work-life balance – Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work. – Ralph Marston

As summer slowly draws to a close, I came across a rather interesting article about the workplace and how employees are using their vacation time. A Glassdoor survey last year reported that millions of Americans are giving back their vacations to their employers. At first glance, I thought perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me. Say it ain’t so! But here’s the explanation:

“Why don’t they take what’s due? “Fear,” says Scott Dobroski, career trends analyst at Glassdoor. “That’s the underscoring theme.” They fear getting behind on their work (34%), believe no one else at their company can do the work while they’re out (30%), they are completely dedicated to their company (22%), and they feel they can never be disconnected (21%). As workers shoulder a heavier work-load post-recession, he says others are afraid of not meeting goals.”

That millions of Americans are giving back vacation time because they fear getting behind on their work, that no one else in the company can do their work while they are out, complete dedication to their company, and that they can never be disconnected to their work, speaks to the importance of my series theme word this week*.

While the reasons listed for not taking vacations might sound noble on the surface, it does speak to other underlying leadership concerns such as the need for cross-training, having a healthy work-life balance, and what is a healthy workload with recognizable boundaries that management has in place.

A hard truth that is lost on many is that we are not indispensable. We can be replaced. And while the above-listed reasons for not taking vacation sound valid, one can do more harm than good – to themselves and their company- by not taking time to rest.

I will not presume to say what that should look like. But here are a few simple reminders as to why rest is important.

It’s a time to recharge

This is the value-added consequence of taking the time to rest. Your body, soul, and mind, can only run for so long and still be useful to you. Rest affords you the opportunity to recharge mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

Recharging your leadership through the lost art of rest will do you a world of good. Click To TweetWhen you are recharged you give yourself a fresh perspective on the issues at hand and it will give you the energy needed going forward. Rested and recharged you will position yourself for a great second half of the year.

It’s a time to reflect

During downtime and rest is the perfect time to reflect. It’s a time to look back at the first half of the year to see where you’ve come- to put it all in perspective. It’s a time to look ahead, not in the heat of the moment when there is no time to properly absorb what is taking place – but to do so in a state of mind that gives you the context you need.

In your time of rest and mid-year reflecting it’s also important to be present in the moment. “We always project into the future or reflect in the past,” says Marina Abramovic, “but we are so little in the present.” How much do we miss as leaders – family, children, memories we can never have again – simply because we were too busy and missed living in the moment?

It’s a time to reconnect

The benefits of rest can be substantial. Times of rest is important for us in ways already mentioned. But the good it can do for you as a leader will make you a better one.

A rested leader is a more effective leader. Your thinking clearer, your instincts are sharper, and your temperament is more balanced. Click To TweetYet, none of these benefits would be possible without making the conscientious decision to rest. Rid yourself of the stigma that to rest is wrong, and embrace this important area of your leadership.

Rest is the secret ingredient to your balanced life and leadership. Discover this secret and you will be better for it.

*(Leadership In A Word is my writing theme for the year. See my website at Dougdickerson.wordpress.com to catch up on all my entries to date).

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Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein

Word Study

a : stability produced by even distribution of weight on each side of the vertical axis

when the two sides of the scale are in balance

tipped the statue off balance

b : equipoise between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements

… the balance we strike between security and freedom.
—Earl Warren

Both parties were interviewed to provide balance in the report.

the right balance of diet and exercise
Source: Merriam-Webster

A word about balance

The use of the word balance in leadership is hardly a new word. A simple Google search of “work-life balance” generated over 107 million hits. It’s showing up for a reason.

Maintaining a proper balance in your leadership is essential to your success. Dozens of studies have confirmed what most of us already know- when our lives- leadership included, are out of balance those areas in our lives begin to suffer. Or does it?

One approach to the whole work-life balance issue I’ve learned comes from Gary Keller in his book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. In it he writes:

To achieve an extraordinary result you must choose what matters most and give it all the time it demands. This requires getting extremely out of balance in relation to all other work issues, with only infrequent counterbalancing to address them. In your personal world, awareness is the essential ingredient. Awareness of your spirit and body, awareness of your family and friends, awareness of your personal needs–none of these things can be sacrificed if you intend to “have a life”, so you can never forsake them for work or one for the other. You can move back and forth quickly between these and often combine activities around them, but you can’t neglect any of them for long. Your personal life requires tight counterbalancing.

Perhaps, according to Keller, the answer is not sacrificing one for the other, but in finding that sweet spot of counterbalancing. As it relates to balance, maybe we need to be asking a different set of questions like:

What matters most?

Are you willing to “get out of balance” in order to achieve your goals?

Are you self-aware enough to not neglect other important areas in your life such as family, faith etc.?

The answers to these questions will dictate the trajectory of your leadership and help you establish your priorities. Think through your answers carefully.

Balance quotes

“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward”. – Maxwell Maltz

“A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.” – William Arthur Ward

“There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.” – Jack Welch

“The trick to balance is to not make sacrificing important things become the norm.” Simon Sinek

A final word

The pursuit of finding balance in our lives-juggling between work, family, raising children, etc. is a challenge for even the most experienced leader. One of the first steps to success in this area of leadership is found in simply acknowledging the challenge. Approaches to maintaining that work-life balance will differ person to person, but always be conscientious, proactive, and set your boundaries. Too much is riding on the outcome.

*Note: Leadership In A Word is my writing theme for 2018. Each week the focus will be on a word that impacts you as a leader. My style is new but my message and commitment to delivering fresh leadership insight to you are the same. It’s my sincere desire to help you grow as a leader and to partner with you in reaching your full potential.

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Doug Dickerson on Leadership

Tag: work-life balance

Leadership In A Word: Rest

Leadership In a Word: Balance