126 / TAKING UP YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE
Balancing work and life
Attending to different needs
Good leaders know their team, their
capabilities, and what motivates them.
The real skill, though, is being able to
use this knowledge to balance the needs
of the task, the team, and the individual
team members.
Maintaining this equilibrium is
not always easy, because emphasis
inevitably shifts from one area to another.
For example, bursts of intense effort
may be needed to meet tight deadlines—
fine once in a while, but exhausting
on a regular basis.
Maintaining standards
Similarly, the leader may sometimes
have to focus on one member of the
team who is not pulling their weight, or
perhaps finding certain tasks difficult;
absolving them from obtaining agreed
team standards for no obvious reason
is clearly not acceptable.
Most people would say that they want to be healthy, happy, and make
a valued contribution at work to a successful organization. Creating and
maintaining this sense of well-being is an integral part of your role as a
leader. It involves taking a measured view of the balance between work
and life and having realistic expectations of your team.
ACCENTUATE
THE POSITIVE
Promote a healthy work–life
balance and you’ll not only
avoid the pitfalls of stress
and burnout in your team, but
generate real benefits to the
business. Happy staff deliver
better results and empathetic
customer service; staff
retention and recruitment
then become easier.
Tip
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BALANCING WORK AND LIFE / 127
Managing stress
If you have built a strong team during
prosperous, good times, it will withstand
short-term pressures, but you may
need to invest time in team meetings
and calm tensions to maintain balance.
Your goal should be to keep your team
members stretched and working to their
best ability, but not stressed. Remember
that stresses are cumulative: a team
member may be able to tolerate stress
at work for a short while if the other
aspects of their life are running well.
However, if stress in the workplace is
only one of many issues a team member
is dealing with at the same time, then
problems may arise that you should
acknowledge and discuss.
CHECKLIST...
YES NO
1 I often buy new books and have time to read them .........................
2 People remark on how open I am to new ideas ...............................
3 I have a regular exercise routine .....................................................
4 I usually get a good night’s sleep .....................................................
5 I have enough energy to see me through each day .........................
6 I express my feelings ........................................................................
7 I know who I am and that’s fine ........................................................
8 I have a clear sense of purpose in my life and make a real
contribution at work ..........................................................................
Achieving balance in your life
You may need to invest
time in team meetings
and calm tensions to
maintain balance
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