Bring your best to leadership: Self-care and well-being tips to recharge your batteries as a leader
What level is your leadership battery at right now? Is it fully charged, a little drained, or running flat?
It’s been a big couple of years for tech industry leaders, and much of the increased pressure has fallen on middle management. Not only are you navigating your team through ever-changing waters, but you’re also managing up as you work with your leaders' expectations.
Sandwiched in the middle, it can be easy to find ourselves in an energy slump, stressed and overworked, with internal batteries that are going flat.
Yet, the constant demand for high performance continues.
So, what are leaders to do?
Just as you recharge your iPhone to ensure it has battery power when needed, you must do the same for yourself as a leader. Your “leadership battery” needs regular care so you can perform at your best.
To recharge your batteries and bring your best to leadership, you must fit your own oxygen mask first. By prioritizing self-care and wellness, you model positive behaviors for your team and ensure you have the energy and capacity to be the leader you want to be.
“If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?" Ru Paul
So, let’s explore how you can recharge your leadership batteries with simple, everyday self-care actions.
1. Unplug from work
Leaders often feel drained because the resources they need to accomplish their work have been depleted through constant use. Like your smartphone, your mental and emotional resource ‘battery’ will also go flat without regular charging.
It’s essential to take time away from using these skills to get back to being your best in leadership. This means allowing yourself to step away from work and disengage from your leadership role, even briefly, each day. This practice can help prevent burnout by regularly recharging your energy reserves.
2. Shift your focus
Continuously thinking about work, checking emails on days off, or answering texts and calls outside of work hours keeps your mind in work mode, never allowing you to switch off entirely or recharge.
Just like overusing one muscle when exercising, it’s easy to become emotionally and psychologically fatigued and out of balance when we spend too long in one area of our lives.
To recharge, consciously prioritize time to mentally detach from work, where you are engaged in activities that allow you to switch focus and give your mind a much-needed break.
This doesn’t mean you need to go to a secluded hideaway. You can give yourself a break and recharge with simple everyday steps that build self-care into small moments.
With healthy habits that are easy to implement, you will always have access to a quick recharge when needed. This can maintain a consistent charge that supports you daily, even if only for 10, 20, or 30 minutes.
3. Set up places to actively “plugin” and recharge
Think about strategically placing charger cords in certain areas of your life to ensure your devices are always powered up and ready to go.
You can apply the same principle by establishing “charging stations” for your well-being. These designated spaces or things are intentionally set up to allow you to recharge your energy, reset your focus, and transition effectively between various aspects of your life.
Some examples of well-being charging stations include:
Choosing specific podcasts or music for your commute to and from work
The commute home from work provides an excellent opportunity to unwind. It’s also a crucial transition period from “work mode” to “home mode.”
Consider setting up a playlist or a podcast to help you shift your mental and emotional state. Choose content that supports your transition, whether it’s relaxing music, an inspiring (and non-work-related podcast), or a motivational audiobook.
These can serve as your in-car “mindful charging station,” allowing you to arrive home refreshed and ready to enjoy quality time with pets, family, and friends or work on hobbies and interests.
Set up digital detox reminders
We’re hyperconnected daily, and it can be easy to stay glued to our screens even when it’s time to take a break.
By setting up reminders on your phone or work computer, you can be prompted to step away from your devices and unplug (even just for 5 or 10 minutes).
These reminders can help you to make time to recharge your mental and emotional batteries by providing space to take a short walk outside, chat with someone around you, or engage in a quick breathing or mindfulness exercise to calm your mind.
Snack stations for physical energy
Nutrition significantly affects energy and well-being—it recharges your physical battery. However, forgetting to stop and fueling your body can be easy during a busy day.
I like to keep healthy, high-protein snacks like nuts, granola bars, or even fresh fruit within easy reach to ensure I eat something energizing, even on the busiest days.
You can create a physical energy charging station like this by placing on-the-go snacks in convenient places such as your desk, car, or bag.
Post-It note reminders
Visual cues can be powerful triggers for specific actions. Strategically place Post-It notes with reminders to do a breathing exercise (such as Box Breathing) or to stand up and move away from your screen for 5 minutes. You may also like to use Post-It notes beside your bed or on the fridge to remind you to take a healthy action that recharges your well-being when you’re away from work.
These visual reminders can support your work-life balance by prompting you to take actions that recharge your batteries as you move through your day.
Remember, like your smartphone or tablet, you need regular charging to operate at your best. Establishing these well-being charging stations allows you to “plugin” during your day, even if it’s just for 10, 20, or 30 minutes.
These practices can keep your energy levels consistent, helping you to feel ready to face the demands of leadership with a fully charged battery.
Investing in yourself as a leader
Taking care of your well-being is not selfish—it’s an investment in your long-term effectiveness as a leader.
In the tech industry, leadership success hinges on continuous growth and adaptability. To become a better leader, you must be open to learning, evolving, and embracing fresh approaches to leadership. To do this, you need to prioritize your well-being.
If you’d like to learn more about how executive coaching can support your well-being throughout your leadership journey, I offer a free 45-minute Chemistry Call. In this call, we can explore your questions and see how I can help.
Hi, I’m Heath Hatchett
I’m an executive coach for tech leaders of all levels. After 25+ years leading organizational change and growing high-performance teams in Silicon Valley, I know the power of transformational leaders to shift the status quo into something truly extraordinary. I believe everyone deserves a great leader, and every leader deserves the support to BE that great leader.
My approach to coaching is results-driven but process-oriented. I will help you gain perspective, presence, clarity, and confidence so you can use your strengths to progress toward your goals and become the center of a much more significant ripple effect.
Are you interested in learning more about me and my coaching approach? Let's have a 45-minute conversation to explore your questions and see how I can help.
If you’d like to find out more about how executive coaching can support you with your leadership journey, I offer a free 45-Minute Chemistry Call, where we explore your questions and see how I can help.
