This is the latest in a series of short posts based on feedback to an earlier article about the changing face of leadership.
If you’d like to contribute to this ongoing conversation, please join us in the LinkedIn Group ‘Leadership in a Changing World’.
“Balance has more realistically been a process of continuous squirming.”
The question of balance prompted some of the more personal insights and was clearly something that many had felt keenly over the last two years:
“Exec energy can flag and needs a proper ‘time out’ to revisit the basics and refocus.”
“I took on that 'harder & faster' ethic to ensure others maintained their balance. It took my wife to point this out; I didn't see myself that I had lost balance in trying to give others balance. In doing so, I actually role-modelled exactly what I wanted to avoid. A lesson learnt!”
The subject also tended to lead to wider questions of self-awareness and our relationships with other people – and with our role in life:
“Empathy and mindfulness, for self and others, enables leaders to stay flexible and positive. A leader’s ability to manage their mindset and that of their team is ultimately what will set apart the good from the great.”
“The overused term ‘balance’ has more realistically been a process of ‘continuous squirming’ where the usual has given way to questions of what do we actually stand for – particularly if we lived with the single economic thought previously, often faintly dressed up with the need to care for others."
“Great leaders, and especially CEOs and Chairs, need to always be totally present in the moment and acutely aware of what changes are occurring in the market ecosystem and how this will affect both their employees and customers.”
“Working from home is a new normal, but understand also that people are social animals.”
There were several references to people whose pursuit of personal balance had led them to make fundamental changes in direction – a dynamic that continues to play out with the ‘great resignation’:
“The volume of senior people who have reflected on their work/life balance and decided that they need to make a change, be it move to another firm where the opportunity/culture is more suited, or deciding to reduce their work commitments and spend more time with the family.”
“I have seen more staff churn this year than at any other time in my career.”
Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash