Sometimes we need fuel. Not gas for the car, but rather gas for ourselves. And not necessarily food for our bodies, although that is important. I am speaking about our skillset as manager and leader. We need to feed our abilities to manage, lead, coach, share, inspire, influence, grow and develop others. What is on your menu?
Many of us are familiar with the “3 squares a day” concept…breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would like to tweak this into a different triad…mind, heart and body. We need to feed each of these in an effort to stay fit in our management skillset. Consider that you never stop learning or never stop trying to do the next right thing for the business, or your customer or your team. What stimulates that intention? Before you start giggling or tuning out, think about what helps you stay focused or energized or even just happy in your day, in your job? Maybe it is when you and your team have good performance. Fair enough. Can you depend on that? Maybe you are fully staffed and everyone seems relatively content or engaged. Makes sense. Can you depend on that? Maybe it is you just haven’t had to “deal” with anything as of late. Cool. Can you depend on that? Insert answers here.
Leadership, at least the way I like to define it, is not what you do (what you expect), but who you are. This implies paying very close attention to your own abilities, knowledge and drive. How you “feed” yourself is inferred in this mindset. What are you doing to develop, nurture and amplify your management skills?
Start with something easy to digest…your mind. When I was managing my team, the last thing I was thinking was what can I learn today about management and leadership? I was too busy just working my day and trying my best to keep up with the store, the team members and hitting my targets. While I would often consider a recommended book or daydream about taking a class or attending a seminar, I could easily find reasons (a.k.a. excuses) to just keeping doing my job. It is imperative to first realize that you never stop learning, even in the most unlikely of places. It is then equally imperative to find your outlet to feed your mind. And it is different for everyone. For me it is books. I travel a lot and this helps on flights and in hotels. I also absolutely believe in plugging to peer relationships and talking through various issues and opportunities. Just having a coffee with or ringing a friend or colleague can have a huge impact on my skills. Consider what works best for you and your reality. Maybe it is taking thirty minutes a day and checking out blogs on targeted topics.
Your heart. Uh oh, now we get into a very specific personal taste. How on earth does one feed a heart? First off, what is your opinion of what you do? Does any of this really matter to you or are you just killing time? Be honest. This has to be defined before you can really feed your heart, your passion, your drive or anything that stimulates you to do a good job. Reason being, if you really don’t care, then I would suggest maybe it’s time to go somewhere else. If you do want to grow where you are and like what you do, then consider what will influence your desire to do the next right thing. Think about it. Knowledge helps you know your job. This helps you enjoy your job and moves you to do it well. Let’s be real, not every day is a bed of roses. Sometimes it is a struggle. What keeps you going? Your heart.
Feeding your body probably makes the most sense. We have been taught since we were kids the importance of eating. You know the food groups. You know about moderation. You know about having a balanced diet. Balance is the key in this context. The job can be stressful. It can be long hours on your feet. And lunch may sometimes be cold fries in the office for about five minutes. Been there? This is the hardest of the three to do and it is maybe the most important. This means getting sleep, eating with some consistency those foods which really does fuel your energy and taking a break to re-charge. I dare you to research several illnesses and not find them in some way linked directly or indirectly to fatigue, poor diet, stress, anxiety or other excessive habits associated with just dealing with stuff. This particular consideration, a balance between work and self, takes a discipline to both concede it is so important and to then actually do it something about it. If you are not proactive about this, your body will let you know…in a heartbeat? Sorry, pun intended.
Mind, heart and body. Paying attention to these is absolutely paying attention to your personal grow and development as manager and leader. Listen, I get it. The job gets in the way. Others get in the way. Heck, life can get in the way. It’s not always as easy as it sounds. The best you can do is the best you can do. What if you consciously and consistently fed your mind, your heart and your body? Even for a little bit each day, what is the worst thing that can happen? What’s for dinner?
Cheers