Giving yourself anything nice this time of year? Hopefully not a completely foreign concept to most.
Giving to yourself benefits you and your teams, your organisation, your close ones and your community.
It being the season of giving, and inspired by Pia Lamberti’s beautiful resilience 24-day calendar, today’s article is focused on giving, to yourself and to others. Sometimes old adages have survived the test of time because there is some truth to them, and this one is definitely one of those:
If you can’t lead yourself, you cannot lead others.
Turn it around to: When you can lead yourself, you can lead others.
For more on this see the article on leading on the inside, self-leadership for leaders, etc…
As a business coach, this is one of the most important and often first topic I cover with leaders and other coachees. Self-care has always been important in being able to do your best, at work, in a community and family.
Having taken care of yourself it is so much easier to give to others, to worthy causes, etc….
If you are running on empty, daily routines, little things, interactions, stuff that shouldn’t be hard, will seem all the more difficult. Taking care of yourself is a crucial first step when it comes to figuring out difficult situations, conflict, navigating tricky negotiations, strenuous interactions, etc..
In my business coach practice I focus on self-care and mental health with my customers.
This enables them to be more innovative, flexible, tolerant of ambiguities and make better decisions. It also influences emotional regulation, a key skill for anyone faced with stressful situations needed quick resolution. The work I do with them can take the form of anything from breathing exercises, building self-care routines, doing walk-n’-talks, happiness journals, to golden moment rituals, and more.
One inspiration from Pia Lamberti’s calendar I particularly appreciated was her nudge on day nine of the calendar to take 15 minutes just for yourself. To have that time to do something you love and give that and yourself your full attention for those 15 minutes. I can highly recommend.
Scientific research has shown that leaders with strong mental health better manage stress.
They are also foster positive workplace cultures (Avey, Wernsing, & Luthans, 2008). Good mental health enhances problem-solving abilities and resilience (Fredrickson, 2001). Furthermore, leaders prioritizing mental health are more likely to promote employee well-being. This, in turn, increases productivity and job satisfaction (Kabat-Zinn, 1990). A lack of mental health care can lead to burnout, reduced performance, and impaired leadership (Maslach & Leiter, 2016).
All these reasons, and personal experience, are why I as a business coach prioritise self-care and mental health with my clients. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you!
References:
- Avey, J. B., Wernsing, T. S., & Luthans, F. (2008). Can positive employees help positive organizational change? Impact of psychological capital and emotions on relevant attitudes and behaviors.
- Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions.
- Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness.
- Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry.
