s not how human behaviour works.

We’ve already discussed that, on average, it takes 66 days for a person to make a meaningful change. And that’s for one behaviour. If we’re talking about deeply embedded habits and mindsets across an organisation, that takes even longer.

Your strategy has to reflect that, and it needs to be flexible. And that also means your budget can’t be fixed. If you cap it from the beginning, you fall into the trap of trying to force outcomes within a constraint based on guesswork. And if there’s one truth in cultural transformation, it’s this: you don’t know what you don’t know.

So if well-being truly matters to your business, you must stop treating it like a line item. You must build a strategy where the funding is never the limiting factor.

Because if you’re only doing this from a financial perspective, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Let me give you an example.

We triggered a cultural transformation by building our AI and machine learning tool. We had no idea what the journey would look like. But I told the team one thing: I believe the return will be at least tenfold if we invest what’s needed. I couldn’t guarantee that. I was taking a risk. But you’ll never move forward if you’re unwilling to take risks.

The first two attempts failed. The third one worked. And when it did, it wasn’t just the technology that succeeded; people did.

We saw the impact across the board by focusing on preparing the team, making sure they felt empowered, happy, and motivated. We reduced severe injuries and fatalities by almost 90 percent in just one year. We went from 24 cases down to four. Recordable incidents dropped by more than 21 percent. That meant around 100 fewer people were injured.

And we saw another shift for those injured: less severe injuries. We cut down the average recovery time by seven days per case. Financially, that translated to $12 million in annual savings from a $2.9 million investment.

So was it tenfold? No. It was fivefold. But did it work? Without question.

That’s why trying to treat well-being or health and safety as a fixed-cost initiative will never deliver the result you’re looking for. Because at the end of the day, you’re dealing with human beings. And humans are not uniform.

What works in the UK won’t necessarily work in Germany. Cultural differences matter. And it’s okay for teams to find their way if they stick with the overall objective. That’s the key. Trust the teams to adapt, and don’t micromanage how they get there.

But that’s where many organisations struggle. They don’t want to let go. They build strategies with rigid blueprints instead of guiding principles. But you’ll succeed if you can stay clear on the critical outcomes and flexible on the path.

Margaret Jaouadi
How can companies assess the effectiveness of their mental health and well-being initiatives? What key outcomes or indicators should they track?

Claus Rose
You can track several indicators, but knowing what to pay attention to is key.

Plenty of research shows that you also drive profitability when you effectively manage environment, health, safety, and quality. That’s a strong starting point. If your organisation isn’t generating revenue, something is wrong. It may not just be EHS or well-being, but those factors are often part of the equation. It’s a good early signal.

Retention is another one. If people are leaving your business, you need to ask: why? The harsh truth is, you’ll probably never get the honest answer. But low retention still tells you something’s not right.

Where you get more concrete data is in the absence. Those days matter when people are out, whether due to illness, burnout, or injury. They’re a reliable indicator that things below the surface may break down.

You can also look at other sources, such as customer Net Promoter Scores. Internal engagement or well-being surveys. The number of harassment or bullying reports. These are all signals. And if those numbers shift, especially for the better, something is working. The trend is valuable even if you can’t always pinpoint exactly what changed.

But here’s where most organisations fall short: they’re not bold enough in what they expect. They settle for incremental improvements. And that’s not good enough.

What does a 5% improvement mean? If you have 100,000 employees, 5% barely scratches the surface. That’s why you need to anchor your KPIs to real impact. Take this example:

If you go from 24 serious injuries or fatalities down to 4, that’s real. Everyone understands that. I don’t care about the Total Recordable Injury Rate; it’s often meaningless. But what is the difference between 24 people impacted and 4? That’s a tangible impact.

And that’s the level of clarity you need. When you tie your metrics to real people, the conversation changes. It becomes emotional. It becomes a priority.

But even then, don’t stop there. Say your business is growing by 10% year over year, but your injury rate only improves by 5%. That’s not a win. You’re falling behind. So you need to evaluate performance in the context of growth. Most companies don’t do this. They look at isolated metrics. They miss the bigger picture.

That’s why many organisations end up doing only half the job. They track surface-level KPIs, but they don’t connect the dots. If you want meaningful transformation, you must measure what matters and make it matter to people.

Margaret Jaouadi
I notice posts on LinkedIn that people are measuring the number of days without a major incident.

Claus Rose
You can track metrics like “zero lost-time injuries” over three years. But honestly? In my book, that doesn’t tell you much.

That kind of metric is reactive. It only tells you what didn’t happen, not what you’re doing to prevent what could happen.

Let’s be real: humans make mistakes. So when I hear an organisation proudly claim they’ve gone three or four years without a lost-time injury, I don’t buy it. Not because I think they’re lying, but because it doesn’t mean what they think it means.

Take Deepwater Horizon. They went four+ years without a lost-time injury, and then eleven people died on April 20th, 2010. You can’t engineer risk out of the equation as long as humans are involved.

What you can do is stack the odds in your favour. You give people the best possible equipment. You design rock-solid processes. You build robust systems to guard your high-risk activities. You train and coach them well. You surround them with the right environment. You plan for failure so that it doesn’t kill someone when it happens.

Does that mean you’ll hit zero injuries? No. And I’ll never sit in front of a CEO and promise otherwise.

The innovative approach focuses on what you can influence in real time. That’s what KPIs should be about. What levers can you pull today to make the environment safer and more resilient?

That means giving people the tools, training, coaching, and systems that allow them to make mistakes safely. Mistakes are where learning happens. Every breakthrough—every innovation—comes from failure. That’s how progress works.

So we should welcome those moments, not hide from them. Investigate. Learn. Adapt. But do it where the work happens. Right at the coalface. Because that’s where change is real, and that’s why I say it repeatedly: “one-size-fits-all” is a blueprint for disaster.

Margaret Jaouadi
How can organisations ensure managers and executives are well-equipped to support mental health in the workplace?

Claus Rose
You have to be clear about one thing from the start: People must have the time to do this. No excuses.

You can’t ask leaders or teams to go through personal transformation—or drive meaningful cultural change—on top of their day jobs without giving them the space to do it. If this truly matters, you must prove it by creating that space. If you don’t, you’re already setting yourself up to fail.

Here’s where people get it wrong: they try to layer change on top of business as usual. That never works. You want transformation? Then some other things have to go. And that message has to come from the top, with full commitment. No half-measures.

I often return to a principle from Lean thinking: “To improve, you have to slow down.”

It sounds simple, but it’s not.

When I worked at GE, we learned this the hard way. Real Lean, done properly, isn’t about tools and checklists. It’s about taking the time to understand what’s happening, diving deep into the data, asking the right questions, and looking beneath the surface.

Only then can you deliberately slow down in a structured way, to eventually speed up. But yes, slowing down will hurt in the short term. It might impact output, affect customer delivery, and cost revenue. That’s the tradeoff.

But if you think people can transform culture while keeping every existing responsibility, that’s a fantasy. It won’t happen.

Managers must be permitted to pause and think. But even more than that, you need a board and leadership willing to say: “This is non-negotiable.”

Because let’s face it, not every manager will want to do this. And if they don’t, they’re probably in the wrong role. That’s a tough message, but it’s the truth.

You want lasting improvement? You have to slow down, with intent and discipline. Otherwise, you’re just running faster toward failure.

Change doesn’t happen just because you declare it. People need space to go through the process; if you skip that, they’ll default to old habits. Why? Because we are wired to take the path of least resistance. It’s not a flaw, it’s just human nature.

When I talk to people I’ve worked with or advised, the most common excuse I hear is: “Now’s not the right time.”

There is no perfect time. Change only happens when you decide to act.

Not later. Not when it’s more convenient. Now.

You can dress it up however you like, but the outcome will stay the same. There is a popular quote: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity.”

If you want to change, stop waiting and start doing it.

Margaret Jaouadi
What are the most effective initial steps companies can take to adopt a more proactive approach to employee mental well-being?

Claus Rose
Now this is where it gets controversial. And I mean that sincerely.

We must stop putting people into neat little boxes because we think they are the right ones to handle a task. Let’s face it: many do not have the right skills. It is not about job titles or departments. What you need to do is look across your organisation with open eyes. You may find the people you seek in the most unexpected places. Maybe it is a blue-collar worker on the plant floor. Perhaps it is someone in the admin. Maybe someone has nothing to do with the topic, but they carry something far more critical. They have lived it. They have experienced real change. They know what it feels like to go from being ignored to being heard, from feeling invisible to feeling valued. They know what it means to enjoy coming to work. These are the people you need to find and build a community around them.

There is a concept I like, created by a guy called Leandro Herrero. It is called Viral Change. And the idea is straightforward, but powerful.

Let me explain. Say you communicate with a thousand people and tell them that starting tomorrow, you all need to wear blue socks. It is for a safety initiative. No context. No discussion. Now here is the scary part: how many of those thousand people will read what you sent out? Maybe ten. Out of those ten, maybe one person shows up wearing blue socks.

In Lean thinking, that is pure waste. You have spent much energy, time, and resources with no return value.

Now compare that to viral change. You skip the big broadcast. Instead, you find that one person who is already convinced. They believe in the idea. You go to them and say, “Your job is simple. Go out and find two more people you can convince.” And then those two go and do the same. That is how you start grassroots transformation. From below. Not from above. And it spreads. The message moves into different contexts, and that is fine. As long as the outcome is aligned, it does not matter where the message came from.

It is faster. It is more effective. It works.

Let me be crystal clear: the job EHS professionals should be to work themselves out of a job. From a financial point of view, they are mentioned as purely overhead cost allocations. They do not directly add value to the business’s bottom line. And if you want a wake-up call, ask yourself how many EHS professionals you think the military has?

The answer is none. Because from the very beginning, everyone is trained to understand what safety looks like, what discipline means, and what consequences follow if you do not follow procedures. You do not need someone with a checklist to tell you how to do the right thing.

You move from brain memory to muscle memory.

It is the same drill, repeatedly, until it becomes automatic. So when something bad happens, you do not have to think. Your body reacts first. If someone fires a shot, you hit the ground before registering what happened. And only afterward does your brain kick in and say, “What was that?”

That is the real challenge with culture transformation. People underestimate the psychological side of it. They do not understand how the human mind and body operate under stress. And until they do, they are never going to get this right.

Margaret Jaouadi
Excellent, thank you so much, Claus. Thank you for this amazing conversation and for sharing a fresh, if not radical, perspective on employee well-being and approach to mental health.

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