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Tag: Core Values
6 Famous Principles For Effective Task Management
In our daily rush and in a constant desire to produce, we often find ourselves multitasking, overworked, stressed out, pretending to be busy but not completing any task.
Below are six principles of task management to help you finish what you started.
Wondering which Principles to use in order to manage your tasks effectively?
1. The Pareto Principle
In 1906, Pareto realized that 20% of the population made up 80% of the revenue.
Then, he also noticed that these statistics also applied to work productivity. Indeed, in the workplace, 20% of the work produced generates 80% of the desired results.
That is why the Pareto Principle, better known as the 80/20 Principle or the Law of the Vital Few, encourages you to focus on essentials tasks, prioritize your activities, avoid those that are not beneficial to you and learn how to say no.
2. The Parkinson Principle
In 1958, Professor Cyril North-Cote Parkinson understood that a task will take up all the attributed time for it’s realization.
In ther words, the Parkinson Principle or the Dilatation Principle affirms that even if we have the ample time to achieve a task, we will use up all that given time.
That is why it is necessary to break up tasks into smaller ones and create your own deadlines.
3. The Law Of Murphy
According to Murphy, a US Air Force Engineer, a task always takes up more time than expected and that whatever could go wrong will go wrong.
Consequently, you must expect the unexpected, anticipate problems, add buffers between meetings, and overestimate the time needed on any task you take on even if you are good at it.
4. The Laborit Principle
If we listened to ourselves, there is no doubt in my mind that we would always do what makes us happy and complete the easiest tasks first.
We would therefore tackle the ones who require the least effort and neglect the hard and stressful ones.
However, handling the most difficult tasks first require extreme self-discipline but is the most rewarding task management strategy.
5. The Carlson Principle
In the 1950s, Professor Sune Carlson measured the number of time managers were being interrupted in average on a daily basis.
It turns out that they were interrupted every 20 minutes and were not able to effectively tend to their tasks because it took them time to focus back on their task at hand.
Carlson concluded that a task handled without interruptions or distractions is done faster than when it is done otherwise.
If you have an opening door policy, you may want to create strong boundaries to make time for your activities and reduce interruptions.
6. The Illich Principle
Ivan Illich, an ecologist thinker, states that beyond a certain amount of time spent on a task, our effectiveness and focus tend to diminish.
Due to that fact, it becomes vital to know and accept our own limitations, and to take regular breaks in order to recharge ourselves.
Last Words Of Advice!
The clutter on your desk also takes up mental space, create a sense of being busy and overwhelmed without you actually being productive.
It then becomes important to unclutter as much as possible and set things at their place.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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11 Ways To Make The Best Decision For Yourself
Have you ever been anxious about making the right decision?
Are you confused by all the possibilities? Overwhelmed by all the consequences of your decision? Are you prepared for the consequences? Are you feeling pressured by a timeline? Do you have all the information at hand to come to a conclusion?
Indecision can be crippling and problematic. Having to take a difficult decision can overload your mind, take over your emotions and perturb your whole week.
Most of the time, we procrastinate over these decisions or wish that someone would make them for us. Either way, we have to assume responsibility for our decisions.
Wondering how to make the best decision for yourself?
1. Trust your voice
You have to understand that your opinion really matters, that you will make mistakes and that you will have to stand next to your decision no matter what.
The more you make decisions and make mistakes, the faster you will get it right and trust yourself.
2. Listen to your gut
For those who are in tune with themselves, the concept of following your gut and listening to your intuition is easy to understand and even easier to apply.
You already know the decision you are leaning towards. If you don’t, apply your decisions without committing to them, then see how it feels. You can also think how you would feel if you say yes or no to a decision.
3. Stop beating yourself up
Make the decision beforehand to accept whatever you choose and don’t beat yourself up about it.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, forgive yourself and learn to let go…
If you have lost an opportunity, another one will show up and it will be the chance for you to redeem yourself or to make a more appropriate decision.
4. Detach yourself from the situation
You have a hard time making a decision because you are probably in too deep, your emotions and thoughts are clouded, you are obsessing and ruminating.
To gain a bird’s eye view over your problems, you definitely need to take a step back.
Detaching yourself will help you get into the right mindset and will allow you to analyze each element of the situation with a cold head. When you are detached, you will be able to better handle the impacts of your decision no matter what you choose.
5. Make time for that decision
You will have to give this decision all your attention and make it in a given timeframe.
In this timeframe, you will have to play out all the possible scenarios. Outside of that timeframe, you must consider that your decision is final, that you cannot go back and you can no longer obsess about it.
6. Be clear about your needs and desires
Sometimes, you have to choose the decisions that best suit your needs and desires. You cannot make decisions based on what you want and the expectations of society or of your social circle.
For example, you may want a big time high paying job but you may need trust, transparency, and a sense of safety.
7. Be clear about your core values
A few decisions that you will be making in life will make you uncomfortable, cross your boundaries and go against your core values.
If you have solid core values, these decisions become a no brainer and don’t take long to make.
8. Be clear about your goals and purpose
Having a clear purpose eases your decision-making process.
Decisions fail when people don’t know their purpose in the first place.
If the outcome of your decisions aligns with your goals and purpose, stop reading this and go for it!
9. Don’t settle for one solution
There might be more than one answer or solution to your problem.
Indeed, your decision might not be black or white. If you are detached enough, you will be able to visualize the bigger picture.
You don’t need to win right away but you could push back or find compromises.
10. Visualize or redact your thoughts
Bringing in outside opinions will only complicate the decision making process.
However, it will help to speak or write down your thoughts. You will surely come up with the best decision when you do so.
11. Ask an expert
Asking someone for their opinion is not recommended because their advice will not necessarily work for you.
However, if you do, you really have to use discernment and choose someone who has done what you have done before and who has a lot of expertise on the topic.
Last Words Of Advice!
There is no perfect decision and you will never be 100% sure about your decisions. So, relax and reframe your mind!
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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10 Reasons Empathy Matters In Leadership
Most people believe that the best leaders have the highest IQ, are emotionless and analytical.
Indeed, empathy is seen as a weakness in the workplace. The less you have, the more you will succeed.
The truth is the best leaders are empathetic, compassionate, highly sensitive and have high level of emotional intelligence.
Wondering why empathetic people make the best leaders?
Empathy is a strong leadership skill that helps leaders to connect with people.
Empathy builds compassionate leaders which consequently improves the health of workplaces.
Empathetic leaders understand what others need, are feeling emotionally and physically.
They rather listen than speak, they don’t need to communicate verbally because they pick up on verbal and non verbal cues.
#1. Empathetic leaders pick up on the emotions of others
Empathetic leaders are self-aware.
They understand themselves, pay attention to people’s non verbal cues and are able to perceive the emotions of others. As a result, they are able to easily relate to people.
#2. Empathetic leaders are a great judge of character
Empathetic leaders are true to themselves and notice inauthentic people.
They can easily distinguish a lie from the truth, which makes them highly ethical.
#3. Empathetic leaders are people persons
They put people first and use servant leadership style.
For the main part, they direct their attention on people and not on results.
They understand people and the motivations behind their behaviors. This also gives them an ability to build good relationships and avoid bad ones.
#4. Empathetic leaders are present
Empathetic leaders live in the present.
When someone is talking to them, they give them their full attention in order to sense their feelings and to access their emotions.
#5. Empathetic leaders are peace makers
Empathetic leaders enjoy their peace of mind. They want to get rid of conflicts or negative situation at all costs.
They cannot stand chaos or conflicts. So whenever a negative situation arises or whenever they sense negative emotions, they take it upon yourself to restore peace.
#6. Empathetic leaders create a healthy workplace
Being an empathetic leader is critical to the workplace.
Empathetic leaders have a tendency to calm people down and to build trust.
They set up their environment so that everyone can succeed.
Their behavior induces greater collaboration, increase performance and creates a healthier workplace.
#7. You are ethical
They have strong core values.
They follow ethics and work for the greater good.
#8. Empathetic leaders give good advice
Because empathetic leaders understand the origin of problems so well, because they know how to listen, people come to them for advice.
They usually are wise, solution-oriented, and possess the answer to most problems.
#9. Empathetic leaders lead with their intuition
Empathetic leaders lead with intuition to make important decisions. You sense where to go and what to do.
They have strong gut feelings and their gut is always right.
#10. Empathetic leaders know how to influence and how to motivate
They are attuned to what your team secretly needs and wants to succeed.
They know how to persuade and motivate people.
As much as they can step in other people’s shoes, they can change your point of view and influence you towards the same goals.
Last Words Of Advice!
Some empathetic leaders have roles that require their full attention and that challenge their empathy.
For that reason, most empathetic leaders evolve towards liberal and helping professions.
It is important for them to learn how to navigate people and negative situations.
- Spend time a few hours a day alone.
- Discipline your emotions.
- Observe the company culture and see how you can employ your empathetic leadership style.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
14 Traits Of Highly Successful Leaders
You do not have to be famous, be a millionaire or own a company in the Fortune 500 to be a successful leader.
A successful leader runs a successful business with a healthy return on investment with the help of a successful team.
A successful leader is able to mentally, emotionally, physically and financially provide for his or her team.
Wondering what are the main traits a successful leader?
To become a successful leader, there are a few traits that you need to develop.
The traits of successful leaders can be acquired anytime in life.
However, it is up to you to maintain them. It will also require a lot of self-discipline, self-motivation and self-awareness.
Trait #1. Successful leaders lead a healthy lifestyle
First and foremost, successful leaders are morning people.
They get a good night sleep.
They wake up early in the morning.
They choose to rise with the sun because it gives them time to think, to meditate, to plan their day.
Furthermore, they eat well and on time.
They exercise early in the morning to maintain their physical health, and to get rid of lingering negativity.
Trait #2. Successful leaders have strong conviction
They have the conviction that they are successful and that they will succeed no matter what.
Their conviction comes from their self-awareness, drive, purpose and their strong core values.
They have integrity and hold on to their principles.
They know that they can accomplish anything that they set their mind to.
They rely on their intuition, make their own opinion and don’t follow anyone.
Trait #3. Successful leaders manage their time effectively
They know how to manage their time and prioritize their tasks.
They are willing to handle the most difficult, most important and the most urgent first.
They say no to things that don’t matter to them or to things that don’t fit into the bigger picture.
Trait #4. Successful leaders value solitude
They regularly spend time alone to reflect and to get work done.
Trait #5. Successful leaders own up to their mistake
Indeed, they make mistakes.
They can admit when they have done wrong and can apologize for it.
They reward themselves for their successes and above all learn from their failures.
Trait #6. Successful leaders take calculated risks
They take risks, get out of their comfort zones, recognize what works and what doesn’t.
Trait #7. Successful leaders ask for feedback
They ask for feedback, actively listen to it, and if the feedback is sound, seek to apply it.
Trait #8. Successful leaders set boundaries
They have set clear boundaries in their mind early on.
They know what they need, want, wish for.
They also know what they will not allow or stand for.
They know how to say no and stand their ground.
Trait #9. Successful leaders obsess positively
Leaders spend their time obsessing positively.
By “obsessing positively”, I mean they are passionate and they can focus their attention on their goals for a prolonged amount of time.
Basically, they eat, drink, sleep, think their goals.
Trait #10. Successful leaders have a healthy work life balance
Even though they can obsess over their professional goals, they make time for a personal life.
They make sure to maintain a healthy work life balance.
Trait #11. Successful leaders are optimistic
They are grateful for what they have but are not complacent.
They do not dwell on negativity and CHOOSE to focus on positivity.
They don’t overthink or overanalyze everything.
They don’t play the victim and take responsibility for their actions.
They handle change, failures and pressure gracefully.
They see challenges as an opportunity to learn and they maintain a positive attitude in adversity.
Trait #12. Successful leaders are whole
Their self-esteem does not depend on what others think of them.
They don’t compare their lives with the ones of other people.
They don’t judge but empathize with other people.
They don’t insult but compliment people.
They don’t abuse their authority or power.
They don’t hug the spotlight but give credit when credit is due.
They do not need to harm someone else to feel superior or to feel whole.
They know who, how and when to forgive.
Moreover, they want to see others succeed. They encourage others to grow, to succeed and reach their full potential.
Trait #13. Successful leaders are wise beyond their years
They have a deep understanding of life and of themselves.
They can assess a situation and its outcome before engaging in it.
They have identified their purpose early in life and every decision that they make can be justified.
Trait #14. Successful leaders are learning machines
They are open-minded.
They are always learning, always evolving and always growing.
They understand that learning is a never-ending process, no matter their age or status.
On the flip side, they constantly want to share their knowledge with the world.
Last Words Of Advice!
Successful people inspire and act as role models for others and for their own organization.
Therefore, be mindful of your actions and of your words.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
Quote Of The Week #82
15 Edifying Experiences That Help Leaders Learn To Lead
The best leaders develop their skills on the field and learn from their experience.
They acknowledge that they do not know everything, that their learning process is singular but they are curious and are open to learn.
It is common knowledge that experience is the best teacher. Your experiences will help you develop a leadership style, a communication style, core values, purpose, character and emotional discipline.
Wondering how and which experiences can teach you how to lead?
25 Edifying Experiences That Help Leaders Learn To Lead
Through your experiences, if you take time out to extract the lessons from your experiences, you will become a wiser and successful leader.
#1. When You Fail
At some point in your career, you will fail as a leader or as a person. You will fail to meet deadlines, to perform or to succeed.
However, every leader knows that you cannot let failure define you and that you must go on.
Indeed, failure is most often seen in a negative light but shows you what you are really made of.
Failure are inevitable, are a factor for change, redirects your career, helps you change procedures and your character.
Experiencing failure teaches you to:
- Be more self-aware.
- Identify the cues of failure.
- Don’t punish yourself for failures and forgive yourself.
- Measure the consequences of the mistakes and take responsibility for the failure.
- Encourage constructive criticism as much as feedback is given.
- Make immediate analysis and changes to fix the mistakes.
- Be smart and learn from the mistakes made.
- Be wise and learn from the mistakes of others.
- Create an environment that is safe to make mistakes and to recover from them.
Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward. - John C. Maxwell Click To Tweet
#2. When You Get Familiar With Positivity & Success
Positive experiences are highly memorable and can change your life forever.
Positive attitudes can become difficult to maintain in challenging situations in the workplace. But once acquired, it is a habit that can help you overcome bad situations.
Indeed, positivity ensures progress, diffuses situations, alleviates stress, reduces fear, increases endurance, increase self-esteem, attracts positive results and better opportunities.
There are many ways to bring positivity into the workplace and into your mind. When you get familiar with positivity and success, you learn to:
- Be aware of the content of your thoughts.
- Identify triggers, patterns in your thought process.
- Be selective about the information that come into your mind.
- Understand that you are not the prisoner of your thoughts.
- Think about who you want to become and how you want to affect people.
- Focus on what is going right instead of what is going wrong.
- Acknowledge personal success.
#3. When You Promote Forgiveness
Forgiveness is often seen as weakness in the workplace. However, it is an efficient tool to avoid toxic conflicts, boost productivity, motivation and well-being.
Truthfully, in the workplace, people are sensitive about their work, feelings get hurt easily and emotions get high. It becomes essential to:
- Forgive yourself when you have wronged someone or yourself.
- Forgive others for their wrongdoings as well.
Becoming a forgiving person will teach you to:
- Be compassionate and to let things go.
- Not define yourself by your mistakes.
- Not focus on the past and to be present.
- Do your best next time.
#4. When You Find A Role Model
A role model can be a family member, a friend, a coworker, or another leader.
Role models provide sound advice, ongoing feedback, emotional support, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, higher self-esteem, better focus, stronger confidence.
Emulating their thoughts and behavior can improve your mind and teach you how to lead.
Keep in mind that you can learn from a bad leader as much as a good leader.
#5. When You Enjoy Solitude
Solitude and leadership often go hand in hand.
That is because, though leaders have family, friends, mentors and large network, they are the ones making the ultimate decision for their organization and not everyone will agree with their decisions.
However, solitude can give you time to think, to understand who you are and how you want to lead.
Leadership is also having the power to stand alone.
Leadership is also having the power to stand alone. - Vanessa Sylvester Click To Tweet
#6. When You Find Your Purpose or Renew Your Vision
You need to know why you work and your team needs to know why they work for you.
It is the vision that leads you and propels you forward, that wakes you up in the morning, that drives your performance, that is communicated to your employees, that gives meaning to your actions and decisions, and that leans on your belief systems.
Leaders with a vision are ambitious and satisfied with their lives, become hopeful and optimistic about the future, invite change, and select their employees according to their strengths and not their weaknesses.
They are also daring and don’t fear failure, are emotionally invested in their goals, flexible, persistent, resistant to social pressure and are convinced of their future success.
With purpose, leaders can easily overcome adversity. - Vanessa Sylvester Click To Tweet
#7. When You Have To Chose Being Like Vs. Being Respected
I am sure that at some point, you have realized that you get more things done when your coworkers like you.
However, in these situations, you can quickly become a people pleaser and lose the respect of your coworkers.
There comes a time when you have to decide whether you want to be liked or to be respected.
#8. When You Experience Different Cultures
You have experienced different cultures and are now culturally sensitive.
Cultural sensitivity is being aware that everyone is not the same. It means being able to learn from different people, to understand their backgrounds, to collaborate and cooperate with them, without being judgmental.
Cultural sensitivity means viewing everyone as a unique individual. It promotes unity and has become a skill that is most useful in the world of today.
You are now capable of adapting your leadership and communication style to every single member of your team.
You are also capable of shifting the focus from yourself to your team.
#9. When You Thought You Knew It All
Not because you are the leader, that you have all the solutions or are always right.
In fact, being a leader is being placed in a position of service and humility.
To be a humble leader:
- Be confident about your own capabilities.
- Take the time to think and to come up with a solution.
- Understand that being a leader is not about being right.
- Give people the time to think for themselves and to make their own mistakes.
- Acknowledge that someone on your team may have better ideas than you do.
- Learn to ask for help and to detect if someone needs help.
- Learn to ponder your responses.
#10. When You Have Foot In The Mouth Syndrome
Sometimes, we say whatever comes to our mind.
Other times, we blurt out things that we don’t mean but we haven’t measured the real impact of our words.
In these moments, we understand that we should be quiet, that we should learn to speak less and listen more.
#11. When You Get Caught Up In Office Politics
Office politics is often badly perceived because it can be cruel, calculated and manipulative.
Sometimes, office politics is a dangerous and corrosive game but it is a game. It is part of human nature, a social activity, a marathon and not a sprint.
Other times, properly navigating office politics can give you access to leadership opportunities and promotion.
Once you have experienced office politics, you become aware of the power play, of how you speak and listen to people.
You start making sure that you are robust, are not dependent on people or other external factors, that you are emotionally detached from your work and that you can clearly separate your identity from your job.
#12. When You Have To Deal With Toxic Coworkers
We all have been exposed during a period of time to annoying, hateful, toxic coworkers who can drive us crazy.
Whether it’s confronting a team member about their behavior or their performance, toxic coworkers can take a toll on you.
However, it can also help you grow and become a better leader.
#13. When You Have Identified Your Core Leadership Values
Core values are principles that build your character and that define who you are deep down.
In life and in the workplace, your core values will definitely be put to the test.
For example, some people will not hesitate to lie on you or to sabotage your work to advance their career.
Consolidating your core leadership values requires hard work, determination, daily practice and self-discipline.
#14. When You Welcome Change
If you have experienced drastic change in the workplace, you know that is better not to resist it.
Change is a part of life, is a constant and is inevitable. Change shakes things up, disrupts old habits, breathes new life into the workplace and into any project.
Furthermore, it has the ability to stimulate interest in your job. It also creates an opportunity for promotion and to develop new skills.
Welcoming change teaches you to:
- Be a catalyst for change and to champion innovation.
- Regularly get outside of your comfort zone.
- Handle feedback, setbacks and opportunities.
#15. When You Assist Training Programs
You have been to different seminars and courses and realized that you have acquired so much skills and tools in such short time.
You have also met like-minded people who understand you vision.
Last Words Of Advice!
There are various ways that a leader can learn new skills and can learn how to lead.
Every experience is an opportunity to test your skills and to learn some new ones.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
11 Best Strategies For Leaders To Fight Workplace Stress
Have you ever noticed that no matter how much you are successful, how much you wish to be happy or to have peace of mind, life has a way of placing you in the same stressful situations?
That is because, until you have learnt to deal with these stressful situations, they will keep showing up.
For example, if you try to avoid someone who stresses you out, you will constantly run into that same person until you deal with your feelings about that person.
It is therefore important to learn how to cope with these situations and find the right methods to address your stress.
Wondering how to cope and effectively fight workplace stress?
Why are leaders stressed in the workplace?
Stress is inherently part of life and stressed leaders have seemed to become the norm. Leaders are mostly stressed at work due to:
- interpersonal conflicts,
- poor time management,
- poor work performance,
- a lack of financial freedom,
- drastic and sudden changes,
- excess meetings, policies and procedures.
Stress has a direct impact on the corporate culture, on the leader’s leadership style, performance, and health.
People express stress differently: some people get angry, some get exhausted and withdrawn, and others go into fight or flight mode.
11 Best Strategies For Leaders To Fight Workplace Stress
There are several ways to remain calm under pressure, manage your stress and use it to your advantage.
#1. Be more self-aware & develop your emotional discipline
It becomes critical to always take a step back from a situation, seek deeper insights in your thoughts and behaviors to identify stress triggers, weigh out the outcomes of the situation. How important is this situation for you?
To be more self-aware and develop emotional disciplined:
- Confront your painful situation and identify your triggers.
- Identify your strength, weaknesses and limitations.
- Be aware of the first physical symptoms of stress. Observe how your body responds to stress. During stressful times, some people are tense, can’t sleep, can’t eat.
- Control your emotional reaction to the situation.
- Write down the things that bother you.
- Put a name to your emotions.
#2. Change your mindset
Your mind has everything to do with your behavior. To change your mindset:
- See stress as a motivation.
- Influence your brain to accurately interpret a high pressured situation. We have a tendency to distort situations through our lenses and either make them grander than they are.
- Assume strictly positive outcomes of the stressful situation and speak positivity into reality.
- Be open to new opportunities and new experiences.
- Stay calm and positive. Positive attitudes can become difficult to maintain in challenging situations in the workplace. But once acquired, it is a habit that can help you overcome bad situations.
Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one. - Hans Selye Click To Tweet
#3. Be grateful
No matter how hard it gets, you are still breathing. This means that you have one more day to change your situation and to create a better life.
To dispel stress:
- Be grateful for your day to day.
- Make a gratitude list to remind yourself of what you are thankful for.
- Appreciate where you are in life, even where it’s not where you want to be.
#4. Prioritize & stick to the essentials
When deadlines are set and cannot be moved, when we are late we tend to stress out.
Prioritizing is all about honing your decisions making and time management skills in order to achieve more. To do so:
- Understand that it’s OK to miss out on things.
- Learn how to say no and to set boundaries.
- Learn to prioritize. When you have your priorities in check, you are able to know what is essential, what you are able to handle in your work day and who you are able to see.
- Apply the 80/20 principle.
- Don’t try to be perfect.
#5. Create a better work-life balance
Your professional and your personal lives are tightly intertwined. Creating work-life balance is not giving equal attention to both work and life.
However, it means that you are satisfied with your contributions to your life and work, that you are able to create a sustainable synergy between both so that you are fueled by them on a daily basis.
To create a better work-life balance:
- Don’t stay too long at work.
- Don’t take your stress at home.
- Take long drives before getting home.
- Spend more time with family and friends.
- Figure out if you can work from home.
- Create a morning routine to kick off your day on the right foot.
- Take care of yourself first and boost your leadership self-esteem.
- Align your daily activities in life and work with your values, principles.
#6. Learn how to delegate
Most leaders want to control people, do everything themselves, be on top of everything all at once and find it hard to delegate.
However, to remove stress due to work overload, it is important to learn how to delegate and automate some of your activities.
Delegating will allow you to take all the load off your shoulders. To delegate:
- Demonstrate confidence in yourself and in your team.
- Select experts in their field, clarify their roles, give them the authority to do their jobs, allow them to fail and to grow.
- Create clear progress measurement tools and milestones.
- Avoid micromanaging people but measure their advancement.
#7. Learn to communicate
Great communication skills will improve your leadership credibility, your self-confidence, your relationships with others, your feelings of belonging and will decrease your stress level.
They will also drive change and increase team motivation.
To decrease your stress level:
- Learn to effectively communicate your grievances.
- Remember that everyone is different and won’t communicate the way you do.
#8. Emotionally detach yourself from your job.
Obsessing about work is problematic and unhealthy. Most of the time, being emotionally attached leads to being sensitive to feedback and to being unable to see the bigger picture.
Unfortunately, most people who succeed are those who put in work and yet are detached from their work.
#9. Filter out your entourage
Leaders and employees have to make quick decisions while getting along with everyone, in multicultural contexts, with people from various backgrounds.
So, if your relationships brings you more stress than necessary:
- Surround yourself with people you can trust. Build real connections and learn to discern the authentic relationships by observing their actions.
- Confide in your mentor and ask for advice.
- If you can, get rid of toxic coworkers or relationships.
- Isolate yourself if needed. Sometimes, it is good to remove yourself from society, to contemplate solitude in order to enjoy yourself, your thoughts.
- If you are unable to avoid negative interactions, isolate the information that you need from the interaction. Write down that information and do not rely on memory or distorted thoughts.
- Do not compete with people and stay focused on your job.
#10. Exercise and take regular breaks
Exercise and regular breaks will allow you to break your routine and mindless actions.
- Plan your breaks.
- Take time off to disconnect and enjoy your holidays.
- Listen more than you speak to give your brain a break.
- Make sure that your habits and exercise routine fit your lifestyle.
- Do activities that you enjoy in the middle of the work day and on weekends.
- Unplug from the internet and from your phone on your breaks and on the weekends.
#11. Let go & let God
At some point in life, you must:
- Understand that you cannot control everything.
- Control the controllable factors (like your reactions to the situation) and release what you cannot control. Worrying about people or events beyond your control is a waste of energy.
- Know that your situation is temporary and that you will come through the other side. Meanwhile, be kind to somebody and help someone.
Last Words Of Advice!
Remember that, as a leader, people are closely monitoring your behavior.
They will be looking to you for inspiration and for a sense of calm in challenging situations.
Finally, make sure that your passion for your job outweigh your level of stress on the job. If it doesn’t, then it’s time to quit.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
15 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your Job
Though people have to be financially responsible, they give themselves the opportunity to explore and to search for a job that will make them happy.
Needless to say, quitting your job is a big decision, an exciting yet scary endeavor.
On one hand, we remember that we have to survive and pay the bills. On the other hand, we no longer have to put up with bad decisions, poor workmanship and slow processes.
Wondering how to recognize when it’s time to quit your job and how to effectively develop an exit strategy?
People give themselves the opportunity to explore and to search for a job that will make them happy. Click To Tweet
15 Signs It’s Time To Quit
Sometimes, we are in way over our heads, other times we just want to collect that paycheck and nothing else. It becomes hard to notice the signs that it’s time to quit.
You know it’s time to quit when:
#1. You Desperately Look For Reasons To Quit
Your job has become a problem and is weighing heavy on your shoulder. You feel it in your bones and your desire to quit roams your brain all day.
At this point, anything would justify your desire to quit.
If you don’t get your morning coffee, then it’s time to quit.
If your train runs late, then it’s time to quit.
If there is too much traffic today, then it’s definitely time to quit.
#2. You Believe The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side
You are low-key envious of people who quit their job and who start their own business ventures.
#3. You Are Burnt Out
When it’s time to quit, your intuition will usually let you know in advance that something is wrong.
If you don’t pay attention to your intuition, your mind ill start to go in overdrive.
Finally, your body will suffer the repercussion.
You are burnt out if:
- You are doing your best on the job but your best doesn’t seem to be enough.
- You don’t have the energy or the time to do your work.
- Your physical health suffers. working out doesn’t help anymore and you have probably put on weight.
- You don’t pay attention to your personal grooming.
#4. You Require A Better Work Life Balance
You bring your job home and incessantly complain about it.
You don’t take care of yourself or your family.
You believe that you deserve a better work-life balance.
#5. You Are Depressed Every Sunday Night
Sunday nights are extremely depressing because you remember your past week and because you dread Monday mornings.
#6. You Are Underperforming
You are underperforming and are making too many mistakes on things that you used to be good at.
You have been unable to reach deadlines, to defend your progress and perspectives.
You constantly look for distraction from your work environment whether you are on or off the job.
Furthermore, you don’t care about your workplace performance, your reputation, your well-being, the opinion of your coworkers, and the respect for our boss is gone.
#7. You Are Undervalued And Underutilized
You feel underappreciated and are bored to death.
You have no voice within the organization.
You don’t feel like your strengths and weaknesses are being adequately used.
#8. You Take Too Many Breaks
You have been absent and keep taking more absence leaves that you used to.
Basically, you cannot wait for the day to end.
You plan your breaks, your lunches and your vacations before you even start your workday. You obsess about your vacations and your mental health depends on them.
You go to the bathroom too often and take too many calls out of your office.
#9. You Just Don’t Fit In
Working gives us the means to survive and is quasi inevitable.
You need more freedom to express yourself and the company culture does not allow your form of expression.
#10. Your Job Does Not Align With Your Life Purpose
You spent time studying for a degree, graduated and your college degree doesn’t match your job description.
In addition, you don’t understand your task, get no satisfaction from doing your job and you start questioning the purpose of your job.
#11. You Cannot Project Yourself In The Future
There are no growth opportunities to evolve, to move towards a new position, to learn new skills.
You cannot project yourself in the future because you have other plans for your future, your leadership vision is not being executed, your life is changing but your salary isn’t, your colleagues are getting better paid than you do or because you have been passed up for promotion too many times.
#12. Your Social Life Is Affected
Your social life is stunted and your relationships are strained.
You don’t want to bring up work with your friends and family.
Conversations about work with people you enjoy depress you, project you in negative thoughts and negative emotions overwhelm you.
You are not a complainer but you start complaining NON STOP about your job. You bring up the subject with whomever even when it doesn’t matter.
#13. The Ethics On Your Job Are Questionable
You work in a toxic environment:
- Your higher-ups and your organization generally lack ethics.
- Your core leadership values don’t align with those of your organization.
- You experience an emotional rollercoaster daily.
- You are perpetually in fight or flight mode. You are either looking for conflict or hiding from everyone and everything.
- You are being bullied, your self-esteem is continually being attacked and your ethics are daily challenged.
- You suddenly cannot stand your colleagues and find faults in everything that they do.
#14. Your Leader Is Out Of Control
Employees don’t leave a job, they leave bad bosses.
You don’t admire or respect your leaders. You don’t ask them for advice anymore and question their decisions.
#15. Your Organization Is Laying People Off
Your organization is facing serious financial difficulties and you think that you will get laid off.
You have to financially take care of yourself and quit.
There are two options after quitting your job: either you find another one or you create one. Just remember that not all workplaces are the same.
Developing An Exit Strategy
Sometimes, we have reached our limits and it’s time to quit. However, it’s always important to develop an exit strategy.
- Examine your mental, physical and emotional health.
- Take time off to think about yourself. Identify your core values, your purpose, your strengths and weaknesses.
- Evaluate your motivations to stay on the job. Look around for clues that it’s time to quit your job. You can do a pros and cons list.
- Think about the consequences of leaving your job.
- Plan your future before quitting. It is imperative that you:
- Analyze your skill sets and check which ones you wish to develop.
- Find out which field you wish to work in and discuss it with people who are in your field of preference.
- Proactively look for another job. Keep looking for job and applying online while you are still employed. It is recommended to discreetly find a new job before moving on to the new one.
- Pick your next profession with care.
- Build a solid vision.
- Prepare yourself for the next opportunity and get rid of past baggage.
- Be comfortable with change and embrace the unknown.
- Speak to your close friends and family about your decision. Ultimately, you know what is best for you.
- Be confident in your decision, acknowledge that there is no shame in quitting and understand that there is no perfect time to quit.
- Leave on good terms even though you hated your job.
Last Words Of Advice!
Quitting your job doesn’t mean being jobless, giving up on yourself or that you have failed altogether. During the quitting process, it is detrimental to grow internally, to keep yourself busy and stay on purpose.
Furthermore, you can either go after your dreams or help someone else build their own.
If you don't build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.” Tony Gaskins Click To Tweet
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
The Importance Of Identifying & Strengthening Your Core Leadership Values
All leaders must identify and set their core values before accepting a leadership position, before developing an organization or before joining a company culture.
Leaders with strong core values induce an ethical and healthy workplace.
However, when leaders lack character, they create conflict, mistreat employees, belittle customers, focus on results rather than build healthy relationships, allow sabotage and aggressive below the belt office politics. Subsequently, they then create a toxic environment.
Wondering how to identify and strengthen your core values?
What are core values?
Core values are principles that build your character and that define who you are deep down.
They are fundamental beliefs that guide you in life and at work, that drive your behavior and that gather things about you that you truly care about.
Core values are based on your culture, your systems of beliefs and what you learnt from your childhood.
In addition, core values guide leaders in any environment and in every situation.
They are principles by which leaders and organizations operate. They are transmitted to employees via the corporate culture, are shared from one generation to another.
Core values are principles that build your character and that define who you are deep down. Click To Tweet
At Journey To Leadership‘s, we believe in:
- Leadership. We want to lead by example, lead with character, motivate people to achieve a unique vision and teach people how to lead with integrity.
- Living to learn. We do not assume that we know everything, we give ourselves the opportunities to explore and to ask questions that challenge the status quo.
- Creativity & Innovation. We welcome change, embrace innovative ideas, love taking risks and bringing new products to make the world a better place.
- Purpose & Ambition. We invite people to aim high, to walk in their purpose and to stay focused.
- Candor. We encourage transparency, authenticity and speaking truth to power. We reward people for speaking up and for speaking the truth.
- Patience. We promote patience, being slow to anger and seeking understanding.
- Fairness. We do not discriminate, we are equal opportunity leaders, we believe in making fair decisions and treating everyone equally.
- Diversity. We are culturally sensitive, respect diversity and believe that difference is good.
Why define your core leadership values?
Core values must be carefully chosen, based on our personal needs and wants.
Core values make life more satisfying and more meaningful, they are a lifetime commitment. Core values must help you:
- define your code of conduct,
- outline your purpose,
- shape your vision and move towards your goals,
- set boundaries and build healthy relationships,
- make the right decisions for yourself,
- communicate and lead effectively,
- prioritize and focus on the vital few,
- hire and retain the right employees,
- increase your mental stability.
Consolidating your leadership values requires hard work, determination, daily practice and self-discipline. In general, core values are hard to maintain but are worth the struggle.
How to identify your core leadership values?
Core values make life more satisfying and more meaningful, they are a lifetime commitment To identify your core leadership or organizational values:
- Find out how you would describe yourself.
- Examine if you are satisfied with the current state of your life and what you love or hate the most.
- Identify your strengths, weaknesses and blind spots.
- Think about what you would do if you were financially free and had no cares in the world.
- Analyze which workplace you thrive best and feel your best in.
- Evaluate your greatest accomplishments.
- Observe where and with whom you wish to spend your time.
- Identify what you cannot live without.
- Understand the lessons you have learnt from your failures.
To strengthen your core leadership values?
- List your core values, write them down and give examples of your core values in action. Everyone has a list of at least 5 values that they hold on to, that facilitate their responsibilities and ease their problems.
- Remind yourself daily of your core values through a vision board or positive affirmations.
- Align all your decisions with your core leadership values. When your values don’t align with your decisions, you start feeling uncomfortable, emotionally triggered and in conflict with yourself.
- Communicate your core values to your employees. A company without core values is a toxic environment.
- Put your values to the test in life, at work and within your organization. Core values often show themselves when we face adversity. If someone tells you or forces you to believe that life is unfair and you wholeheartedly rebel against that thought, then your core value is definitely fairness.
- Empower other people to find their own core values.
Last Words Of Advice!
Leaders must be convinced of their vision and committed to their core values.
However, some core values are harder to apply than others. They demand more effort than others. So, don’t give up!
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F**k: A Counterintuitive Approach To Living a Good Life By Mark Manson
All day, we are bombarded with things that we are supposed to care about. In the end, we are made to think that we should care about those things.
Therefore, we constantly feel the need to look for better in order to impress, to feel insecure, to fake emotions, to compare ourselves with others and to live a “good” life.
Truthfully, to be successful, to live a good life and to overcome those feelings, it is detrimental to confront painful emotions, to care less about pain and to care more about what is important.
The Meaning To Not Giving A F**k
Caring too much about futile things is a sign that you don’t have anything better going on in your life. However, not caring is liberating. By caring less, Mark Manson means:
- Stop trying so hard and stop investing too much energy in things.
- Pursue failures and not success, pain and not pleasure. Failures eventually lead to success and confronting negativity leads to growth.
- Embrace negative emotions and use your pain as a tool.
- Take action even though your circumstances and emotions are overwhelming.
- Discern the situations and the people who matter.
- Understand that life is short and there is no time to waste on futility.
- Be authentic and “comfortable with being different”.
- Choose something to care about that matters more than adversity.
How To Not Giving A F**k?
There are a few principles to practice in order to care less:
- Understand that pain is inevitable, incessant yet it is necessary. It triggers change and helps us avoid making the same mistakes.
- Understand that you cannot control everything and that life will always throw you curve balls. Everything in life requires sacrifice.
- Understand that you’ll be fine no matter what.
- Don’t base your life and reactions on your emotions.
- Don’t repress your emotions. Instead, use your negative emotions to motivate you and to do better.
- Take action in order to create positive emotions.
- Accept yourself. Get comfortable with yourself and with failure. It doesn’t make sense to avoid failure. Failure is painful but it boosts change and welcomes success.
- Control your thoughts.
- Change your values to build your character.
- We all care about something and it’s impossible not to. You must just figure out what level of pain you are willing to sustain.
- Acknowledge that if some people take you seriously and consider you as a change agent, others will make fun at you and see you as an embarrassment.
- Take responsibility for your problems and for your experiences.
- Acknowledge your ignorance or lack of knowledge. Invest in your personal growth nad challenge your beliefs.
- Don’t avoid rejection. Learn to handle rejection and to say no in return.
- Be conscious of your own death. Don’t be afraid of your own death. Let the possibility of death transform you and give your life meaning.
Review
To be frank, I heard a lot about The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F**k By Mark Manson. Not only was I intrigued by the title but by the press around this book.
As the year goes by, we see the emergence of a lot of books with a colorful language. The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F**k By Mark Manson is a motivational book that encourages transformation. It promotes the need to be honest with yourself, to determine your limitations, your strengths and weaknesses.
The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F**k is a funny book with far-fetched metaphors. Yet, it is honest about itself. It:
- Warns us to be selective on the things that we care about.
- Promotes the concept of not caring about what people think, of not letting people or our emotions overwhelm you.
- Denounces life’s false expectations and disillusion.
- Demonstrates how life is imperfect.
- Stops you from seeking for outside validation, searching for bigger and better, living in the superlatives, from trying to impress, from maintaining appearances, feeling the need to prove ourselves to society and from promoting a fake life on social media.
Besides the use of colorful language, it is very similar to the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less by Greg Mckeown.
It is written as motivation for millennials, for overthinkers, for chronic worriers and for the overly emotional for whom not caring would be liberating.
Let me know below what you think about this book!
Favorite quote(s)
Self-improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the same thing.
The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And,
paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive
experience.This book will help you think a little bit more clearly about what you’re choosing to find important in life and what you’re choosing to find unimportant.
We suffer for the simple reason that suffering is biologically useful. It is nature’s preferred agent for inspiring change.
Ratings 3/5
Author
Quote Of The Week #68
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