Setting a Wellness Example

When it comes to leadership, setting an example is a key objective. 

Taking care of yourself in a COVID world is essential for today’s leaders. Caring for yourself is not only important mentally but also physically. 

Mental Wellness

If you were to describe today’s leaders, they would be mentally strong as well as physically capable. 

Leaders today must have an open mind, a good intuition, and a sense of well-being about themselves. They may run into varying opinions, perspectives, and outlooks. Mental wellness is as much about caring, showing empathy, and compassion as it is anything. To create a culture that your team wants to work in, everyone must at least have the ability to be heard, contribute and give their two cents. 

This means today’s leader must be able to showcase a variety of skills regarding prevention, coping with life’s adversities, and being resilient in the face of stress, worry, loneliness, and a wide range of emotions including anger and sadness.  

Physical Wellness

Not only should today’s leader be mentally sharp but also physically ready. Working out or staying in good health should be at the top of their priority list. Wellness combines all facets of wellness - rest, sleep, self-care, visiting their medical team or alternate practitioners, nutrition, and supplementation. A leader who is run down, sick, and in poor health will not be able to effectively lead in today’s ever-changing environment. 

So how does today’s leader set the example for things that they may be doing on their time? Perhaps they exercise before/after work, supplement or do food prep at home, or handle all their visits to the doctor, dentist, chiropractor, etc around work hours.

They set the example by talking to their team about great wellness care so that they can show up and perform at their best while at work. It might come up if someone is missing a lot of work. The leader can ask about that teammate's wellness plan and encourage them to do things that may be missing. 

Today’s leader leads both mentally and physically. Perhaps you are the leader - encourage a healthy lifestyle and lead the way through your interactions with your team. 

Best, 

Manal

Mindset is Key for a Leader

Especially in the midst of a global pandemic and an international escalation. Leadership is about posture, grace, and setting the tone for the whole. 

Leaders today can set the tone of panic or peace within their environment by their actions, words, and mindset. Even if no global things were happening this prior statement is still true. 

Let’s look at this in another way. Let’s say you are the General Manager of your organization and you get news that could be either a good thing or a bad thing but you are not sure yet. 

You could call a meeting and start to panic, fear, and worry about your key leaders and they would do the same for their team members and thus the ball of angst is in motion. The staff starts rewriting their resumes just in case, your leaders call the local headhunter and ask what else is in the marketplace right now. You stress out making your blood pressure rise, your tone and words are sharper and your family gets less of you because you are emotionally tied up. Your social media becomes sharper in tone or stops altogether. You expect your team to do long hours and put in more work to impress senior management or the board. Everyone is stressed.

OR 

You could call an all-member meeting and be calm in your delivery of what could or couldn’t be the case. You ask your team’s opinion. You reassure them that things are going to be alright and you are in this together. You and your team attend a local art project, or meditation session or hang out outside of work like you normally do. You maintain your regular hours. You encourage everyone to do good self-care. Your social media efforts are valuable and make your customers/clients feel appreciated. You launch a community care project to pull the team together. These are great things to do during times that could go either way. 

I know for me, I’d rather be in the second scenario but so many times in life, when there is angst, unknown, or uncertainty, the first of the two scenarios is what happens. Retraction is normal, it is a human reaction to keeping ourselves safe. It is what your brain knows. 

Being mindful and having a positive mindset are things most leaders can and should work on. Your reactions to “news”, changes, or the unknown will flow more gracefully when you are mindful of how you are feeling, reacting, and being. 

Remember, people follow amazing leaders for who they are being rather than for their long list of accomplishments. You get to set the tone, pace, message, and morale of your team. 

Lead in love. 

Best, 

Manal

(This article was first published in the Locala Magazine)

As a Leader, Do You Have This?

 As a leader do you have a spring in your step? 

You have seen that leader in your life that is always “on”. They seem to be naturally happy, positive, and optimistic. I have heard people say you can not be negative and positive at the same time. In this pubmed.gov study, the medical professionals say that happiness and sadness are mutually exclusive feelings but their findings have shown that we can have mixed co-emotions at the same time for brief periods. 

So when it comes to that happy leader, how does he/she say they are optimistic? In my opinion, they choose this. Anyone can shift their perspective at any time. 

Some of the skills I have learned about resetting my choice points are as follows:

One of the core leadership lessons I have learned is to lean into the energy that flows over the energy that feels forced. When you do this, things just seem to flow. It is as if you own the belief that Tony Robbins says, “Life is working for you”.

Maintain a good balance of awareness in your life. When I am in flow energy, I am usually taking good care of myself, ask for what I need, and communicate clearly. My first question to myself when things are not working is, “How is my self-care?”. It is a true reflection of keeping my own life in balance. 

Always be growing. The leaders that maintain this natural positivity are invested in personal growth work. That might look like webinars, seminars, events, books, and coaching. When you are growing, you have certain ownership in life.  

The next time you see that happy leader, ask them their secret of positivity and optimism. Tell them you want to learn to be more like that in your own life. They will be flattered and happy to help you own this too. You may help them realize the power they hold. They may do it so regularly that they forget to see the benefit of a good choice every day. The ripple effect of this awareness is going to bless everyone that knows this leader. 

Wishing you a spring in your step too. 

Best, 

Manal

(This article was first published in the Locala Magazine)

When the Season's Change

Seasons Change not only in the weather but often in life. 

You’ve probably heard the expression “born leader.” The phrase implies that the qualities that make a good leader are innate—you’re either born with the skills it takes to be a leader, or you’re not. And certain traits indeed tend to be innate—such as charisma, humility, and a sense of humor.  

No matter if you are a born or a leader who learned how to lead, today’s leader is open, willing, and must be able to withstand change as the one thing is true, nothing is staying the same in today’s business environment.

You do not need to supervise or be a manager to cultivate leadership skills. You can develop these skills on the job in the following ways: 

Take initiative: Look beyond the tasks in your job description. Think long-term about what would be beneficial for your department and the company. Try to brainstorm ideas and commit to doing work that goes beyond the daily routine. 

Request more responsibility: While you wouldn't want to ask for additional responsibility in your second week on the job, once you've been in a position long enough to become an expert, you can share with your manager that you're eager to grow your leadership abilities. Ask how you can help out—are there upcoming projects that require a point person? Is there any work that you can take off of your manager's to-do list? 

Target specific skills: If you have a specific skill that you want to develop - whether it's creative thinking or communication - create a plan to improve your abilities in this area. This could mean taking a class, finding a mentor to help, reading books, or setting a small goal that forces you to develop this skill. Talk to managers and co-workers, as well as friends outside of the office, to help develop your plan to improve.

 

When you have initiative, seek out how to benefit the organization or you are working towards a set goal - you are sure to be noticed amongst the crowd.

Best, 

Manal