By: Joshua Finley

Nobody builds a skyscraper without checking the foundation first. Yet Beth Mielbrecht noticed many architecture and engineering firms were missing something just as fundamental – the wellbeing of their people. After 30 years leading engineering teams, she’s seen how health issues can silently undermine even promising projects. “I find that the number one predictor of financial performance is the physical and mental health of my staff,” Beth says. She’s watched solid projects suddenly go off track, with missed deadlines and unhappy clients. The cause? Usually, it is not technical problems but team members struggling with unaddressed health challenges.

Identifying Health as a Predictor of Success

As a licensed mechanical engineer who worked her way up to Partner and Vice President roles, Beth speaks from hard-won experience. She’s seen the whole picture – from managing departments to overseeing companies, particularly in the built environment where architects and engineers collaborate closely. The warning signs are often subtle at first. “They’re not getting back to their clients. They’re not interacting with the whole team,” she explains. “And in my experience, it comes down to the health of those project leaders.”

Engineers and architects are trained problem-solvers, which ironically can make them worse at dealing with their own health. “We believe that we’re fine. We can push through it,” Beth notes. “You do that at your own peril because when you just keep wearing your body down and getting further away from balance, it takes longer to come back to center.” She’s heard countless professionals downplay serious issues: “Some of my clients tell me, ‘I only get a migraine once a week, so it’s not that bad.'” Her response? “Stop comparing yourself to someone else who has it worse. A migraine once a week, don’t accept that.”

Turning Struggles into Success Stories

Beth shares a story about turning around a struggling senior engineer. “It was so uncharacteristic because she had always been a performer and a leader. Her projects were stellar. And over a period of a few weeks, things started to go south.” Instead of just focusing on missed deadlines, Beth dug deeper. She discovered her team members were dealing with both physical pain and family stress. The solution involved practical steps like movement exercises, better eating habits, and creating space to actually take lunch breaks away from the computer.

“After a couple weeks, she was on the mend, back on track,” Beth recalls. “Better yet, she started sharing these same techniques with her staff. When leaders can protect and care for our senior executives, they will do it for theirs as well. It just trickles down.”

Implementing Practical Solutions for Teams

Based on her experience, Beth offers several actionable strategies for firm leaders:

• Open Communication: “If you see someone on your team who has lost their focus, they’re not responding to emails, they are really behind in the work, have a conversation,” she advises. It’s quite simple, just ask: “What’s going on? How do you feel? How can I help?”
• Create Protected Space: Drawing from personal experience, Beth shares how she helped a senior engineer overcome performance issues: “I mentored her on how she could show up to work without letting that family situation completely take over her mind and body. I gave her permission to take the time that she needed.”
• Implement Preventive Measures: “Don’t wait till you’re burned out,” Beth emphasizes. She recommends regular holistic health assessments that cover body, mind, and emotions to address issues before they become critical.

The stakes are higher than ever for firms trying to keep talent. “There is such a demand for talent. There is more growth than there are talented people,” Beth points out. “The younger generation wants work-life balance. They want to know that all parts of them are supported. It’s not just showing up for a job.” For Beth, it comes down to seeing the whole person. When people are healthy – physically, mentally, emotionally – creativity flows and problems get solved. As she says, “People really can surprise you with their ingenuity when they’re healthy, when their brain’s working, when they’re focused, when they’re not in pain.”

Through her current work in bioenergetic testing and health management, she’s helping firms put these insights into practice. After all, the most sophisticated building designs mean nothing without the right people to bring them to life.

To learn more about Beth Mielbrecht and her approach, check out her LinkedIn profile and website.

Published by Mark V.