Leadership & You #6
Leadership is not easy. It requires time, persistence, patience, and above all energy. This is especially true in regional and rural Australia, where the need for leadership can suddenly become foisted onto a person at any moment. The first test of leadership is your ability to lead yourself. If a leader is OK and in a good place, then they have an ability to help others.
Life balance is a key personal leadership quality. Everyone has a front yard and a back yard. Your front yard is what everyone sees. It is your public face – work – career – community work. Your back yard is your personal life – your family – physical health – emotional wellbeing. Key is to have a formula to keep both yards in balance. I have never come across the perfect approach, but I do see people struggle who have no approach.
A leadership charter can help filter the decisions you make in any leadership quest, whilst navigating the inevitable challenges that are thrown at you. I am not suggesting for one moment that I have the ideal formula – but I have found some simple principles which have greatly helped me. A charter is not a set of hard and fast rules, but simply a series of filters that help inform how you prioritise the day to day decisions you make, whilst looking after your career, health, and mental wellbeing.
Don’t miss what you can’t get back. Life is made up of many moments, the stories they create and the memories they leave. Things like birthdays, school and sporting events, key family milestones and birthday celebrations all play a crucial part in family dynamics. These are usually known well in advance, so diarise them at the start of the year, and work your schedule around them. Being present symbolises what is important to you and your family.
Success at the expense of your family or your health is failure
Take regular breaks to refresh and renew. You cannot work 100 per cent effectively all the time. You need to take time to replenish your energy levels and refresh the mind. Taking the time to have holidays with your family is time that ultimately becomes cherished in later years. Schedule regular breaks with your family, this is a great way of bonding together and getting to enjoy each other. Just being together is where the magical memorable moments take place – unscripted! Take your full complement of annual leave, perhaps not in one hit, but interspersed throughout the year. Schools have terms for a reason. It breaks the year up and keeps students and teachers refreshed.
The family that travels together stays together
Have a fulfilled diary not a full diary. It is easy to be busy. In fact, many people think busy-ness is a symbol of status and leadership. Take a discerning approach to who you share time with and what you say yes or no to. Life is not about how important you are, but the impact you make. You can only do this if you are positive, energised, and upbeat about your life, not weighed down with the burden of how tired or busy you are. If you are passionate about life, you will be enthusiastic. Work is only one part of your life. Parenting, friendships, learning, and socialising are also all aspects of personal leadership.
Personal contentment is more important than being judged as successful by others
Have healthy start and end of day rituals. Wake up slowly – end the day quietly. The morning should be your time to wake up slowly, plan the day, eat a healthy breakfast, exercise, read, reflect, and engage with the day. It is your time to set the day up for success. How you wrap and reflect on the day is of equal importance. Spending time with your family, partner, or friends to reflect on the day is important, along with doing things that you enjoy. Importantly – don’t read work emails before you go to bed! This only reactivates your brain!
Inner peace starts from within.
Start and end each day on your terms
Adopt a “one simple thing” policy. A “one simple thing” policy is something you do for yourself each day or week to help maintain a balanced life. These are the regular rituals you undertake to look after yourself. They could be a range of things which could include having a quiet start of day coffee by yourself (free of electronic devices) to critically reflect and plan your day, or it could be leaving work early on a set day to pick up children, or exercising, or having a walk after work to clear your mind. The key is that whatever you do is a simple ritual you enjoy and undertake for your own well-being.
Your health is your most important attribute.
Treat it as you most cherished asset
Balance your front yard and back yard priorities equally. Success is not how much wealth you have or how famous you are. These are by products of what you do. They are not leadership credentials. Personal fulfilment, pride and contentment are outcomes of your achievements, and the impact you have made to people’s lives. This is the legacy you will ultimately leave. Your life purpose should have equal importance in both your Front & Back Yards. Do not ignore one in the pursuit of the other.
Don’t pursue a career and forget to live a life
So what is your formula? There is no right or wrong. But having no formula means you have no filters to help pursue a healthy life balance. Hope is not a strategy! A personal leadership charter evolves over time. Start by outlining important life principles that are important to you. Ask an elderly relative what their life principles are that have been important to them to help shape their life.
Often the wisdom of an elder will be the best leadership advice you ever receive.
Leadership Lesson
No-one has ever cracked the perfect work-life balance. The one common trait for those who seem to balance their life better than others is they have a formula, and the discipline to stick to it. So, what is your personal leadership formula?
