Leadership
in life
It is very
difficult to totally separate one’s work life from one’s
personal life.
It is not
common for a person to be a leader at work and then behave in a way
that they conform with everything in their private life.
The leader
usually acts with the same level of self demand, looking for excellence
and ethical behaviour in all of his fields (professional, family life,
personal, etc).
The same
principals that the leader applies at work (honesty, dedication, innovation,
decision making, worry for people, understanding) will be applied
in his daily life.
The leader
should be a coherent person, capable of maintaining his principles
and not giving up on his team in favour of his professional career.
The leader
has to be capable of defending his principles, although this can cause
him some big professional setbacks.
Leadership:
being able to passionately defend one’s ideas. This demands
a solid person.
Besides,
it is fundamental that the leader maintains a balanced life, dedicating
time not only to his professional life, but also to his personal and
family life.
Leadership
entail a high level of responsibility and pressure, it requires a
certain amount of enthusiasm and optimism, it demands persistence
and dedication, it also demands capacity to convince, encourage, motivate,
etc that only a person with a balanced life will be capable of giving
their best and being on top of things.
So that
a person can develop in all of his fields, he can not allow his professional
life to absorb him. Everything is fundamental – remember to
take advantage of life.
You need
to take time from time (time is scarce, therefore you have to optimize).
Time flies
and everyday counts: one day that is not taken advantage of is a day
you have lost.
The leader
can not loose a day.
Live intensely,
making the most out of time, this does not mean you have to live quickly.
You have
to be a leader throughout life, it is a long term career, which demands
you to be sparing with your strength and not burn out in a rash “sprint”
to do something.
Living
life to the max allows you to attend to all of the human facets (personal,
family, social and professional) and not neglect any of them.
Taking
advantage of time demands you to plan: the leader has a thousand things
to attend to and only good organization skills will allow him to be
able to cope and dedicate time to what is really important and not
waste time on insignificant issues.
If a leader
does not do things this way, the day will absorb him, preventing him
from taking care of more strategic aspects and slowly slowing the
perspective of the future.
The leader
needs to know how to prioritize: distinguish what is really important,
and what isn’t so important.
Next act,
the leader needs to know how to delegate: it is impossible to do everything.
The leader
needs to concentrate on what is essential and delegate what he can’t
do.
It is a
good idea to know what is in your diary for the next few days (look
at your diary Sunday night or early Monday morning to know what is
going on the following week).
Make a
list of what you have to carry out, fix objectives that you would
like to achieve throughout the week.
The only
way to avoid projects being postponed or never getting underway is
by acting. For example, if the leader wants to improve his level of
English, he can set himself a goal of having two hours of class a
week (starting that week, why should you wait?) Fixing in your diary
a day and time is like fixing an obligation that you will respect.
If the
leader wants to improve the communication with his team, he should
fix, for example, a weekly meeting (on a certain day and at a certain
time) which everyone has to attend.
At the
end of the week he should evaluate to what extend he has achieved
his proposed objectives and see how these allow him to advance to
his final goal.
The weekly
objectives that he hasn’t completed should be set aside for
the following week.
When planning
for the week ahead it is essential to look for time to read, time
for sport, leisure and especially time for the family. In fact, the
leader should limit how much time he dedicates to work.
It is not
logical, nor recommendable, to be in the office everyday from 9 in
the morning to 10 at night.
If the
leader decides himself to finish everyday at 19:30 (except on exceptional
occasions) he will organize his day and he will set himself a work
rhythm with the view to finish at a certain time.
Many directors
try to be in the office the whole day. However, they are probably
wasting their time, as they are neglecting their family, their friends
and their own personal worries.