5 Tips for Being a Better Boss to YOU
Leaders - let me ask you this ….
Do you focus on developing your people? Do you assess their strengths and weaknesses and work on development plans to support them where they are and grow them where you see potential?
Of course you do!!!
So, let's say you had a team member that was sending you emails at 1:30 am instead of sleeping, or working through lunches every day instead of taking a break, or maybe they were telling you how stressed out and overwhelmed they are with their workload and how they feel they will never catch up - would you ignore them or would you do some leadership coaching and help them get some balance into their lives?
You’d help right? Why? Because you know if they don't change these behaviors you are going to have an unhappy, unproductive employee otherwise. It's even likely this behavior may even negatively affect the workplace culture with their exhausted, stressed out vibes! No-no! We can’t have that now can we?!
“So why do we as leaders think that it’s ok for us to be doing all those things? ”
Somehow, sometimes, when we move into leadership roles we think that we are supposed to grind until the wheels fall off - like there is some unspoken rule that dictates that if we aren’t we are failing somehow. As leaders it’s our responsibility to nip this type of unhealthy thought process in the bud in our teammates, but also in ourselves!
Burnout isn’t admirable or attractive in any way. And if you are an entrepreneur it’s even worse! No one wants to link arms with someone who looks like they are flying by the seat of their pants and barely hanging on - the unspoken message there is that this biz is a bit more than I can handle but I’m doing my best - hopefully it will work! Um, not the marketing message we want to be sending!
So not only is it really important to take care of yourself as a business leader - it’s really important to the success of your business too!
How can you turn things around?
Start implementing these 5 tips:
Take breaks. Take your lunch - step away from your desk and eat your lunch. Go out to a park and eat outside, or take a walk after you eat. Just like it’s important for your employees to rest their minds it’s just as important for you as well. Stop telling yourself you don’t have time to break for lunch. Walk away, nourish your body, give yourself a mental break and come back recharged and ready to hit the ground running again! I guarantee your work will be better after you do!
Set hard limits on work time. Don’t respond to emails or phone calls at home, or on the weekends unless you are working there. If you let your work blend into every area of your life you drain your mind and body and have no space to decompress. Unrested staff is unproductive staff and you are no different. Do an evaluation and see if it is possible for you to accomplish all of your work during work hours. If not, see what you can do as a leader to develop strategies to make that happen - without taking the work home. If it’s still not possible it’s time to work with your own leadership to discuss the expectations of your job. Whatever you do don’t suck it up and push through, taking on more and more - empower yourself to problem solve for solutions that prioritize your physical and mental needs. There is no reason you should ever feel like your needs aren’t important and just like anything else - no one else will see you as a priority unless you do first!
Take Vacation Time. Don’t even think about rolling those vacation days! Schedule your vacation time in January each year to make sure it doesn’t get pushed off and take that time! Go away, enjoy your life outside of work and live a balanced life! Stop telling yourself you can’t leave - start telling yourself (and others) that vacation time well spent makes you a better leader. It’s the truth!
Block private time in your work schedule. Block time in your calendar that you can’t be disturbed. This is time and space for you to step away from the demands of everyone else and evaluate for yourself what is priority, important and necessary. Overwhelm comes when we allow everyone else to dictate our time and priorities. Make time every day for you to step back and look at what is on your plate and make your own choices. This small measure is so incredibly empowering and will help you keep your mind and attitude positive and in major #bossmode
Eat Right. Stress and demands can make your body crave things like sugar and salt that wind up making you feel worse after you eat them. Take the time to bring and eat healthy food that nourishes your body and fuels you for your best work. Drink water, not soda that also causes your body to crave unhealthy snacks. By taking a little time to plan for your meals you can increase your work productivity by leaps and bounds - and healthy food is the best way to maintain a healthy attitude - and that’s a critical component in workplace satisfaction.
If you create a workplace culture that honors balance you will have a work environment full of happy, well adjusted, well rested and enthusiastic teammates. Do that and you are in the top 1% of leaders my friend! It all starts with you!
