Leadership Flagship

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.~ John Quincy Adams

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  • Your Health Matters: How To Lead a Well-Balanced Life

    Your Health Matters: How To Lead a Well-Balanced Life

    A healthy, happy mind can contribute to good health. Balanced living means having a positive outlook, focusing on good habits, and lowering stress.

    By  Medically Reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH
    Everyone longs to be healthy and happy. After all, what’s the point in working hard toward a long and healthy life if you can’t enjoy it? While focusing on a healthy lifestyle by exercising and eating right is great for your body, balanced living means protecting your mental and emotional health, too. And stress reduction needs to be at the top of your to-do list.

     

    Balanced Living: Making the Commitment

    Balanced living means considering all aspects of your life: relationships, work, fitness and health, and emotional well-being.

    We all get bogged down with work and family responsibilities from time to time, but making time for yourself is necessary so that you can keep up with all your responsibilities. All batteries get run down, even yours. So recharge your body physically and mentally and make the commitment to enjoy some “you time” every day.

     

    Balanced Living: Boosting Happiness and Creativity

    Being happy gives you a better outlook on life, so you’re more prepared to tackle your tasks. Stress, on the other hand, can keep you from enjoying life and can have a negative impact on your health. Research also has shown that stress can stifle creativity.

    Make time to take care of yourself and indulge in creative outlets you enjoy to help with stress reduction:

    • Schedule time each week to allow yourself to de-stress, and spend a few minutes on relaxation each day.
    • Get up a few minutes early in the morning to savor a cup of coffee and some quiet time before everyone else wakes up.
    • Make daily activities more fun — try a new ethnic recipe for dinner, take a long aromatherapy soak instead of a quick shower, or listen to new music or learn a new language while you commute to work.
    • Devote time each week to a hobby you love or to learning a new one you’ve always wanted to try; art classes in particular are stimulating and rewarding.
    • Instead of just sitting at your desk and gobbling down lunch while you keep working, spend your lunch hour doing things you enjoy, like going for a walk, taking an exercise break, or reading a book.
    • Don’t forget to laugh. It’s great for your health and can help:
      • Alleviate stress
      • Fight off infections
      • Boost brain health
      • Lower blood pressure
      • Improve your mood

    Balanced Living: Enjoying Exercise for Good Health

    Exercise isn’t something you should force yourself to do, or you won’t be likely to stick with. Do something that you like and look forward to doing, instead of another chore that you’ll be tempted to skip. Remember that exercise plays a huge role in stress reduction, so make time and motivate yourself for exercise by:

    • Making a good long workout part of your weekend plans. Hit the gym or plan a fun activity — go for a hike, bike ride, or play a game of golf or tennis.
    • Sneaking in some exercise on your lunch hour at work, or get up earlier and work out before you start your day.
    • Scheduling appointments for exercise just like you do other important tasks; commit the plan to paper so you’ll be more motivated to stick with it.

    Balanced Living: Making Time to Eat Right

    The right diet will keep your body healthy, give you energy, and boost your spirits. Healthy food can be delicious, and it’s fun learning new recipes and healthy combinations. Also, healthy cooking doesn’t have to be time-consuming:

    • Scour the Internet for heart-healthy recipes, or buy a cookbook focused on quick and tasty cuisine.
    • Buy fresh, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables so that you can grab them on the go.
    • Plan your healthy menu for the week ahead and buy all the groceries that you’ll need; having a system will help you resist the temptation to call the pizza delivery guy.

    Everything in moderation is a phrase you hear often, and with good reason. Everything in moderation means that there’s a healthy balance to your life, so laugh, love, live, and be healthy.

    Learn more about balance.

  • Your Health Matters: 10 Tips for Taking Time Out for Yourself

    Your Health Matters: 10 Tips for Taking Time Out for Yourself

    Taking time out of your busy schedule to focus on yourself can help boost your energy and your emotional health. Try these ideas for relaxing and recharging.

    Excerpts from an article by Medically Reviewed by Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD
    Introduction: by M.Wood 9/11/2017

    The kids are back in school and tasks that have been let go are piled up; you have a large list of household chores, your home is a wreck after a summer off, not to mention that holidays are approaching and your life is just got even busier.  How you can possibly recapture some of that “lazy” time you missed last summer?

    Taking time out of your hectic schedule just for yourself helps you live a healthier, happier life. “Relieving stress can lower blood pressure, help you sleep better, and even help you maintain a healthy weight,” says Berit Brogaard, a professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of Missouri in St. Louis.

    Here are 10 ways to sneak some “me time” in

    1. Just say no. It’s okay to push back from a few volunteer projects or to let the dishes sit for a few hours so you can take time out for yourself. “Don’t feel bad saying ‘no’ now and then,” says Bo Bradley, a life coach and the author of Achieving the Balance Dream. It’s important to free up time to take a walk, work a crossword puzzle, or watch your favorite TV show.
    2. Forage for finds. Lose yourself in a stroll around a flea market or neighborhood garage sale. The hunt for a one-of-a-kind treasure is a great way to snap out of your routine.
    3. Create a musical escape. Can’t leave the house? Turn everyday chores into relaxing moments. Play classical music, or some other type of music that you find soothing, while you’re folding laundry or preparing dinner. Instead of feeling rushed and annoyed that you’re searching for matching socks, you’ll find yourself relaxing.
    4. Join a “time off” team. Join forces with other busy parents and arrange playdates or sleepovers. Spend your night off unwinding with friends at a café or coffeehouse. “Just be sure to order decaf so you’re not counting sheep at midnight!” says Brogaard.
    5. Clear your head. A half hour of meditation or yoga can clear your head and relieve stress, helping you feel more relaxed and calm. “These activities regulate the brain waves responsible for our conscious states,” says Brogaard, “and literally make the brain less busy.”
    6. Bury yourself in a book. The quiet atmosphere at a library encourages relaxation, and the cool air can be a welcome relief when the temperature outside is climbing. Spend an hour flipping through your favorite magazines or looking for a fun read. “Just make sure you leave the kids at home so you can truly immerse yourself in the experience,” says Brogaard.
    7. Go green. Spending time outdoors resets your natural rhythm, says stress management expert Debbie Mandel, MA, the author of Addicted to Stress: A Woman’s 7-Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life. Take a nature walk, eat lunch outside, or take a chore outside — such as balancing your checkbook out on the deck. Any opportunity to get outside will help you feel re-energized.
    8. Talk to the animals. Sure, the zoo is a great place to take the kids. But feeding the ducks and watching elephants splash in their pool is a great way for grown-ups to unwind too. Playing with your pets at home is another fun way to enjoy some animal company.
    9. Get schooled. Sign up for that ceramics or pastry class you’ve always wanted to take. Learning something new can fuel your creativity and give you a chance to make new friends with similar interests.
    10. Stop by the silver screen. Spend a rainy or cooler day at the movies. “A comedy or romance is a great treat for busy, overscheduled parents,” says Mandel. “It’s good for your mental health to laugh and feel like you’re putting your interests first now and then.”
    With a little planning and some ingenuity, you can find time to relieve stress and nurture yourself, which will help keep you healthy and give you more energy to meet your family’s needs.
  • Weighing-In On Work Wear: Gaining clarity on office dress code

    Weighing-In On Work Wear: Gaining clarity on office dress code

     Posted on 08-31-2017, by:Sandra Lavoy Robert Half

    Office formalities are often relaxed as temperatures rise, including the tendency for business casual attire to get even more casual. But while warm weather may signal a more comfortable workplace environment, it shouldn’t indicate an unprofessional one.

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  • There Are 2 Extreme Leadership Styles. Knowing Which Way You Lean Can Propel Business

    There Are 2 Extreme Leadership Styles. Knowing Which Way You Lean Can Propel Business

    Leaders have a natural style they use to hold others accountable. What’s yours?

    When you’re a leader, it’s all about how others perform. Holding others accountable makes or breaks your reputation as a leader. So, your style matters.

    Partners in Leadership conducted a Workplace Accountability Study on how leaders hold others accountable and found that most people reflect a natural preference for one of two different sides of a continuum. The continuum describes the extremes of the two styles that we tend to see: “Coerce & Compel” on one extreme and “Wait & See” on the other.

    Style One: Coerce & Compel

    Managers who hold employees accountable through a Coerce & Compel method have high expectations, need constant reporting, and they follow up constantly.

    Employees managed by the extreme managers might feel intimidated by a boss who tends to “force” things to happen, or they may view him or her as a micromanager who doesn’t trust their opinion. Not good. Managers on this extreme exhaust their employees, proving the often-said adage that people leave managers, not companies.

    But, there are some productivity advantages to this style: not giving up easily, communicating expectations, and staying focused on the task at hand.

    Style Two: Wait & See

    This manager is much more trusting, allowing ample freedom for employees to succeed or fail and intervening only when it’s necessary. However, because these managers tend to shy away from intervention, they set low expectations and can strike people as disengaged. At worst, their hands-off approach might impede the team’s productivity by not intervening at a critical junction. Worse yet is when they are baffled that things went wrong just because they were at the extreme of this style.

    Wait & See has advantages. Managers that strongly support people and build strong loyalty and support in others. Knowing when to intervene, and only allowing failure when it doesn’t hurt the business or the employee’s reputation moves a manager from the extreme and more toward a healthy compel employee strategy. Our study showed that 64% of managers across industries identified as a Wait & See manager.

    Hybrid Style: The Positive, Principled Way of Holding Others Accountable

    There are clear strengths and weaknesses to both leadership styles. Most managers learn through experience when to use the best of both styles when needed. Harnessing the advantages and avoiding the disadvantages of both styles is how leaders hold others accountable the positive, principled way.

    Interestingly, 43% of our survey respondents said the people responsible for holding them accountable borrowed more or less equally from both models–a step in the right direction for leaders who know what style they lean towards and conscientiously make adjustments to harness the positive attributes of each.

    Remember, too, that each person you interact with is different, and an employee might respond more positively to one style than to another. Some people flourish under pressure and even fall behind if given too much flexibility and freedom. Others need plenty of space to access their ideas and creativity, losing focus with every interruption. In short, every employee is different, and your accountability style should take into consideration the needs and personalities of each person on your team.

    What’s Your Leadership Style?

    The first step to holding others accountable the positive, principled way is to acknowledge and understand your accountability style. Take the Leadership Accountability Style Quiz to find out where you fall on the spectrum. And be sure to ask your colleagues, peers, and employees. Ask for feedback about your leadership style and what works or doesn’t work about the way you hold others accountable.

    Regardless of where you naturally fall on the continuum, harness the strengths of both styles and you’ll be well on your way to creating a culture of accountability in your workplace.

     

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  • 6 Ways To (Legally And Effectively) Monitor Your Employees

    6 Ways To (Legally And Effectively) Monitor Your Employees

    Posted on 08-31-2017, by: Maile Proctor – 10x Digital Inc

    Equip yourself to avoid potential privacy dilemmas and discrimination lawsuits 

    Are you concerned about what your employees are up to or simply want a better idea of what’s going on in your office? Many businesses monitor their employees to ensure that all is well within the four walls of the office, and have video evidence if there’s a sexual harassment incident. Still, monitoring your employees can post issues both legally and with day-to-day productivity.

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