Carolyn Stevens offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print. Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum. ----------- PUBLICATION GUIDELINES - You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety. - Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity. - Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only. - If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links. - Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to [email protected] - Content Crooner (www.ContentCrooner.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. Content Crooner does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article. ----------- Article Title: As A Leader, You Won't Be At Your Best Until... Author: Carolyn Stevens Category: Leadership, Work Life Balance, Corporate Word Count: 443 Keywords: leadership effectiveness, work/life balance, personal audit, exercise Author's Email Address: [email protected] Article Source: http://www.contentcrooner.com ------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------
"In coaching sessions is it normal to talk about things like getting fit, having holidays and work/life balance?" was a question Mark, a leader I coach, asked last week. "Well, let's look at it this way-How might the fact that you're not exercising at all impact your effectiveness in your leadership? How does the fact that you haven't had one single day off for more than twelve months impact your performance? How does the fact that you're working more than twelve hours every day, and sometimes a lot more, impact your effectiveness at work? A light switched on for Mark. These matters he had for so long pushed aside to further his career now became a central strategy in achieving his career goals and satisfying his personal values. We Need This Balance As we talked through the answers to my three questions, Mark became much, much more aware of the performance costs to his organization that were a consequence of his of lack of exercise, insufficient holidays and scarcity of "life" in his work/life balance equation. He realized that to function at his best, both professionally and personally, he needed to create much better balance... So we explored further what his ideal circumstance would look like and strategies that would help him achieve that. Consequently we will soon see a more productive, fitter, healthier, happier, more fulfilled Mark :-). Now The Question Is, Are You Like Mark? You know Mark isn't unusual-for example, one in four full time workers in Australia (where I live) have accrued 25 days or more of annual leave. The worry is that the figure is "25 days or more"... I'd say that a great number of these one in four are leaders, and I imagine that a great number of those leaders have a lot more than 25 days accrued! The question is, could you be one of them? If so, read on... Your Leadership Call To Action What out-of-work issues impact your performance at work? And can they be more desirably managed? Let's not kid ourselves-exercise and regular rest and relaxation have a huge impact on whether or not your performance is optimal: o Are you exercising at least three times a week-and therefore becoming fitter, healthier, less stressed and more energized right through to the end of the day? o Are you scheduling and taking regular holidays as well as shorter breaks-and therefore having that highly creative chill-out time, resting and reinvigorating to prepare yourself for the next long haul at work? Believe me, our out of work activities impact our effectiveness at work! Please, please take 30 seconds to do this personal audit. For many of you it'll lead to you modeling more of the characteristics of an exemplary leader! Carolyn Stevens, Managing Director of Leading Performance Pty Ltd, works with executives, leaders and teams who want to do a remarkably good job. Go to http://www.leadingperformance.com.au to request her useful, bite-sized, twice-monthly leadership solutions. ------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
