Leaders increasingly face challenge after challenge, from economic upheaval and pressure to meet company targets, to skills shortages, lack of resources and ever-growing needs of diverse employees. Summer 2023 will be no different – but leaders can harness their challenges as opportunities for change. Templeton’s recruitment and leadership specialist reveal how business owners can keep on track of self-care for the benefit of their teams, businesses and themselves.
Prepare for success
Every leader knows the truth of the old adage ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’, and preparation is equally important before a perceived ‘slow period’ as well as busier times. Direct reports (and their teams) should have a proper process for handover during annual leave allowance, including being aware of and understanding the process, who is accountable for what during absence, appropriate contacts and actions for all possible events and emergencies, and who can support internally.
Empowering employees in this way when managers go on summer breaks significantly reduces the support and intervention employees will need from other and more senior leaders for events and activities that occur during this time. When leaders follow this process to the letter, creating written instructions and going through these in detail with their direct reports ahead of time, leaders can relax during their own annual leave, reassured that tasks, projects and teams are in safe hands.
Meet outside
Make good use of the summer weather by lifting the mood of your teams and doing wonders for your own mental health. Taking meetings away from the same board rooms and small spaces, and into the great outdoors, acts as a pause from full-on daily life, creating room to stop and look objectively at situations, whilst also appreciating the wonder of nature. Spending time outside is scientifically proven to reduce stress, aid relaxation and improve mental health, making nature a powerful tool to help leaders carve out time for self-care in their day.
Holiday Means Holiday (and Evening Means Evening!)
Switching off is one of the best ways to guarantee positive mental health. Leaders are used to being on call to multiple stakeholders and stepping in at the last minute on a variety of issues and projects. Constant availability for others means less time for yourself and the people and activities that make you happy. Commit to answering emails only during working hours, and communicate the importance of switching off to your teams so that they can help and benefit from this approach themselves. Boundaries between professional and personal life gives you back the time for self-care, ensures you can fully relax when on holiday, and returns you to the office refreshed and ready after every weekend.
Recognise your feelings
Sometimes self-care is taking the time to recognise your own value as a person as well as a professional. Those who place high expectations on themselves can benefit from taking a more objective approach: if your close friend/partner/colleague were in this situation, what would you do? Would you want them to feel under pressure, soldier on without any support or help, struggle in silence, or put themselves through a difficult situation because they felt they had no choice? When you frame your situation through the eyes of someone else, you can express kindness towards yourself and open yourself up to kindness from others.
Connect with your support system
If you’re supporting everyone else, who is supporting you? The best managers, leaders and employees are those who know they need to take care of themselves before they can properly take care of others. Leaders are brilliant supporters, but especially if they play this role in their personal lives, they often support others at the expense of their time, sleep, exercise, quality time and overall health. Leaders can be hesitant to ask for help, particularly if they are they only/main breadwinner in the family or felt pressure to be high-achieving as a child.
Whether your support system is your family, friends, peers or indeed other co-workers you trust, they will be interested in your problems and your feelings, and they’ll want to help you – all you need to do is to be open and honest, and let them in.
