Leadership Strategies for Self Care
Every leader, heck, every person, needs to handle the stress of life effectively. That takes many different forms of course.
I would risk arguing that charity leaders have a greater need to care well for themselves. Admittedly, these are the people I work with, coach, and support on a daily basis; but I think the fact that these people are giving themselves to address the urgent and deep needs of society that all too often slip through the cracks makes them more vulnerable to burn out.
A generation ago overwork was often affirmed. Being able to push yourself further and harder was the mark of leadership excellence. Unused vacation days and minimal sleep were badges of honour for too many of us.
That has changed dramatically.
Today there is a higher awareness of the cost of demanding too much from ourselves and others. Burn out is seen as a failure of the system, not a sign of personal weakness. Our growing understanding of mental health and wellness have given rise to a self-care industry that one source estimates at 3.7 Trillion US dollars globally each year. And the trend is only growing.
This is a long overdue and welcome development in HR practices, and in society as a whole. We can often notice people encouraging one another to do some self-care. In fact, it has reached the point of being pointedly satirized in some circles.
Leaders I talk to have two common concerns about self-care:
1. How do we encourage our team to care well for themselves so they are able to care for others?
2. How do we know when we've done enough?
I have a whole 90 minute seminar on Self-Care and Stress Strategies (contact me to book a workshop) but here are a couple basic considerations.
-Self-Care is a lifestyle, not an event. It is about developing and maintaining healthy habits that provide the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and relational energy needed for all of life's demands. One evening of ice cream and Netflix is no cure for weeks or months of personal neglect.
-Self-Care can easily become Self-Indulgence. Particularly for those who don't have healthy habits in place. Swinging the pendulum into gluttony, in any form, is not a remedy. Short term excess will not bring lasting relief.
-Work/Life balance is a myth. The idea that we can "have it all" is damaging in the reality of having to make hard choices on spending our time and energy. There are seasons when we sacrifice one aspect of ourselves because of the demands on another aspect. Over time we hope to live in alignment with our values and priorities by making continuous course corrections.
-It's supposed to be hard. Making a meaningful difference is always costly. There are few shortcuts and no free passes. Some leaders are surprised by how difficult it is to lead, particularly at the beginning of their leadership journey. We do others a disservice when we don't acknowledge clearly the challenges inherent in doing things that matter.
Every effective leader has to be, or become, a healthy leader. Every effective organization has to be, or become, a healthy organization. Helping that to happen is what Catalyst is all about.
One final thought: Don't turn this into a Millennial thing. While there are excellent insights to be gained from generational patterns, each of us is much more than our demographics. Assumptions based on stereotypes are one of the things that make more self-care necessary. People are people first, statistics much later.