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5 simple ways to improve your work-life balance

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There is a certain expectation on bosses to push themselves as hard as physically possible.

However, despite their increased position of power within a company, bosses should be held to the same level of welfare as any other employee – as they’re just as susceptible, if not more so, to succumbing to the same mental and physical well-being issues as their workers.

Statistics from Wellness & Lifestyle Management stated that because of the immense pressure of their workload, CEOs are at a 58.97% higher risk of having cardiac issues, 35% more likely to have high blood pressure and 23.08% more likely to have high cholesterol.

The biggest killer worldwide especially amongst executives, accounting for over 60% Medicare costs and deaths, is heart attacks. According to statistics available from Apollo’s Computerised Health Scan over ten per cent of CEOs had survived a heart attack in the year under review.

These shocking statistics highlight just how essential it is for business leaders to consider their own work-life balance a priority. But what can they do to make this key change in their lifestyles? These five points present not only key ideas for change, but also a road-map of how to implement drastic changes for improved health and to ensure that work also improves.

Establish your priorities

Of course, increasing your work-life balance means reducing workload, but this doesn’t mean that productivity has to falter. A significant amount of the work that CEOs do is low priority or can be passed onto others. The first step to making this key change is by ranking your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks by order of priority, therefore separating the essential from the non-essential. This doesn’t just apply to work-life; the same logic should be applied to your home life, therefore making more time to concentrate on your wellness, fitness and mental well-being.

Account for the time in your day

So much of your time is likely to be taken up by disorganisation. By truly accounting for your time and planning your days properly, you can not only save time, but create some mental clarity which will help you achieve success going forward.

If you’re a leader, it’s likely that you often take on the stress and workloads of others to offer what you perceive to be stability. However, this isn’t true stability. Good leaders help actualise change in other, they don’t simply accept their team’s workloads. Start saying no, and make it a regular part of your vocabulary. This will prevent you from being the target for those looking to unload, and free up more time for essential tasks.

Stop seeking perfection

There’s no such thing as perfect, yet most leaders search for it, meaning that projects are drawn out, often changed dramatically and time is wasted on seeking the un-achievable. For your own sake, and the sake of your team, stop searching for perfect, and set your sights of exceptional – or in less-valuable projects, simply a pass.

Switch off

The temptation in the modern world, where our work emails are constantly available at the touch of a button, where we give out personal numbers to clients and where work-chats send messages instantly, is to stay plugged into that work mindset 24/7.

However, this is actually extremely detrimental to your well-being and productivity. By switching off, you open yourself up to the possibility of a fresh perspective when you return. You also truly unwind and decompress, giving you greater mental clarity. By making the resolution to switch off when not in work, you’ll enjoy your personal time more, and be more productive when you return.

(Credit to Executive Grapevine Daily)

5 ways to boost productivity in the workplace

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The goal of any leader is, ultimately, to increase output. In the current volatile business climate simply maintaining allows other key players in the industry to gain advantage.

However, simply brandishing a whip and telling your team to ‘work harder’ is far from a sustainable way to truly up productivity. Whilst you may see a small increase in output in the short term, of course any leader worth their salt will know that this simply cannot last, or will be at the detriment of quality and diligence.

Truly increasing productivity isn’t down to one thing; like most elements of effective leadership, the concept should be approached with finesse and an overarching view of the business’ key functions – one of which should always be to ensure that workers are treated well and with respect. Simply pushing them to their limits will lead to high turnover, poor well being and ultimately a complete breakdown in function.

But then what works? How can leaders actually up productivity without compromising other areas? Read on to find out…

Review functions

Most workers aren’t performing as well as they can, but the truth is that it’s not their fault. Often, good workers simply pick up small voids left by others. This may be as simple as watering plants, or fixing the printer when it jams, yet these little incremental tasks take them away from their actual jobs and waste time. It may take just five minutes to fix a printer jam, but this one task takes them out of whatever they were doing and it may take more than half an hour to get back into the productivity ‘zone’. If you want to ensure that all workers are operating at 100%, take away the fluff that surrounds their core function.

Promote breaks

It sounds counterproductive, yet ensuing that workers are taking the time to mentally decompress between big tasks is massively beneficial to productivity. A survey conducted by Tork in the US last year found that those who took a fifteen-minute break between big tasks to decompress were not only 38% happier at work, but also 22% more productive; the study also found that the quality of their work was better. So, to do more, professionals must work less.

Set small goals

It’s all well and good aiming for a grand company objective – yet often this is vague and sets no roadmap to strive for. Your workers don’t need to know that they’re aiming for ‘excellence’ in customer service. This is a given, and provides absolutely no aide in getting there. Instead, set smaller, far more achievable goals with tangible roadmaps to success. Instead of ‘excellence’, why not ‘Upsell THIS service to 10 customers today’. This is easily achievable, and ups productivity through proper guidance.

Consider work-life balance

No professional is at their best when they can’t mentally divide themselves for their work. Burned out workers get ill, they let things slip and their wellness evaporates, along with their drive and purpose. ONS research suggests that work-related stress was the single largest cause of workplace absence last year. And if you’re their manager, it’s your fault, not theirs. Fight this by ensuring that they aren’t messaged about work outside of work hours, that they go home on time every day, and that they don’t work in evenings and weekends. By dividing these two worlds, they’ll be far more refreshed and ready to work.

Promote collaboration

Good teams work together to achieve goals, and as a worker, knowing that you have a vast network of expertise that you can call upon if you’re stuck is a massive advantage. But this doesn’t come naturally. Workers are far more likely to simply try and keep their workloads to themselves – so it takes the promotion of collaboration from managers to make it happen.

(Credit to Executive Grapevine Daily)

Leaders feel isolated at work

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Managing a team of skilled people is the dream for many professionals. In fact, one in five Brits believe that managing a team is a sign of success in the workplace, a survey from CV-Library revealed, however, this success comes at a price.

According to CV-Library research, 27.2% of senior leaders admit to feeling lonely in the workplace with 40% claiming that people’s attitudes towards them changed after they moved into a more senior position.

The study of 300 senior members of staff from across the UK discovered that loneliness also permeated into their personal lives. So much so that over half (56.8%) stated that their home life had suffered as a result of work. In addition, 54.7% said that it’s not worth it to be where they currently are in their professional career.

“Reaching the top is an attractive goal for many, but even the most senior employees need support in the workplace. Particularly if you’re working long hours and shoulder huge levels of responsibility” said Lee Biggins, Founder and CEO of CV-Library.

“Naturally, as a senior member of staff, you’ll have to remain neutral towards your teams, but this can result in feelings of exclusion. Moreover, you’ll have a responsibility to provide support to your employees, but don’t forget about yourself! Seek help from other senior members of staff, especially in the transition period after being promoted.”

The research went on to reveal that senior leaders are most likely to feel lonely in the workplace because they have little in common with colleagues (42.7%), work in an office on their own (34.4%) and because their peers are much younger than them (24.4%).

When asked what they think are the best ways for employers to prevent loneliness in the workplace, senior leaders suggest the below:

  • Put appropriate support in place (49.2%)
  • Have more office socials (34.5%)
  • Hire a diverse team (32.9%)
  • Construct an open-plan office (28.2%)
  • Improve the on-boarding process (27%)

Biggins added: “As a senior employee, you may feel unable to talk about any feelings of loneliness because of your status in the company. To combat this, it’s important to prioritise your own well-being and work closely with other leaders.

“Whether you organise company socials to blow off some steam away from the workplace, or have regular catch ups with fellow manager, it will help you to forge stronger working relationships. In turn, this should encourage a more open and supportive atmosphere.”

(Credit to Executive Grapevine Daily)

How to make better professional decisions

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Making important decisions is a fundamental part of any business leader’s role. Whether it’s determining how to better improve company policies or how to enhance an organisation’s profits, these decisions are never easy and can result in a number of repercussions.

According to The Balance Careers, managers often face unstructured issues within the workplace, which are there to test their abilities as a decision maker and will therefore ultimately impact their success as a manager.

It’s imperative that every leader gets these right, as getting them wrong can all too often lead to a lack of trust in you as a manager, which would likely lead to a loss on morale as employees lose faith.

Below are three tips to help you make better career decisions as a leader:

Removing emotion

When it comes to making key decisions, leaders should be aware not to let their emotions play a part in this. Emotions can rush a judgement or slow a process down, therefore The Balance Careers suggests stepping back and reflecting on the situation before making any snap decisions.

Reversing decisions

Once a decision has been made, every leader should be aware that this can’t be reversed as easily as they hope. However, The Balance Careers warns that managers should not fall victim to self-doubt when they have a called a decision, as this can lead to extra stress and frustration among teams and employees.

Learn from your mistakes

This well-known phrase is imperative for every business leader. As such, to strengthen your capabilities to make decisions you should reflect on ones you have made in the past and review them to help you improve your decision-making in the future.

(Credit to Executive Grapevine Daily)

How to position yourself as a thought leader

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Good business leaders are hard to come by; whilst many may fulfil the basic functions of a senior manager in that they make decisions based on sound financial and productivity data, it’s rare to find a leader that sports the qualities needed to be considered a thought leader.

This is often reflected in the way in which they are viewed by their staff. Some are also blinded by the bottom line, and therefore unaware of how basic changes could positively impact their company.

Gallup research claims that around 70% of UK employees are actively disengaged at work. Why? Because of their leadership; a recent study by Career Builder claims that 58% of leaders haven’t actually received management training, and 89% are completely unaware that the main reason that employees quit is because of their leadership – actively misconstruing this as a push for more money.

And this is having a massive impact on the way that professionals view their bosses. Harvard Business Review data suggests that 58% of workers would trust a stranger more than their own boss, whilst 79% of people who quit cite a ‘lack of appreciation’ from their leadership.

What is a thought leader?

It may sound like a classic business buzzword, but actually thought leadership literally simply refers to being as informed as you possibly can be, and then seeing the broad spectrum of your industry, with a view to implementing policies based on this in your own company. No one definition for a thought leader

exists, yet most agree that it’s someone who is a trendsetter, and someone who is a ‘top dog’ in their field.

Russ Allan, leadership specialist and contributor for Forbes magazine, stated that his view of a thought leader is this: “A thought leader is an individual or firm that prospects, clients, referral sources, intermediaries and even competitors recognise as one of the foremost authorities in selected areas of specialisation, resulting in it being the go-to individual or organisation for said expertise.”

Yet his next point is slightly more poignant. He said that almost as important as being a thought leader, is being viewed as a thought leader. He said: “A thought leader is an individual or firm that significantly profits from being recognised as such.”

How do you become one, or at least be viewed as one?

Build credibility 

Becoming a thought leader isn’t an overnight process; it takes groundwork. This means working hard to build credibility in your field. Your workers should trust you implicitly. Other leaders should value your advice. You should be seen as someone who could hold their own in a debate or be invited to speak at industry events.

Know your audience 

Knowing your industry is essential, and so is knowing your audience. Who are you advising? What positive change is coming from your input? How are you affecting outcomes and who do you need to address to do so? These are questions you must answer.

Tell your story

Context is essential in any road-map. Where have you come from and how does this affect where you’re going? Where were your expertise honed? Anyone can read a book – how are you actively using your past experiences to implement good change?

Network 

This doesn’t just mean sipping wine at an annual business conference. This means immersing yourself in the experiences of others in your field. Build a powerful LinkedIn community around you and be active on it. Read your trade news and engage in as much conversation as you can. Be passionate and build passion. This also helps you build on the last point…

Gain knowledge

…which is, gain as much knowledge as you possibly can. This is the route of all things. You must know your industry inside and out. Read everything, watch everything, listen to podcasts and build your own opinions. Use this information to see patterns and understanding.

(Credit to Executive Grapevine Daily)