Observation
Don’t over think it – just do it!
"Idle hands are the devil’s playthings"
Benjamin Franklin
In the last month I have; received my second vaccination, had a 6-month post op check-up (all clear – hurrah!), found real face to face workshops popping up in my diary and have been receiving pictures of friends lapping up the sun in Portuguese restaurants.
I suspect it would be dumb to completely ignore the ongoing Covid threat or to pretend that my health and relationships haven’t been impacted by the events of the last 18 months. However, what’s surprised me is the speed at which I want, and am able, to return to what pre-Covid would have been seen as normal.
Undoubtedly some things have fundamentally changed for me; my attitude to my own health, my belief in virtual coaching and an increased awareness of the fragility of life and therefore the need to make the most of it while you can. For a long time during Covid I thought these changes would have a fundamental impact on my life. I am sure that if I am smart, there will be some improvement but in practice I realise I am desperate to get back to what I enjoyed before and that my life in the future will be a slightly evolved version of the past, rather than the fundamental change I had anticipated.
I see many of my client organisations going through a similar journey at the moment. Many, had anticipated a slow return to the office, allowing people to rebuild relationships and reflect on the lessons of the past 18 months. In practice those organisations that seem to be making the most significant progress, are those who are returning at pace, with a confident vision of the future, clear and demanding priorities and strong message around what sort of organisation they are culturally.
Of course, it is important to reflect on and apply the lessons from the past 18 months, to allow people to reconnect and to refresh their drained batteries, however what I have come to realise in the last few weeks is that this is probably best achieved within an exciting and compelling agenda which allows people to return to ‘normality’ at real pace.
Challenge
If you are not investing in yourself,
are you really taking your leadership seriously enough?
‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’
Albert Einstein
For the past few years, I have described the primary role of the leader as being to:
Own the narrative
Drive performance
Build the ecosystem.
This is not an academic or theoretical view but rather my experience of what leaders spend their time grappling with, as reflected in their conversations with me. What I have recently realised is that there is a fourth category, which also takes up a significant part of my coaching conversations:
Invest in self.
I am not entirely sure why I ignored this for so long. Perhaps it was because I associated it with the reflective nature of our coaching conversations, rather than something relevant to the day-to-day challenges of leadership. However, I have slowly realised that all the leaders I admire seriously invest in themselves.
On reflection it’s hardly surprising. If, as I do, you believe that the leaders are the most important people in the organisation and have the most leverage, then why wouldn’t you invest in them, as you would with any other significant asset in the business?
Practical Action
What Do You Need To Do To Invest In Yourself?
My overwhelming experience is that the greater the alignment between the needs of the individual and the organisation, then the greater positive impact that individual will have. That means I have no qualms in my coaching conversations, exploring areas which are critical to the individual but superficially of little relevance to the organisation. We are whole beings; you can’t separate out different parts like a paint by numbers guide.
When thinking about investing in themselves, these are the questions and the practical actions that my clients most consistently grapple with:
What life do I want?
Understand – what’s important to you
Set direction – have a direction of travel and ideally a road map
Act now – there is never the perfect time (‘life is not a rehearsal’)
How can I have maximum impact in my role?
Be clear – on what you are there to do and act on it
Obsess about your use of time – it’s your most precious resource
Build the support system you need - team, ways of working, support systems.
How do I sustain my energy?
Take regular holidays / breaks – you need them (it’s not rocket science, but in my experience, it is often the most practical action a leader can take to enhance their short-term performance)
Invest in your health – physical and mental
Pay attention to your ‘inner game’ – understand and act on what generates and diminishes your energy.
I suspect most people reading this will agree with the sentiment but whether they do anything about it is a different issue.
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