VIM Executive Coaching embraces the mindset that executive leaders (indeed, everyone) in organizations should take care of their health. Whether you start each day with a brisk walk in the park or attend a kickboxing class or prepare for a major pickleball competition, exercise is good (so is diet and not partying too much!). Indeed, there are at least a gazillion trainers, exercise programs, exercise podcasts and gyms out there, wherever “out there” is for you.
How’s Your Leadership Health?
However, as important as physical fitness, diet and moderation are to executive leaders – at every level of an organization, we are not talking about that in this post. Despite the perception that remote work or its new step-child, hybrid work may be to outsiders, we all know how stressful and difficult it is to navigate that world.
VIM Executive Coaching, by virtue of our in-person and remote executive leadership counseling is well aware of the stressors executives are currently facing. While we would never break confidentiality, we hear countless laments of stress, anger, depression, “office politics,” staff turnover and negative behaviors. As we make clear, we don’t believe in dabbling in psychological counseling; that is not our domain. However, executive leadership, post-pandemic 2022, and undoubtedly beyond, carries with it leadership pains that are challenging and unique.
Leadership health as opposed to physical or even emotional health, also demands self-care. Sadly, far too many executives neglect that self-care and it affects how they see their people and their executive worlds. It is a shame, for such care requires no special diets, supplements, exercise bands or even muscle rubs.
Leadership Health Requires You
Leadership health is an essential tool every executive leader should carry and embrace. Yet, leadership health often gets lost in the barrage and clutter of study requirements, readings and must-have messaging. As opposed to all of those things executive leaders need to accomplish and direct for others, leadership health demands we take an inner journey for themselves. It is totally selfish and at the same time selfless.
An executive leader who is in-tune with their own needs, is most effective in addressing the needs of others.
The bedrock of leadership health is mindfulness. It is as modern as ancient. Mindfulness, achieved through guided exercises geared toward greater self-knowledge and mindfulness meditation, is a journey toward self-care. It is you, helping you, to be more aware and more in the moment.
A “healthy” executive leader is one who responds to situations rather than blindly reacts to them. As such, in that response, the executive leader is consistent. Consistency is powerful because consistency leads to a sense of authenticity. A reactive leader is often burdened with a built-in set of biases, while a responsive leader is open, compassionate and much fairer.
Invariably, one of the greatest gifts brought about by mindfulness is a diminution of stress. The acceptance of what is, not what a leader might want it to be, greatly enhances truth, fairness and a lack of bias. Clearly, companies (and their executives) that have dubious track records of a lack of inclusion or unethical behaviors have produced or nurtured unhealthy executive leaders. We have all known such organizations. Working for them – and we’ve heard this countless times – is filled with anxiety and stress.
The goal is to be “healthy,” by being more mindful and more authentic. Leadership health is rarely discussed and yet there is no higher priority than to be healthy. Our goal at VIM Executive Coaching is to lead executives toward greater health and authenticity.