Your Character is Your Competitive Advantage

Character matters. It’s what I call soul ballast.

In sailing, ballast (weight with its corresponding stability) is created by a very heavy keel attached to the bottom of the boat. For stability in heavy winds and waters the boat must have more weight below the waterline than above the waterline.

Why does this matter? I ran across a powerful statement by AdamGrant, organizational psychologist at Wharton Business School, as he refers to the importance of leadership character in today’s world:

“As we strive to overcome a global pandemic and an economic recession, the character of leaders will matter as much as their competence. In 2021, servant leadership will be a competitive advantage, giving [those leaders] an edge in recruiting, motivating and retaining talented people.”

It’s what people cannot always see that matters more than what people can see. Character depth. Soul ballast. The leaders that prioritize personal and professional ballast are the leaders that have a loyal following at work and at home. Those that don’t, as sailors say, are recklessly courting disaster.

Self Reflection is not a Luxury or Option for Successful People

When is the last time you sat in stillness and reflected on who you are and how you are showing up in the world these days?

If there's ever a need for developing the art of self-reflection it's during these chaotic, uncertain times. The irony is that taking this time is actually counter-intuitive. We think we simply don't have the "extra" time--we are inundated with so many To Do's. We are tempted to look at self-reflection as a luxury or at best an option.

We live at a time in history in which we are literally bombarded with information of all kinds on a daily basis, Everyone and everything are competing for our attention. and now, with smartphones, we are never away from this assault. Consequently, we experience a kind of mental overload, overstimulation, and exhaustion.

“How can I ever take time to spend in quiet self-reflection? I don't have that time!”

When in fact, unless we take this time, we remain stagnant and in the end less creatively productive.

Our greatest personal power resides in self-reflection. Stepping back to see through the information smog to discern what is truly important gives us a clearer self-awareness so we can be grounded and centered in our authentic identity.

Here’s the truth: we skip this practice and pay the painful price of superficiality and mediocrity. Why? Because our greatest power resides in self-reflection that leads to authentic expression.

Learn to SEE you and then BE you. Then you will truly change the world. DO you.

Quote taken from Dr. Greg Nelson, "The Strategic Stop: Taking Back Your Life in a World Obsessed with Busyness." Available via Amazon: https://lnkd.in/d3r3nhn. A great gift to yourself and to people who matter to you at work and at home.

Why Successful Leaders Must Prioritize Self Care and Character Development

Peter Drucker, the great leadership pioneer, said,

“You cannot manage other people unless you manage yourself first.” 

Sounds like what we hear from the lead flight attendant before take off, talking about the importance of putting on the oxygen mask on ourselves first, and then helping the people next to us, in the event of an emergency.

Self care must come prioritized in we as leaders are going to be of any value and benefit to others.

In today’s climate of such a fast-paced, ever-changing, global, highly diverse environment, with such high expectations on leaders, the challenges are staggering and complex. But the most effective leaders are the ones that first address their own lives and learn to manage themselves. Only then can they influence the people they lead and create the necessary culture of trust and loyalty to the mission. 

In the video below (in a series titled “5 Principles Successful Leaders Prioritize”), I emphasize the vital nature of self care and character development. Without this foundation, leaders simply cannot be effective. Building the necessary depth into their lives first is what results in empowering the culture and people they are leading.

I see it a lot: an organization can only go as high as the leader(s). This is why self care and character development are so crucial for leaders!

These practices are NOT “If I have some extra time, maybe I’ll do some personal reflection and self care.” These practices are nonnegotiable and not optional for leaders who want to be successful!

Here are a few questions to help you evaluate your current priorities as a leader:

1. Do I take regular time in my schedule to take time off to unwind, to rest and recover?

2. Do I carve out intentional time to engage in self reflection, self evaluation, about how things are going in my life: am I living in alignment with my core values, am building a deep character of honesty, integrity, responsibility, kindness, serving others with joy, unselfishness, and faithfulness?

3. How would I describe the quality of my relationships at home and at work? Would these important people to me think of me as loving and compassionate, empathetic, honest? Would they feel like they are a priority to me in my schedule?

4. How am I managing my emotional life? Am I growing in my ability to accurately identify my feelings and those around me? And then am I growing in my capacity to regulate those feelings in order to build healthy bridges to both my self and to those people in my life?

One of the great spiritual writers, Richard Foster, wrote: “The desperate need today is not for a great number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”

And personal and leadership depth don’t happen automatically just because you’re a leader. Depth is created by intentionality and purpose.

I invite you to be that kind of leader. Your people—family & employees—will be eternally grateful to you for prioritizing this!

To subscribe to MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL, here is the link: https://lnkd.in/epmgFnF.

TWO REASONS WHY SLEEP IS A LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENT

It’s amazing how often some of the leaders I work with look at sleep as a luxury at best and an unnecessary inconvenience at worst. It’s as though they see sleep as an interruption to the important work they’re doing. Some have actually bragged to me about how little sleep they need and take for themselves, as though this is a badge of honor of some kind.

Let me suggest to you two reasons why sleep is a vital leadership requirement.

First, a physiological reason. Good leadership requires creativity and curiosity, both of which come from deep thinking. And the practice that most profoundly enhances deep thinking is the practice of daily adequate sleep.

In sleep, our brains clean out toxins, process the day’s experiences, and work on problems that have been occupying our waking minds. (Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, “Rest", p. 140.)

And look at what happens what we don’t get enough sleep.

Being chronically tired to the point of fatigue or exhaustion means that we are less likely to perform well. Neurons do not fire optimally, muscles are not rested, and the body’s organ systems are not synchronized. (A study from the Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School)

This is a no-brainer when we stop long enough to think about it. Sleep is an absolute requirement for those who want to be effective and transformational leaders. Our bodies are designed during sleep to recover, rebuild, restore, and reignite the most important parts of our selves needed to empower successful leadership. We simply cannot use the excuse of multiple and challenging demands at work to deprioritize regular sleep.

And second, a financial reason. The lack of sleep among both leaders and employees is having a deeply negative outcome in the workplace and in the company. The actual financial costs being generated from sleep deprivation is staggering.

Today, so many of us fall into this trap of sacrificing sleep in the name of productivity. But, ironically, our loss of sleep, despite the extra hours we put in at work, adds up to more than eleven days of lost productivity per year per worker. This results in a total annual cost of sleep deprivation to the US economy of more than $63 billion, in the form of absenteeism and presenteeism (when employees are present at work physically but not really mentally focused). (Arianna Huffington, “The Sleep Revolution”)

Leaders who think they can get away with little to no sleep on a regular basis are deluding themselves and by their example are costing their companies millions of dollars. So much for fiduciary responsibility.

Contrary to some opinions, regular sleep isn’t just some luxury for those who have the time and leisure. It’s not an experience that the high performers and uber-productive people in our midst can simply choose to neglect or cut corners on. Sleep, as the original strategic stop, is a fundamental and vital aspect of maintaining necessary human resilience. And as leaders, we need this priority for ourselves, for our employees, and for our organizations.