In a previous blog I examined the impact the health of the leader has on organizational performance. Today’s blog will discuss a couple of possible myths that can hold us back from creating a corporate culture of well being.
Myth #1 Leading for Health and Wellbeing Will Create a Culture of Entitlement and Lower Performance
Within the leadership coaching space, we talk a lot about what makes a good leader. Common buzzwords are being authentic, self-aware, strategic, fearless, compassionate, confident, purpose driven or goal-oriented, genuine and engaged. And research shows that communication, emotional intelligence and being able to engage your staff are key factors for successful leadership.
I am adding the following to the definition of successful leadership; leading for health and wellbeing, in their broadest definition. How can we develop a culture of wellbeing and why should we embark on this path? Because it is good for business and humanity.
Fostering a culture of wellbeing for long term performance requires more than common wellness programs, such as weight loss competitions and gym membership. We need to have a more holistic approach. Gallup has developed a very useful well-being index. It includes five elements; sense of purpose, social and financial wellbeing, belonging (community) and physical wellbeing. In short:
Purpose: Enjoying your work and feeling motivated to work towards your goals
Social: Having supportive relationships and love in your life
Financial: Minimize financial stress and anxiety by having adequate financial security
Community: Liking and feeling connected to where you live and your community. Feeling safe and pride of where you live.
Physical: Having a good health and energy and strength enough to live as you wish and getting things done
According to Gallup, those who report higher overall well-being also show less absenteeism and higher productivity (Gallup.com), making a strong business case for investing and leading for a healthier workplace.
What can you do? As a leader you can encourage your staff to live a well-balanced life by modeling a healthy behavior; encouraging staff to take lunch away from their desk, even with their colleagues, and by creating a culture where staff can leave work at a time that allows for family time or volunteering without being frowned upon or fear of torpedoing their career.
What about community? Harvard Business Review raised the topic of the loneliness epidemic in the USA. recently. Organizations as places where people spend most of their time can play an important role in promoting a healthy society at large while improving performance. Belonging is good for business.
Finding meaning and purpose in your work is a powerful motivator for most, once we feel adequately and fairly compensated for our work. The core question is, is there room in your organization for individuals to strive towards their own goals and is the manager actively involved in coaching his team to be supportive and collaborative of each other?
Leading for a culture of wellbeing in the five dimensions will increase engagement, productivity and performance.
Myth #2 Taking time for Self-care Erodes Trust in The Leader
If you have ever traveled on an airplane you are familiar with the safety instructions presented before take-off. Remember the one about the oxygen mask? First place the mask on yourself before you assist someone else, even your child. As a parent I always found this message challenging. Making sure I can breathe before I provide oxygen supply to my child? My instinct is to help my child first.
As a leader you must do the same. Take care of your own health before focusing on the needs of the organization you lead. This may sound selfish, self-centered and like a career killer. Well, I am not talking about you making sure you get the biggest bonus while the rest of the organization and its staff are underpaid. What I am talking about is the importance of self-care for successful leadership, a topic discussed in my previous blog.
For example, being under stress influences how we make decisions and approach risk. A recent study shows that while under stress we tend to focus on the positive aspects of a decision while minimizing the negative. Men under stress tend to take more risks while women tend to avoid risks .
Experiencing stress is not always bad, it is how we approach it, feel about it and deal with it that matters. As the leader you have the right and responsibility, towards yourself and the people you lead, to manage your stress constructively and create a culture where people are encouraged to draw healthy boundaries between work and private time; create positive peer relationships and foster a culture of compassion.
Why? In a compassionate culture people feel empowered and safe to talk about their mistakes and failures. This is good for business as it allows for improvement, growth, creativity & innovation. A compassionate culture is built upon trust and promotes trust.
Healthy leadership is brave leadership. It means being confident enough to accept that you are imperfect and not a superhuman, and to take time to care for your own wellbeing and encourage those you lead to do the same. It will benefit you, your staff and the Organization you serve.
